Development

In a unanimous vote that could set up a major legal showdown, Sarasota County commissioners this week moved to block developers from building large apartment complexes next to rural homes and farmland, rejecting applications amid legal uncertainty over a controversial state law.

Conservation groups sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Wednesday to protect endangered Florida panthers from a new development within the panthers’ occupied breeding habitat in Collier County. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Fort Myers, said the federal agencies violated the Endangered Species Act when they authorized a 10,264-acre residential and commercial development project known as Rural Lands West in important habitat for panthers in Collier County.

The vacant 61 acres that sits on the north and south sides of the intersection at Alico Road and U.S. 41 won’t sit empty much longer.

The Florida Legislature has just days in the current session to kill controversial provisions in a state law limiting local jurisdictions from regulating growth. Senate Bill 180, which passed with nearly unanimous approval last year, limits cities and counties from advancing any measures deemed more “burdensome or restrictive” on development in the wake of major storms. The law spurred backlash from local governments that had spent months — in some cases years — crafting planning policies, only to see them struck down by the state.

The Seven Islands development, a large-scale approximately 48-acre project dating back to 2015, is planning to break ground in Northwest Cape Coral on the east side of the Spreader Canal after it was unanimously passed by the Cape Coral City Council on Jan. 21. But as some residents are happy for the addition to the underdeveloped region of the city, others are circumspect as to how it will impact traffic, environment, infrastructure, and the charm.

Rapid development in Cape Coral is putting pressure on wildlife habitats, prompting concern from conservation groups, city leaders and residents about the future of native species.

Fast-growing coastal counties have used impact fees to pay for growth for decades. Rural, slower-growing counties to a lesser extent

A court ruled against Lee County in a case that could affect new housing projects. One of them, Kingston Development, is planned for thousands of homes in southeast Lee County. The circuit court judge's ruling went against Lee County in the approval of a waste-water treatment plant on Alico Road.

Plans for an upscale community along Bonita Beach Road live on after a suspenseful city council meeting Wednesday night.Council voted 4-3 to allow for changes to its comprehensive plan that will enable Seagate Development Group to build Revana Lakes, a 299-home community across from the Palmira community. Comprehensive plans are blueprints for how cities and counties want to control growth.

Bonita Springs is getting a view of what could be done to revitalize the prime real estate around the Liles Hotel.The historic building is located on Old U.S. 41 in the heart of downtown.