On Monday, SCCF attended the meeting of the Lee County Local Planning Agency where amendments to the Lee Plan were discussed. These amendments outlined future changes to Southeast Lee, the area of Lee County that currently includes the Density Reduction Groundwater Resource (DR/GR) area. 

The proposed amendments would allow for increased development in this sensitive area. The DR/GR is the result of a 2007 study by Dover, Kohl and Partners and aimed to protect the county’s aquifers and reduce development pressure on important flow ways and wildlife habitat.

The area is over 83,000 acres and currently has controls on agriculture, mining and development. The proposed amendments were brought by the county in response to landowners seeking individual amendments to develop their land more intensely than the Lee Plan currently allows.

The amendments proposed by the County are wide ranging and serve to loosen restrictions and, in the county’s words, “encourage development.” SCCF Policy Director Matt DePaolis attended the meeting and gave comments questioning how the proposed amendments would ensure ‘adequate’ protections for water supply and wildlife, and the efficacy of additional BMAPs to protect our already impaired waterways. A BMAP, or Basin Management Action Plan, is a framework for water quality restoration that includes a comprehensive set of solutions to achieve pollutant reductions, according to the Florida DEP. 

After listening to concerns of the community the Board voted to incorporate minor changes to the proposed amendments and send them to the Lee County Commissioners for a vote. The public will have an opportunity to weigh in on the proposed amendments when they are heard by the County Commissioners. Subscribe to our Action Alerts to be informed of the meeting.