Representatives of a Punta Gorda citizens group representing more than 11,000 residents in 10 communities opposed the county’s approval of a preliminary plat for a 219-home development encompassing some 332 acres.

Concerned about flooding from water runoff, they’ve asked the county to conduct a detailed hydrology study of the area off Zemel Road, a mile east of Burnt Store Road in Punta Gorda.

Mary Ellen Kiss, spokesperson for the Burnt Store Corridor Coalition, or BSCC, sent an email to Commissioner Chris Constance, which he read at a Jan. 23 Charlotte County Board of County Commissioners meeting, prior to the board’s approval of the subdivision called Firelight.

Unable to attend the commissioners’ January land-use meeting, she and John Fleming, an unofficial leader of the citizens’ group, expressed concerns about potential flooding from the development’s water runoff during rainfall.

BSCC expressed concerns about the corridor’s overdevelopment, which it said is increasing the number of traffic accidents on Burnt Store Road, along with roadkill and other concerns.

“It appears that continued development is a priority without further investigation regarding the implications for the existing communities,” Kiss wrote in the email to Constance.

During the October Planning and Zoning Board meeting in which the development received approval from that board, she and other BSCC members were unavailable to comment, she wrote.

Kiss also stated that the group is “very concerned that there has not been any formal follow-up in response to the Burnt Store Area Plan workshop held on Sept. 19.”

During that workshop, “the commissioners agreed to revisit the 2005 plan to measure the impact development has had on the area,” Fleming said later.

The BSCC asked the county to create an updated master plan for the Burnt Store Corridor, saying the 2005 plan is now obsolete given the area’s growth.

Constance asked his staff and the project’s engineer to provide input prior to the vote on Jan. 23.

Jenny Shao, project coordinator for the county’s community development department, testified that the applicant, Zemel Land Partners LLC, conformed with the Burnt Store Village Future Land Use map and the county’s comprehensive plan.

Constance asked Todd Rebol of Banks Engineering to explain how flooding will be prevented and how the project will affect surrounding communities.

Rebol said an analysis based on a 25-year storm is now ongoing and a swale perimeter surrounding the development would allow runoff to flow around the development and to its natural destination rather than go through the development. Also, ponds would be created to contain excess water.

A ditch, or stream, part of a wildlife corridor, runs next to the proposed development and a bridge would go over it and not cut into it, he said.

Also, since the area has wetlands, the development’s green space would amount to 35% to 40% of the land and not the usual 20%, Rebol said.

He said the hydraulic study will be submitted to the water management district for approval, and work cannot begin until a permit is issued.

The problem with local flooding lies in the way properties were developed prior to 1984, after which water management rules came into effect, Rebol explained to commissioners.

Beginning in the 1950s, developers in North Port and Port Charlotte built ditches to capture water runoff.

“Ditch it and forget it” was the mentality of early developers whose communities had “no detention or anything like that,” Rebol said.

And while the current study is based on a 25-year storm, the base footprint is for a 100-year storm event, he said.

Fleming, who commented after the commissioners voted to approve the preliminary plat plan, said he was “surprised” that Constance voted in favor of it.

Constance said he will be speaking at a BSCC meeting Feb. 8 at the Burnt Store Presbyterian Church. Commissioner Joe Tiseo also will be in attendance. The meeting starts at 2 p.m.

Other county officials are expected to attend, Fleming said following the meeting, to discuss continuing growth along the Burnt Store Corridor.

One of the residents’ problems not discussed at the commissioners’ meeting was the lack of amenities.

Afterward, Fleming said residents have no supermarket and that owners of a 40-acre parcel of land have been wanting to sell it to a supermarket such as Publix.

Except for a Dollar General Store in the area, residents drive nearly 10 miles into Lee County or the approximate same distance to the Punta Gorda Publix off Burnt Store Road to do their shopping.