Golf course plan advances on former citrus grove in East Naples

A developer's proposal to convert a decades-old citrus grove into a private, members-only golf course in Collier County continues to advance.

In a near-unanimous decision on Aug. 20, the Collier County Planning Commission agreed to recommend in favor of the project, despite pushback from neighbors and environmental advocates — and talk of the county buying the troubled grove for conservation.

County commissioners will make the final decision. They're expected to consider the petitions on Sept. 22.

The proposal for a golf course comes after the county commission rejected the developer's previous plan to build 423 homes on the same property, then directed the developer and grove owners to look for less-intensive alternatives for the nearly 170-acre property off Sabal Palm Road.

After a more than two-hour hearing, the planning commission voted 5-1 in favor of the new plans.

Along with an 18-hole golf course, the latest plans include recreational accessory uses, such as a clubhouse and a driving range, and up to 10 cottages for use only by club members and their guests, as they come and go for play.

Jon Rubinton, a second-generation developer in Southwest Florida with SWJR Naples LLC, is behind the proposal.

While the county has expressed interest in purchasing the property through the taxpayer-funded Conservation Collier program to prevent development, it has yet to make an offer.

So, Rubinton is keeping his options open, with the property still under contract.

As with the original development proposal for the property, the latest one would require a Growth Management Plan (GMP) amendment in addition to a rezoning. To pass, a GMP amendment needs a supermajority vote of approval from four of five county commissioners.

The reworked amendment would create the Sabal Palm Road Golf Course Subdistrict.

The property is currently zoned agricultural, with a restricted density of one unit per 40 acres, because it's within the Rural Fringe Mixed-Use District, with a protected status. It's in a "sending area" that limits traditional development.

The land sits about 1.4 miles east of Collier Boulevard.

County staff has recommended approval of the revised petitions, with the developer answering a call to come back with a scaled-back project.

More about the new development plans

At the planning commission meeting, Rich Yovanovich, the developer's land use attorney, emphasized that 70% of the property would remain usable open space for a golf course, with at least 35% of the existing native vegetation preserved.

Additionally, the development would have a low traffic impact and supply its own water through existing agricultural wells and surface water collection, he said.

"No permanent residents associated with this petition at all," Yovanovich said.

The golf course, he said, would be designed to meet the gold standards as a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary, requiring it to use less water, less fertilizer and fewer pesticides — and more eco-friendly turf. The layout, he said, would be nature-friendly, allowing golfers to play alongside animals, such as deer and alligators, during the day, and giving the animals free roam of the property at night. That certification has nothing to do with the National Audubon Society.

Property owners say proposal should 'satisfy everyone'

The property — at 341 Sabal Palm Road — has long been home to the South Naples Citrus Grove. Known for its Old Florida charm, the family-owned roadside operation sells fresh citrus, local produce and treats in the growing season.

The once thriving citrus grove is struggling to survive. For the better part of a decade, production has been declining dramatically due to the devastating effects of the incurable, tree-killing citrus greening disease, so the grove is no longer seen as viable, Henry Jacobs, one of the owners, told the planning commission.

The owners are at or beyond retirement age anyway, he said, and they hoped the county commission would approve the conversion to housing, so they could "move forward to the next chapter in our lives."

When the housing project was rejected, he said, the golf course proposal was born with the belief that it could "satisfy everyone."

He emphasized that the grove was not "a pristine native habitat," as it had been cleared for farming long ago and used to grow citrus for nearly 50 years.

"There was an environmental study completed on our property, which showed no endangered panther sightings," he said. "However, we understand there is concern, and as with the citrus grove, a golf course will provide a panther corridor, allowing all protected animals to move and travel safely across the land."

The golf course, he said, would attract far fewer cars than the grove's retail operation, due to the golf club's membership cap.

He pointed out the course's ponds and other water features could serve many purposes, such as providing stormwater management and flood control, and acting as buffers to wildfires.

"As a family owning this property, we think this rezoning request is very reasonable," Jacobs said.

Private golf clubs in high demand

While some have questioned the need for another private golf course in Collier County, Tim Hildebrand, the developer's golf course consultant, told the planning commission there is unfulfilled demand.

After doing some research in Collier County, he identified 10 high-end private golf clubs where golf is the primary purpose, and 700 people on waiting lists trying to get in.

"The shortest waiting period that we see right now is approximately three years, and that can go up to 10 years," he said.

At the same time, he said, initiation fees have spiked over the last four years, reflecting the high demand for membership.


New plans still face opposition

While they are much less intense, the new development plans still face strong opposition from neighbors and environmental advocates.

Brad Cornell, a policy director for Audubon Western Everglades, told the planning commission he's still holding out hope the county will purchase and protect the property from development.

He pointed out that after county commissioners rejected the housing plans, the landowners were encouraged to apply for protection through the Conservation Collier program, which they did. The application is still active, and an offer is expected within weeks, so there could be a chance to preserve the property.


On a parallel track, Cornell said his group has tried to work with the developer on ways to make the golf course "consistent with the conservation purpose" of the land's protected status; however, all 10 of its recommendations were rejected.

Instead, the developer, he said, wants to build 10 large cabins and a clubhouse where the current zoning would only allow four homes.

He emphasized that Audubon Western Everglades and the National Audubon Society have nothing to do with Audubon International or its golf-course-driven programs.

"This is a wildfire-prone region that requires hydrologic restoration of flow ways and is surrounded by permanent conservation on all sides," Cornell said. "That context really puts this as a conservation piece."

The property borders the environmentally sensitive Picayune Strand State Forest and preserves, and sits within the protected Florida Wildlife Corridor.

Neighbor Jennifer Asling, who has lived nearby off Brandy Lane for more than 30 years, pleaded for denial of the petitions. She became emotional, saying the land should be kept in its protected status to support farmers, protect wildlife and preserve resources.

She said the grove's owners had been family friends for as long as she'd been there, and she didn't take her words or criticisms lightly.

While she always wanted the grove's owners to be successful, she said, it shouldn't come at such a high cost to neighbors like herself. She sees the development plans as a threat to her way of life and to her family's five-acre bee and flower farm.

"I do want them to be successful," Asling said. "I want them to have the life that they're looking for, but I do not want to give up my life or my children's or my grandchildren's future."

She said the grove's owners aren't in financial straits and their futures don't depend on what happens to the grove, and that should be factored into the decision, which could hurt others' livelihoods.

"There's got to come a point where common sense starts talking and saying this is about greed and nothing more," Asling said.

Other speakers expressed fears that approving the petitions would set a bad precedent, leading to more development on other protected lands. They raised myriad concerns about the impacts of development, including on traffic and water pressure in the neighborhood.

In rebuttal, Yovanovich picked apart the opposition, including Cornell's comments about rejecting his suggestions on how the golf course should be designed.

Based on the suggestions, Yovanovich said the developer could only build a nine-hole golf course, and there's no market for one.

If the petitions are approved, he emphasized that they would not affect anyone else's zoning or take away any of their agricultural or other property rights, and that all land-use and zoning petitions must legally be considered on their own unique facts and conditions.

Most planning commissioners supported the plans

Joe Schmitt, the planning commissioner's chairman, noted that he was the county's community development administrator when the Rural Fringe Mixed-Use District was created to manage growth, protect sensitive lands, and curb urban sprawl in the area.

He argued that including the grove as sending land, giving it a protected status, was "an error," as it was actively being farmed at the time.

If the county doesn't approve the golf course, Schmitt said he feared the denial could result in a much more intense development under the state's Live Local Act, which allows qualifying affordable and workforce housing developments to bypass certain local density and height restrictions by right.

Although county staff found the property ineligible for the act's by-right benefits, Schmitt said the grove's owners have appealed, and they could challenge the decision in court with a good chance of winning, resulting in the development of 1,200 to 1,800 homes in six- to eight-story buildings.

"I don't want to see that happen," he said.


To avoid the possibility, Schmitt said the best thing for the county and the community to do is to support the golf course.

He motioned to recommend in favor of the petitions, acting as both the planning commission and the Environmental Advisory Council.

While there have been talks of the county purchasing and preserving the property through the Conservation Collier program, Schmitt said he thinks there's a "legal issue" and it doesn't really qualify, as it has been heavily disturbed and altered.

Even if the county successfully acquires the property, he said, property restoration could cost anywhere from $10 million to $15 million. The state, he said, is unlikely to take it over as a preserve unless it has been restored.

All but one commissioner supported the motion in favor of the petitions, recognizing that the developers and property owners had done what they were asked to do by proposing a far less impactful plan.

"Here's where I'm stuck again because the county commissioners told these petitioners, 'Come back to us with less intense use.' They have. Now we vote," said planning commissioner Michelle McLeod.

She concluded: "We've been directed to do this."

Commissioner Paul Shea disagreed, saying the board's role is to review the proposal for its merits, not to just approve of it because it's less intense than the previous one.

He said he didn't believe it was in the planning commission's or environmental council's purview to override all of the time and effort put into designating the property as a sending area for protection 26 years ago.

He said he sees his job as a balancing act, in which he always weighs the public benefit of projects.

"What's the public benefit to change the Growth Management Plan or change this from a sending area? I don't see it," Shea said.

Before the vote, Yovanovich insisted that if the property owners had understood what was happening when their land was designated as a sending area, they could have objected and likely succeeded — as others who were more informed did.

"They didn't know to hire me," he said. "They didn't know what was going on."

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Laura Layden is a business and government reporter. Reach her by email at [email protected] m.

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This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Golf course plan advances on former citrus grove in East Naples