On October 28, 2009, the Lee County Board of County Commissioners unanimously voted to transmit the proposed amendment to the Lee County Comprehensive Plan (the Lee Plan) covering 83,000 acres in southeast Lee County to the Florida Department of Community Affairs for review. This area known as the Density Reduction/Groundwater Resource (DR/GR) area was first designated on the county’s future land use map in 1991. The land uses were restricted to low density residential, agriculture, mining, and conservation without any specification as to the appropriate location for each use within the originally 90,000+ acres.
The DR/GR study that was initiated by the Board of County Commissioners in 2007, is the first to undertake a comprehensive planning and ecological review of the now approximately 83,000 acre DR/GR area. This work has led to the recommendation to limit limerock mining, while also identifying priority restoration areas, rural community locations and designs, and multiple use development areas to receive transferable development rights.
The Dover, Kohl team proposed amendments to the Lee Plan were reviewed by Lee County staff, the Lee Planning Agency committee and the Board of County Commissioners. Public hearings were held allowing additional input for consideration. There will be an additional public hearing in early 2010 for the adoption of the plan following the State’s review and county staff’s recommended revisions are completed.
For more detailed information click on the following links:
Proposed Comprehensive Plan Amendment for Southeast Lee County, by Dover Kohl team
Lee County Staff Report on Proposed Comprehensive Plan Amendment for Southeast Lee County
Lee County link to studies and documents