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Lee County staff backs text amendment to allow golf course amenity in Kingston development
Summary
Lee County staff recommended transmittal of a privately initiated Lee Plan text amendment (CPA 2025-00012) to exempt the Kingston MPD from Goal 13 requirements so a golf course and ancillary uses may be provided as amenities; the board voted to approve the transmittal with no public opposition.
Lee County planning staff recommended that the Board of County Commissioners transmit CPA 2025-00012, a privately initiated text amendment that would exempt the Kingston mixed‑use planned development (MPD) from portions of Lee Plan Goal 13 to permit a golf course and related ancillary uses as residential amenities. Kate Burgess, principal planner, told the board the settlement agreement for Kingston (case number 22‑CA‑002743) already addresses water‑quality protections, wildlife habitat, open space and other development standards the amendment would otherwise modify.
"The settlement agreement already includes zoning, water quality, wildlife habitat, open space, natural resource protection, and more," Burgess said, summarizing staff's consistency analysis and recommendation for transmittal to state reviewing agencies.
Neil Montgomery, representing the applicant team, said the exemption request responds to an inconsistency between the developer's court‑ordered MPD status and Goal 13's private recreational facilities overlay. Montgomery said the protections the county would otherwise enforce through Goal 13 are already contained in the settlement agreement. When a commissioner asked how many holes the proposed course would have, Montgomery replied, "18." Ray Blacksmith, introduced as counsel for the developer, noted the settlement agreement documents the project's permitted uses and conditions.
A commissioner moved to approve staff's recommendation and the motion was seconded (a second was recorded by Commissioner LoCastro). With no public comment and no objection recorded, the board approved the transmittal action.
What happens next: Transmittal sends the amendment forward to the required state reviewing agencies as part of the Comprehensive Plan amendment process. The board recorded no formal vote tally in the public record other than that the motion carried with no objection.
