Bonita Springs City Council Declines Seagate Proposed Comprehensive Plan Amendments

August 7th - The Bonita Springs City Council, following a presentation from the developer, Seagate, comments from the community, and Q&A, declined to approve (Vote was 6 to 1.) Seagate's proposed Future Land Usage amendments to the City's Comprehensive Plan and related maps. The proposed Future Land Usage amendments were needed to continue the process to allow construction of a residential community of 299 residential homes across from Palmira.

During public comments I argued against the proposed amendments for the following reasons:

• On May 16th the Local Planning Agency, who is responsible for reviewing and recommending any changes to our City's Comprehensive Plan, after developer presentations, comments from City's Planning Department, and public comments made the recommendation to NOT RECOMMEND the proposed Future Land Usage amendments and map changes
• 107 acres of the proposed 204+ acre development were on designated Wetlands
• the proposed development is within the designated Florida Panther Natural Habitat
• Lastly, there are approximately 1,100 new residential units and a major new commercial development (MIDTOWN Bonita) under construction in our District and the combined impacts of these developments on traffic congestion, stormwater flow, flood water mitigation, and the remaining natural habitat is unknown.

The City of Bonita Springs needs to fully understand the impacts of the projects underway before considering changes to our Comprehensive Plan.

You can find an article in Gulfshore Business published summarizing the meeting.