The Charlotte County Planning and Zoning Board has approved amended rezoning applications for second phases of planned developments in the Burnt Store Road area.

Between Zemel Land Partners LLC, which submitted two applications for two adjoining parcels, and CC Burnt Store LLC’s application, nearly 2,000 residential homes and as much as 300,000 square feet of commercial space could eventually be built in the area.

Zemel Land Partners, represented by attorney Robert Berntsson of The Big W Law Firm, is seeking rezoning approval for its Firelight development. The first application involves nearly 350 acres and an added land use equivalency matrix that allows a mixture of residential and commercial development.

Now, Zemel can either build the 1,000 residential units that were previously approved with no commercial development, or 466 residential units with more than 100,000 square feet of commercial space.

Two of the four parcels are located on Burnt Store Road. One parcel is on Zemel Road, and one is north of Zemel Road, south of Shotgun Road and east of Burnt Store Road.

During the public portion of the meeting, several residents spoke against the rezoning for Zemel Land Partners’ projects.

Burnt Store Village resident Kathleen Sova, noting that there are a lot of wetlands in the area, said the high-water table affected the pool she put on her property. Echoing others, Sova expressed concerns about flooding. She urged officials to cease expanding developments “until all the empty [homes] are filled.”

“I don’t want to be in a place where there are thousands of homes,” she said.

Kathleen Sova

Richard Lincoln held up photos of floodwaters on his property during rainfall when a creek crested into his yard. Floodwaters came close to entering his swimming pool, which he spent $100,000 on, he said.

“How much more water is going to be in my yard? And if it goes across my yard, it floods the next four to five streets and has no place to go,” Lincoln said.

Lincoln also expressed concerns for wildlife. “We have lost thousands,” he said. “I want wildlife.”

Sova said she doesn’t see the sandhill cranes and storks she once did, and that traffic is an issue. Lincoln said he moved to Punta Gorda from Cape Coral, where he said there was too much traffic and crime.

To assuage residents’ fears, Berntsson said that Zemel Land Partners is adding 34 acres, but no density to the site in the first application, which already has been planned for 1,000 units. Also, the commercial area, which will be decided during construction, will occur on 12.44 acres.

Rob Berntsson

Berntsson said developers are preserving 93% of wetlands in their first application and have added lakes for stormwater management. He said older developments along the Burnt Store corridor do not have the same stormwater management systems that new developers are building.

Zoning official Shaun Cullinan said the homes will be a combination of single-family detached, single-family attached villas and townhomes.

For Zemel Land Partners’ second application—which was approved—the residential development adjoins the first parcels and encompasses 144.84 acres. The amended plan reduces residential units by 86, so up to 273 are planned from the original 359.

Berntsson said 98% of wetlands will be preserved in perpetuity.

“Out of 54.96 acres of wetlands, we’re only impacting 1.03 acres and that’s because it’s the only way to connect the road through that area,” he said.

Jie Shao

Outlining the projects and their previous zoning history, county principal planner Jie Shao said building heights will not exceed 38 feet.

The development is located north and east of Prada Drive, south of Zemel Road, east of Burnt Store Road, and west of the Charlotte County Landfill and weigh station in the boundary of the Burnt Store Area Plan.

“That area is directly behind our street,” resident Grace Dattolo told the board. “This land is very wet. It is wetlands.”

Dattolo said the area should not be developed, adding that Punta Gorda “is the top 10th city to retire in and you are ruining it if you continue to bring in commercial products and you destroy all the land.”

Next, applicant CC Burnt Store LLC’s rezoning for Coral Creek Phase 1A was approved.

Not being changed is the allowance of 999 dwelling units, 200,000 square feet of commercial uses, and the transfer of 268 density units to meet the requirement to build the 999 units. Derek Rooney, the attorney at Gray Robinson law firm representing CC Burnt Store LLC, said it might be difficult to find 268 density units to transfer and that the development might end up building 844 residential units.

Coral Creek Phase 1A sits on 306.5 acres across three parcels on Burnt Store Road. No members of the public commented on the Coral Creek development.