When residents living in Charlotte County’s Peace River Shores and surrounding communities learned that nearly 140 acres in their area were being rezoned to allow for a 1,188-unit development, they joined forces to oppose it.
The group, No Tag Lakeside, is concerned overdevelopment in the open acreage north of Turbak Drive, south of Peace River Shores Boulevard, east of Cobalt Boulevard and west of Duncan Road/U.S. 17 will negatively impact wildlife and cause pollution.
Previously zoned for just 135 units, Charlotte County Board of Commissioners on Sept. 10 approved the rezoning request of developer Tag Lakeside LLC, represented by attorney Rob Berntsson of the Big W Law Firm.
Courtney Mason serves as spokesperson for the No Tag Lakeside group and has appeared before the county’s Planning and Zoning Board and BOCC to explain how the development would hurt wildlife and displace gopher tortoises. She said a 2023 study found 254 gopher tortoise burrows in the area.
The acreage also serves as a scrub jay habitat, and the tortoise burrows are used by other animals.
“We do not want to be surrounded by big apartments and commercial buildings,” Mason said. “We do not want to have our wildlife and their habitat destroyed, and we do not want our waters to become more polluted by Tag’s development.”
County Principal Planner Jie Shao said at a July 10 Planning and Zoning Board meeting the developer will preserve approximately 48.9 acres of scrub jay habitat and preserve about 11.77 acres of creek preservation area, adding that the development “abides by the county’s future land-use policy.”
Mason said 48 acres set aside for wildlife is not enough. She has been sending emails to environmental organizations, conservationists and others to alert them to the development and to seek advice.
She was soon joined by Peace River Club residents Denise Gentile and Sara Cheeseman. They began to work on sign designs and created a flyer to alert residents to the potential impacts the development could have on stormwater pollution, protected marine species and neighborhood flooding, as well as how it would displace tortoises that would eventually be removed and placed in another habitat.
“Peace River Shores still has ditches full of water after [Hurricane Helene],” Mason said. She contends the development would increase flooding to the area affected by Helene and rising water from Jim Long Lake, which is connected to Lee Branch Creek and Hunter Creek.
The group last met Sept. 29 with a larger-than-expected turnout considering some residents’ homes were flooded by Helene a few days prior. Residents from Peace River Shores, Peace River Club and Palm Shores were invited to attend, and approximately 50 showed up, Mason said.
The group plans to spread the word to others who prefer to see the land preserved rather than high-density development.
Before the development’s final site plan can be approved, Tag Lakeside LLC has to clear some hurdles. It must find providers for the development’s stormwater and utility services. “We have to have central water and sewer before final approval. The developer will have to provide its own service,” Berntsson said at a Sept. 10 commissioners meeting.
Mason said members of No Tag Lakeside will speak during the public portion of the Nov. 26 commission’s land-use meeting at 2 p.m. at 18500 Murdock Circle in Port Charlotte.
