Laura Layden

laura.layden@naplesnews.com; 239-263-4818

Permitting for a long-planned town on rural land in eastern Collier County is taking longer than expected, and a residential builder has pulled out of the project.

Canada-based Minto Communities has quietly withdrawn from the project, which is being led by Collier Enterprises.

"Collier is pursuing environmental permits that will take time. When they are closer to being able to break ground, we agreed to engage in possible acquisition discussions," said William Bullock, a senior vice president for Minto in Florida, in an email.

The new town is planned for the 4,000-acre Rural Lands West property off Oil Well Road just east of Golden Gate Estates in Collier County.

In May 2015, Collier Enterprises announced it was working with Minto on plans and permits for about 4,000 homes and a town center as part of the first phase of development.

At the time, the Naples-based developer estimated permitting, which involves local, state and federal agencies, would take two to three years and that site preparation would begin this year.

Collier Enterprises now expects permitting won't be done for an additional 18 to 24 months, meaning site work couldn't begin until late 2018 at the earliest.

"We have a great relationship with Minto and remain in regular contact with them regarding Rural Lands West," said Patrick L. Utter, vice president of real estate for Collier Enterprises.

"We both agreed that it made the most sense for Collier Enterprises to continue the environmental permitting while Minto focuses on their other projects," Utter said.

"We will revisit possible collaboration when the environmental permitting is further along."

Minto is the builder of Isles of Collier Preserve, an eco-oriented community it created after acquiring Collier Enterprises' former Sabal Bay property in 2012.

It's also building homes in TwinEagles in North Naples and in more than a half-dozen other communities in Orlando, Tampa, Bradenton, Daytona Beach, Port St. Lucie, Sunrise and Westlake, according to its website.

Most developments the size of Rural Lands West involve a collaboration with multiple builders or developers, and Collier Enterprises expects this project to be no different, Utter said. No announcements about possible builder partners are expected in the near term, though.

"Planning and permitting is a process of taking in feedback, assessing the merits of that feedback and adjusting as needed," Utter said. "Always keeping a watchful eye towards community impact, changes to our plans are also made in response to agency and public input."

Project plans have not changed since 2015. They are based on the county's landmark Rural Lands Stewardship program, which sets guidelines for residential and commercial development as well as for environmental preservation on the site.

The guidelines allow for flexibility and the "ability to adapt to changing market conditions throughout the build-out phase of the community," Utter said.

Homes will be targeted to a broad group of buyers of different ages and incomes, as in the nearby town of Ave Maria.

Build-out for the mixed-use community is expected to take 20 years. Over that time, 10,000 homes are slated to be built, along with 1.9 million square feet of commercial development that would include office, manufacturing, retail, dining, recreation, entertainment, health care, schools, and civic and cultural centers.

"The permitting process is a key step in a series of planning measures, and the plans for Rural Lands West include preserving over 12,000 acres of wetlands and wildlife habitat in perpetuity at no cost to taxpayers," Utter said.

The land slated for development has been used primarily for farming and has been leased to a number of winter vegetable growers.

Mike Bosi, Collier County's zoning director, said a full transportation analysis still is needed to determine the needs for the growing area and what the developer will be required to pay toward road construction and improvements. The study and determination will take six to nine months, he said.

The county recently began a traffic study of the entire Randall Boulevard corridor, including Oil Well Road just to the north and Desoto Boulevard and Everglades Boulevard as they cross Randall.

The study will look for potential new roads, tweaked alignments, expansions and intersection improvements to keep up with the expected number of cars that would travel the area every day.

Collier Enterprises has made two project submittals to the county for zoning approval, and with larger projects, three or four typically are required, Bosi said.

A lot of work still needs to be done to make sure the application meets the requirements of a stewardship receiving area, which the project is being treated as instead of a planned unit development.

"They are eligible to ask for four units per acre, but the application is only requesting 2½ units per acre," Bosi said.

The development still has a number of hoops to jump through besides permitting. A neighborhood information meeting is required, and the project must get through two public hearings: before the Planning Commission for a recommendation and then before the County Commission.

"We're still far off on that," Bosi said.

Unlike a planned unit development, which needs a supermajority vote from the County Commission for approval, a stewardship receiving area requires only a majority vote, or three out of five votes.

More information about the the planned town can be found at rurallandswest.com.