Lee County LPA considers Calusa 80 map amendment as residents warn of rural, wildlife impacts

The Lee County Local Planning Agency on April 27 heard more than two hours of technical presentations and public comment on a privately initiated future‑land‑use amendment known as Calusa 80 (CPA 2024‑00016), a request to redesignate about 92.71 acres of a 192.3‑acre site from rural to Sub‑Outlying Suburban and to add the whole site to Lee County Utilities’ water and sewer service maps.

Pat Neal, the applicant’s sponsor, and members of the applicant team told the panel the change is intended to allow density to be clustered across the full site, preserve more open space and wetlands and fund utility extensions without cost to taxpayers. “We have made a revision to delete our RV park and to create an affordable community for our Simply Dwell brand,” developer Pat Neal said, describing the shift from a prior RV‑resort concept to predominantly single‑family homes and a small neighborhood commercial node.

The applicant’s planning lead, Alexis Crespo, said the map change does not aim to increase maximum allowable density on the full property but would allow clustering across the site so units can be spread rather than concentrated on the urban portion. Crespo told the LPA the companion rezoning will request a maximum of 690 dwelling units under the MPD, while the map change alone could permit up to roughly 796 units under a strict reading of maximum future‑land‑use allowances. “By being able to spread the units out across site,…