Fair and Reasonable Request for Mainsail Drive

On December 12, 2023, the Collier County Board of Commissioners will consider a petition from SK Holdings Real Estate LLC to rezone 4+ acres on Mainsail Drive, and amend the Marco Shores Planned Unit Development to build a 90-unit apartment complex. Currently, Marco Shores is home to Hammock Bay Golf and Country Club and its five condominium associations, as well as Fairways I & II, Mainsail I, II, III & IV, Tropic Schooner, the new 100 Mainsail apartments and the new $10 million Marco Island Executive Airport. Mainsail Drive is a 1.5-mile winding curvy dead-end road that has been very popular for “on road” walkers, joggers, and bike riders. Our narrow sidewalks are not conducive to this much activity. We are rapidly losing our tranquil tropical lifestyle to a substantial increase in traffic and are concerned about our safety. Collier County has done studies that have proven “the benefits of median strip landscaping is directly related to traffic calming.” Over the years there have been several unsuccessful attempts to get Collier County to landscape their median but never in the budget.

To be fair, our Marco Shores community is asking for something in return for rezoning this property and amending our PUD in order to soften the impact to our neighborhood. We want the developer, SK Holdings Real Estate, to shoulder the initial cost of landscaping the Mainsail Drive median from Hammock Bay to the airport. We’re not asking for much - we liken our request to an “enhanced buffer” to help calm the traffic from 90 more homes and potentially 180 more cars. The initial estimates for this landscaping are equivalent to less than two months of rental income from the proposed apartments. Our neighborhood realizes the benefit of a landscaped median and we are willing to establish a Marco Shores MSTU (Maintenance Service Taxing Unit) for the future maintenance. Our hope is that all players have some skin in the game including the County (it’s their road) and the Airport to welcome the arrivals and departures with the aesthetics a multi-million-dollar terminal deserves.

The Collier County Staff Report dated August 23, 2023 recommends approval. The Collier County Planning Commission meeting on October 5th voted to approve with the following amendment: “the petitioner, Marco Shores residents, as well as the Airport Authority and the County come together with some type of agreement for the Mainsail Drive median.” As requested by our District 1 Commissioner Rick LoCastro and his senior staff and the Planning Commission, we have opened a dialogue with the developer. We have had a couple of meetings that have generated an offer from the developer. That offer falls way below what is needed to complete this project and mitigate the impact to the 550 homes of Marco Shores (excluding Hammock Bay).

The first 5+ acre property where the new 100-unit apartment complex on Mainsail Drive stands was previously rezoned residential when purchased for $2.1 million. This adjacent 4+ acres was purchased at a huge discount - $748,000 because it is zoned commercial utility/park. The developer knows there’s risk in requesting rezoning AND amending the PUD density. Once rezoned and PUD amended the value of this property more than doubles. We don’t begrudge the developer this spike in equity. But the developer is asking a LOT and cannot go unchallenged. We strongly feel our request is fair and reasonable for the benefit of all of Mainsail Drive.

Our quest for a fair and equitable solution continues…