By Kelly J Farrell
Florida Department of Environmental Protection extended the public comment period on Bellmar Village, a residential development with 2,750 homes proposed by Collier Enterprises in eastern Collier County, until Tuesday, December 12.
DEP held a public meeting Thursday evening that drew 75 to 100 people coming and going over the course of approximately three hours, estimated DEP communications director Alexandra Kuchta as the meeting came to a close after 7 p.m. Thursday at the Naples Branch of Collier County Library on Central Avenue.
Initially the deadline for public comment was Thursday, December 7, however, DEP officials announced the public comment is extended by five days.
The developer, Collier Enterprises Management, is awaiting DEP approval of the State 404 permit application for the proposed Bellmar development in eastern Collier County.
The development of 2,750 homes on 1,000 acres with a 350-acre commercial town center is planned at Golden Gate Boulevard East, four miles north of I-75. Bellmar is planned approximately one mile west of the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge, raising the concerns of environmentalists, conservationists and other wildlife protectors and enthusiasts.
“I was prepared to be yelled at, berated. But the people of Collier County have a lot of heart and care for their wildlife, as do I,” said Toby Schwetje, DEP’s environmental consultant leading the 404 permit application process of the project.
The Sierra Club, Conservancy of Southwest Florida, South Florida Wildlands Association and other agencies spoke against the project.
The 404 permitting is for discharging dredge or fill material into waterways. To mitigate the impacts the discharges would have on approximately 144 acres of wetlands, Collier Enterprises Management, the developer, will conserve about half of the land that is to be Bellmar Village, or approximately 2,570 acres of it, said Jonathan Guinn, an environmental specialist with DEP. Collier Enterprises will also be required to remove exotic vegetation and plant native plants, according to DEP’s public notice.
Matthew Schwartz, executive director of South Florida Wildlands Association, said this is among thousands of acres up for development in eastern Collier County, particualry in and around the new Town of Big Cypress, that are of paramount concern to the nonprofit organization, which has a mission to protect the biodiversity of the Everglades and South Florida from threat of development.
Schwartz was disappointed that a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission representative was not at the meeting to explain their letter of recommendation to DEP, which stated that the project would “adversely affect” the Florida bonneted bat, Florida panther and Audubon crested caracara. However, that is not enough to prevent moving forward, but instead allows the developer opportunity for mitigation of those effects.
“They have the power to stop these developments and claim jeopardy to the Florida panther and this is over,” Schwartz said. “They’ll get sued by the developer, but nonetheless they have that power,” he said.
“No one else has that power and it’s their job to protect wildlife, especially endangered wildlife and especially the state animal,” Schwartz said.
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