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DRI impact study filed for the Town of Big Cypress

February 1, 2008

Collier Enterprises plans to build a sustainable community on 2,800 acres in eastern Collier County Collier Enterprises has submitted a Development of Regional Impact (DRI) application to Collier County and the Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council for the Town of Big Cypress, the company’s new community in eastern Collier County. The company plans to create a sustainable community with varied residential neighborhoods as well as jobs, shopping, health care, schools, civic and cultural activities, and recreation, according to Tom Flood, president and CEO. The application outlines plans for development of about 2,800 acres over a period of 12 to 15 years. “Our planning began more than a year ago with a broad, three-decade vision for our entire Big Cypress Stewardship District and associated lands. We held a series of community meetings and tried to imagine how eastern Collier County might evolve over the next generation or two,” Flood said. “After a lot of conversation with area residents, and considerable research and consultation with environmental experts, we’ve decided to locate our new town in the heart of our Big Cypress Stewardship District, between Golden Gate Estates and Ave Maria.” Big Cypress will include approximately 9,000 residential units, with a proportionate amount of commercial space for businesses, jobs, shops and services for residents of the community and the eastern part of the county. Under the Rural Lands Stewardship Program, Collier Enterprises will protect 10,000 acres of environmentally significant wetlands and wildlife habitat in conjunction with the creation of the town of Big Cypress. The company has identified lands that will help protect the Camp Keais Strand and Okaloacoochee Slough, the two regional ecosystems within the county’s Rural Lands Stewardship Area. Flood noted that the latest plans reflect substantial changes and refinements since the company announced Big Cypress in the fall of 2006. Many of the changes evolved during the course of discussions with members of the community, residents of Golden Gate Estates and other nearby areas, representatives of environmental groups, and national experts in land use, community development and protection of sensitive ecosystems. As part of the project launch in November 2006, the company hosted workshops to seek public input. “We received great ideas and recommendations, and we learned more about the concerns of local residents, particularly people already living in the eastern part of the county. Our current plans incorporate many of the ideas and preferences voiced by the community,” Flood said. Other recommendations, including input from a group of high school and university students, focused on finding better ways to promote environmental sustainability and stewardship. (A full summary of community input is posted on the Collier Enterprises Web site, www.collierenterprises.com.) The DRI process is a key step in a series of planning measures likely to extend over the next several years. Rosen said that site preparation work at Big Cypress should begin in 2010, with the first homes coming on the market in 2011.