COLLIER COUNTY — Residents of Marbella Lakes wanted to make their feelings clear about plans to extend the road along their neighborhood and link it to Pine Ridge Road.
They hate it.
A standing-room only crowd of more than 100 expressed deep concerns Tuesday about added traffic, increased crime and decreased property values in a meeting between county staff and residents.
“This is something that is being done that serves no purpose,” said Barbara Barr. “It’s just going to create a big mess.”
Collier County plans to extend Whippoorwill Lane, which is currently a dead-end road that runs north and south off Pine Ridge Road. The plans will extend the road 4,300 feet to Marbella Lakes Drive. In addition, Marbella Lakes Drive will be extended from Whippoorwill Lane to Livingston Road.
The project will create an L-shaped road that will be called Whippoorwill Lane. The $1 million project, which is expected to take 10 months, is slated to begin this summer.
Growth Management Administrator Nick Casalanguida told residents the road is being added in part to extend the life of Livingston and Pine Ridge roads by giving residents the opportunity to bypass portions of those roads.
The road has been in the works for more than a decade, and in 2006 the approved planned unit development stated that the developer would build the extension, Casalanguida said. But the recession hit and the county could not afford to pay the developer the impact fee credits. As a result, the county agreed to take on the project.
“We want to try to tell you the reason why we are doing this around the county,” Casalanguida said.”You may not like it, but we want you to understand our reasons.”
Residents like Steve Sleightholm said the road won’t be only used by his neighbors, but also by motorists looking for a shortcut to Interstate 75 or Livingston Road. He told county officials that, if the road goes in, they will need to place a traffic light at Livingston Road and the current Marbella Lakes Drive.
“They are not acknowledging human nature, which is that road will be busy with people coming off 75 who want a shortcut to Livingston Road,” he said.
Previous projects have shown that construction of these local roads will be used primarily by the residents who live along them, Casalanguida said. The 30 miles per hour speed limit will also deter people looking for a quick way out, he said.
Barr, a local Realtor, received applause when she spoke about concerns for property values.
“Nothing was said about this road. And now, our development is finished and this project pops up,” she said. “Has a feasibility study been done recently or are these figures obsolete? You say you care about our community. Do you care that our property values are going to drop?”
Casalanguida said he knew of no local road project like the one the county was doing at Marbella Lakes that would affect property values.
But it wasn’t just their property values. Rich Trapani said he was concerned that extending Marbella Lakes Drive to Whippoorwill would bring more crime to the neighborhood and give criminals a quicker route to I-75.
Casalanguida said when the county was connecting roads, it did not take crime into consideration, but said Sheriff Kevin Rambosk would be receptive to residents’ concerns.
The plans will go before the Collier County commissioners at their March 12 meeting before it goes out to bid. Residents said they will be there to voice their concerns.
“You have 1,000 voters who are against this,” said Irwin Druker.
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Comments » 13
TheyPavedParadise2 writes:
Your government knows what is best for you. Resistance is futile. They even smile when they lie to you.
KatoMan writes:
Have you been living in a cave? . .this road was called Whipperwill Drive. . when this road was changed to Marbella Lakes Drive at your develop's request. . the County Commission made it very clear that this was only temporary until the road went through. . . now it will revert back to Whipperwill Drive . . perhaps you should go talk to your developer and not the Commissioners.
AmericasTrueRecoveryBeginsIn2016 writes:
It's nice to see that the NIMBY crowd in Naples is still alive and well.
Given that the planned route for the road expansion is clearly marked on the master development plan for Collier County, and given that information is public record and easily obtainable, no one should really be surprised by this.
This expansion has been public knowledge for almost a decade, and was part of the original plan for development of the Marbella Lakes area (as explained in the article).
The ironic thing is that many of the whiners quoted in the article will frequently use the new road and comment about much it improves their lives once it is done.
BobBarricade writes:
The road was approved before they moved in. Enough said.
swfl_ff writes:
Like the others have stated. That road has been planned by the county for years as a much needed connection for Whiperwill Lane which is now a dead end. It has been clearly shown in all of the Transportation Master Plans. The only reason it had not been built before this was due to budget restraints the past few years.
The good folks in Marabella need to get use to the idea. If they claim that they did not know about this road then they need to blame their developer and real estate agents.
felipe writes:
lol you got 1000 votes against it and you got 30000 votes for it !!! for the good of the people !!! yes it will be used as a short cut , thats the ideal !!! to get traffic off Pine Ridge and moving along !!!
Heraclitus writes:
I thought a consortium of the original developers was supposed to build that infrastructure? Who's paying for this road?
I agree. It needs to be built. I also think it needs a traffic light at Livingston.
wallstreetgeek writes:
can't blame the developers or Collier County, this was approved/permitted prior to one house being built. same crap as the airport or bayfront. do your homework before you buy something. it's all public information with plenty of people at the county to help you locate it and review it.
youngandhot writes:
Well cry me a river!!!
Same old, same old.
I moved here, now lock the gates and throw away the keys.
If you need to control your surroundings and block any progress or growth, buy a house in the middle of 1000 acres in Montana.
If you want to live in Naples, be prepared for the fact that the baby boomers will continue to make this one of their retirement picks.
Growth happens.
napleschik writes:
So now the taxpayers will pay for this road?
wallstreetgeek writes:
impact fee's, gas taxes, the developer and probably a little of county tax payers will help foot the bill. but remember this road will help reduce traffic on other main roads
TheyPavedParadise2 writes:
So I guess this is more important than people who have been living on limerock roads for 20 years with promises of paving, and safety bridges in the Estates?
cozyboy writes:
Will there be room for a CVS and a Walgreens cuz i can never find one down here?
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