Longwater and Bellmar Villages

Help us stop Collier County from getting a raw deal

On Tuesday, May 25, the Collier County Board of County Commissioners will cast the final vote on two proposed 1,000-acre villages, called Longwater and Bellmar, located in the Rural Lands Stewardship Area (RLSA) or eastern Collier County. Collier Enterprises, the landowner-developer, is promoting a slick public relations campaign that proudly exclaims the supposed public benefits of approving these new villages.

Here is what Collier Enterprises is not telling you and why the Board of County Commissioners needs to hear your concerns regarding Longwater and Bellmar:

• Longwater and Bellmar will result in a $92.2 million deficit for traffic impacts.
• Longwater and Bellmar will cause significant traffic impacts to already deficient Immokalee Road.
• At the March 18, 2021, Longwater hearing, Collier County staff admitted that there will be several failing roadways even before the projects are built; however, the villages’ traffic will make those same roads even worse.
• The economic assessments for Longwater and Bellmar understate costs to provide the villages with services such as emergency medical services (EMS), fire, schools, and sheriff protection.
• Per RLSA rules, Collier Enterprises is required to provide a fiscal analysis for Longwater and Bellmar’s impacts on the Collier County Water Sewer District. However, this analysis was never provided by the developer.
• The endangered Florida panther is our state animal and a symbol of Florida. Longwater and Bellmar would result in the destruction of 2,000 acres of primary panther habitat.
• 12,000-acres in exchange for the villages and a 515-acre town core. The 12,000-acre property is located in an area of the RLSA that has policies in place that strictly limit development. In other words, even if the developer wanted to develop the 12,000 acres, approximately 86% of those lands are protected from development by virtue of the property’s location within the RLSA.
• Each year, nearly 20,000 acres of Florida’s agricultural lands are converted to development or are compromised. Longwater and Bellmar alone would contribute to a loss equivalent to nearly 10% of the states’ total yearly loss of agricultural lands.

What can you do?

Please help us stop Collier County from getting a raw deal. Please tell your County Commissioner that approval of Longwater and Bellmar Villages would create severe traffic impacts, pass tens of millions of dollars of costs on to taxpayers, and destroy two thousand acres of primary panther habitat of the endangered Florida panther. Our community cannot afford to subsidize these massive poorly-planned developments, nor should we. Act Now before the quality of life that we enjoy so much in Collier County is nothing more than a distant memory.

Instructions for how to participate on May 25th are found here.

To learn more about the history of the RLSA and the proposed villages, please read these informative articles by Strong Towns.

• Where Did We Come From, and Where Are We Going?
• “Innovative” Growth or Business as Usual?

Additional Information

• Longwater and Bellmar will result in a $92.2 million deficit for traffic impacts. The Conservancy’s traffic expert, Norm Marshall of Smart Mobility, Inc. estimates that Longwater will result in a $48.4 million deficit and Bellmar will result in a $43.8 million deficit for transportation improvements based on the percentage of improvements the developments’ traffic will consume and after impact fee revenues are paid by the developer. The County is allowing the developer to get away with this by stating that many of the planned road improvements, such as new and widened roads, are being planned simply because of anticipated population growth in eastern Collier County. However, we know that the villages are the reason for much of the population increases in eastern Collier County and why the County is planning for road improvement projects. Because the RLSA requires fiscally neutral development, the developer must be responsible for road improvements necessitated by the construction of the villages.
• Longwater and Bellmar will cause significant traffic impacts to already deficient Immokalee Road. Traffic expert, Norm Marshall of Smart Mobility, Inc., reviewed development plans for Longwater and Bellmar and stated that Immokalee Rd will be “An Avoidable Train Wreck.” The 2045 Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) confirms Mr. Marshall’s prediction. A figure within the 2045 LRTP depicts several segments along Immokalee Road that will fail, even with planned transportation projects that are supposed to alleviate congestion.
• At the March 18, 2021 Longwater hearing, Collier County staff admitted that there will be several failing roadways even before the projects are built; however the villages’ traffic will make those same roads even worse. Although the County has committed roadway improvement plans to alleviate traffic congestion on some of the roads, not all failing road segments will be cured. Logic follows that more traffic should not be added to failing roads.
• The economic assessments for Longwater and Bellmar understate costs to provide the villages with services such as emergency medical services (EMS), fire, schools, and sheriff protection. This is done by underestimating the population of the villages by using an inflated vacancy rate and by projecting low numbers of person’s per housing unit. Taxpayers will either end up paying the additional costs to provide the villages with necessary services or county programs will be underfunded.
• Per RLSA rules, Collier Enterprises is required to provide a fiscal analysis for Longwater and Bellmar’s impacts on the Collier County Water Sewer District. However, this analysis was never provided by the developer. Collier County is building a $156.4 million water and wastewater treatment plant in the northeast area of the county to serve the villages and a few other developments. Longwater and Bellmar will consume over 41% of the capacity for phase one of the new plant, making it even more imperative to provide an analysis to correctly assess the developer’s fiscal impact on those plants. The County provided its own fiscal impact analysis during the Longwater and Bellmar hearing using previously undisclosed sources and data. This analysis should have been provided by the developer prior to the hearings for a third-party review and public transparency.
• The endangered Florida panther is our state animal and a symbol of Florida. Longwater and Bellmar would result in the destruction of 2,000 acres of primary panther habitat. The newly proposed Town of Big Cypress increases impacts to primary panther habitat to over 3,200 acres. This would be a tragic loss for the panther as the species is already restricted to less than 5% of its historic range and only 120 to 230 panthers are left in existence. The loss of additional primary habitat from these two villages places the panther closer toward the brink of extinction.
• Collier Enterprises has stated on their website that they will preserve 12,000-acres in exchange for the villages and a 515-acre town core. The developer’s website states: “Collier Enterprises will preserve more than 12,000 environmentally sensitive acres as part of the plan for the Town of Big Cypress and the villages of Rivergrass, Longwater, and Bellmar.” On the surface, a 12,000-acre preserve in exchange for 3,500 acres of development may seem like a great deal, but there is a lot more to their plans that the developer is not disclosing, making it a raw deal for Collier County.
• The 12,000-acre preserve generates enough credits to entitle SIX villages of approximately 1,000 acres, not three villages as they would lead you to believe.
• Collier Enterprises’ is not giving up rights to develop all 12,000 acres by placing those lands in preservation. The 12,000-acre property is located in an area of the RLSA that has policies in place that strictly limit development. In other words, even if the developer wanted to develop the 12,000 acres, approximately 86% of those lands are protected from development by virtue of the property’s location within the RLSA.
• Each year, nearly 20,000 acres of Florida’s agricultural lands are converted to development or are compromised. Longwater and Bellmar alone would contribute to a loss equivalent to nearly 10% of the states’ total yearly loss of agricultural lands. This is very unfortunate because agricultural lands provide long-term food security for the region, more access to healthy foods, significant contributions to the economy, employment, water recharge, habitat for listed species and habitat connections, and flood risk reduction.