A group of Buckingham residents again has mobilized to prevent a housing density boost near their rural neighborhoods east of Fort Myers.
The residents plan to wear red shirts as a show of solidarity, they said.
At 9:30 a.m. Feb. 7 at the Old Lee County Courthouse, Lee County commissioners will consider allowing Pinnacle Development Group to build 259 homes on 130 acres instead of the currently permitted total of 160, according to the county.
The 130 acres are bordered by Orange Grove Boulevard to the north, Staley Road to the west and Homestead Lane to the south, all of which are two-lane roads. The land also connects to the headwaters of Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve.
According to minutes from a previous hearing, Carl Barraco of Barraco and Associates said, “The wetlands on the subject property are dying, utility construction on Orange River Road would be necessary for the requested units or the previously approved 160 units, and that the conveyance for storm water on the subject property will require extensive work due to its insufficient ability to drain water from the south.”
Barraco and Associates is an engineering firm working for Pinnacle. Pinnacle and Barraco could not be reached for further comment.
Terri Lodge has lived in Buckingham since 1987 and works as a real estate agent. Even though more housing means more money for her and her business, she has been battling against this density increase for the past three years.
“I’m a small-town girl,” Lodge said. “And living in Buckingham, that’s my lifestyle. I don’t like seeing that changed.”
Buckingham Preserve formed as part of the Lee Comprehensive Land use plan in 1988, said longtime resident John Wilkes. It became official in 1991, county records show.
The piece of property in question was not included in Buckingham Preserve, because the owner at the time did not want to be included in it, Wilkes said. But the zoning approval for 160 homes was decided upon—until Pinnacle began seeking to change it in 2021.
Wilkes said he also had environmental concerns over the density boost.
“We’ve only got so much fresh water in the ground,” Wilkes said. “What are we going to do when we run out of water? These wetlands out here, they’re saying they’re drying up.”
Pinnacle, with help from Lennar Homes and Pulte Homes, developed River Hall near Riverdale. That development received zoning for 2,695 homes on 712 acres, averaging 3.7 homes per acre, county records show.
Pinnacle purchased the 130 Buckingham acres for $1.23 million in 2014, property records show.
The density boost would help the developer absorb costs of about $3,000 per home, or $4,749 per lot instead of $7,687 per lot.
The density boost would allow two homes per acre instead of 1.2 per acre. The adjacent Buckingham Preserve allows one home per acre.
Nancy Hutto, a longtime Buckingham resident, also plans on speaking at the hearing.
“People have no idea what’s going on here,” Hutto said. “They put their heads in the sand. And then all of a sudden, when you have a problem, they want you to solve it.
“We’ve been doing this for almost three years. It’s been a hard fight. And we want to be sure and win on this. Because we don’t want this in a rural area.
“We know there’s going to be development. But we don’t want cookie cutter homes here. Horse Creek is beautiful. River Grove is beautiful. We wouldn’t mind that at 1 acre.”
