Guest commentary: Potential land use changes may threaten DR/GR
Last week, the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF) spoke out against a proposal for the Lee County Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) to amend the county’s comprehensive land use plan to allow for more development in the sensitive Density Reduction/Groundwater Resource (DR/GR) area. This area has been protected from intensive development since 1990 because of the critical ecosystem services it provides to our communities, such as water storage and flood protection, and because it contains key habitat for the critically endangered Florida panther.
For all of you who echoed our concerns to the BoCC through our action alert, Thank You! Over 1,300 actions were taken on this issue, sending a clear message to the BoCC that Southwest Florida cares about protecting this sensitive area.
Despite strong public concern about these changes, the BoCC voted unanimously to transmit the proposed amendments to the state of Florida for further consideration. If the Florida Department of Commerce approves it, the plan will be presented one final time to the county commissioners, where the BoCC will discuss adopting the new development guidelines.
PROPOSED AMENDMENT ON COMMUNITY PLANS
Unfortunately, this isn’t the only large-scale land use change the county is proposing. On Aug. 21, another staff-initiated comprehensive plan amendment, CPA2026-00005, was emailed to interested parties in preparation for a presentation to the Local Planning Agency (LPA) on Aug 31. Four days later, a public county informational meeting took place where over 150 people attended to learn more about the changes to the document that guides development in our unincorporated communities.
This most recent 300-plus-page comprehensive plan amendment was a result of direction from the BoCC to eliminate any language that was not required, duplicative or outdated. The result is a proposed elimination of the Community Plans, created over the last 25 years with input from each community. Community plans provide guidance and protections that help to maintain the cultural, historical and ecological values of the individual character of our communities from coastal towns to rural agricultural neighborhoods. This latest comprehensive plan amendment also includes changes to the land development code regarding the DR/GR that the BoCC recently voted on.
For more information about CPA2026-00005, visit https://www.leegov.com/dcd/Documents/Agendas/LPA/2026/AUG312026.pdf.
JOIN SCCF AND VOICE YOUR CONCERNS
SCCF staff will be attending the LPA meeting on Monday to voice our concerns about many of the changes being proposed in this latest comprehensive plan amendment. If you would like to join us to share your concerns, the meeting is on Aug. 31 at 9:30 a.m. in the BoCC Chambers, at 2120 Main St., Fort Myers.
Please stay tuned for information on the next steps for this process and for the chance to speak out again on this issue
Founded in 1967, the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation’s mission is to protect and care for Southwest Florida’s coastal ecosystems. For more information, visit sccf.org.