"I just think we're doing too much," Lee County Commissioner David Mulicka said on September 2, before he cast the only no vote on a plan change for 192 acres of Alva land along State Road 80. "It's not consistent with the community plans in my opinion, and I think we're just pushing this one too far." The News-Press reported the quote. The paper described the 3-1 vote as moving forward a change that would bring urban use into rural Alva for the first time.
According to the county's staff report on the case, most of the density was already allowed on paper. The bigger changes are where the water and sewer lines go, and whether the Alva Community Plan, the document that discourages density increases here, survives a separate countywide rewrite. Anyone weighing acreage or a home in Alva this fall needs to follow both.
Half the Site Was Already Urban on Paper
The case is CPA2024-00016, known as Caloosa 80. The applicant is Neal Communities of Southwest Florida, LLC. The site covers about 192.3 acres at 18910 Palm Beach Boulevard, south of SR 80, between Bateman Road to the west and Goggin Road to the east.
On the Lee Plan's future land use map, the property is already split in two. The county application form lists 99.64 acres as Urban Community and 92.71 acres as Rural. The amendment only touches the Rural half. It would move those eastern acres into Sub-Outlying Suburban, a newer and lower-density category.
| Portion of the site | Acres | Category today | Density allowed today | Category requested | Density allowed if adopted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Western portion | 99.64 | Urban Community | 1 to 6 units per acre standard, up to 10 with bonus | No change | No change |
| Eastern portion | 92.71 | Rural | Up to 1 unit per acre | Sub-Outlying Suburban | 1 to 2 units per acre, no bonus density |
So the urban-density part of this site is not new. The News-Press reported that the zoning request under review calls for 705 homes, with about 600 of them on the western 100 acres that already carry the urban designation. The figures differ by source. The applicant's own narrative to the county and Gulfshore Business both put the count at 690. County staff calculated that the amended map could allow up to 796 units across the whole site.
The staff report adds a detail most coverage left out. Raising the eastern acres from one unit per acre to two "would not increase the total potential population in the Alva Community Plan Area."
What the Land Could Become With No Vote at All
If the density math changes so little, it helps to know what the site could hold today. According to the News-Press, the property as it stands could be developed with 417 RV sites, commercial uses to support them, and an on-site wastewater treatment facility. Gulfshore Business also reported that the land was zoned for an RV park with up to 417 RVs.
Without the amendment, the existing zoning baseline is an RV park, and advisory board members weighed that tradeoff. The Local Planning Agency recommended transmittal 3-2. Two members found the request inconsistent with the county plan, and a third questioned its consistency but said it looked like an upgrade from what is currently permitted.
For a buyer looking at land near this stretch of SR 80, the lesson applies to any parcel. Current zoning, not the current view, tells you what can happen next door without a hearing.
The Pipe Changes More Than the Category
The biggest physical change in Caloosa 80 is the water and sewer service, not the density. The applicant asked to add all 192.3 acres to Lee County Utilities' future water and wastewater service areas. County staff wrote that "the utility infrastructure is not yet in place, and the developer will need to extend the lines to make higher-density/intensity development possible." Neal's proposal said the developer would pay for water and force-main extensions along SR 80 from River Hall to the site. It also said Lee County Utilities had confirmed capacity. The developer's consultants called county service a major improvement for groundwater quality and for the nearby Caloosahatchee River, the News-Press reported.
This matters because of how the county defines the new category. The Lee Plan says Sub-Outlying Suburban fits areas where "the infrastructure needed for higher density development is not planned or in place." Lines that run east along a state highway can serve more than one property over time.
Then there is commercial use. Staff noted that moving the eastern acres from a "Future Non-Urban Area" to a "Future Suburban Area" could allow more commercial development than Rural does. Rural is limited to Minor Commercial, defined as convenience goods and services under 30,000 square feet. Staff added that the Alva Community Plan has some provisions on commercial development, but none expressly prohibit it. New industrial uses on the site would be banned outright.
Wildlife came up as well. A speaker representing a neighboring family trust told commissioners about panther sightings on the adjacent Hickey Creek property, according to the News-Press. The paper also reported that an FWC biologist who oversees the Hickey Creek Wildlife and Environmental Area has seen panther tracks there. The developer's environmental consultant acknowledged that federal wildlife officials would have to be consulted before development and that any lost panther habitat would have to be mitigated.
The Plan That Weighs In Is Also Up for Deletion
Caloosa 80 is judged against Lee Plan Goal 28, the Alva Community Plan. Goal 28 commits the county to supporting Alva's rural, historic and agricultural character and its natural environment. Policy 28.2.2 discourages future land use amendments that raise Alva's allowable total density. It also requires those amendments to show consistency with the goal through a concurrent planned-development rezoning. Policy 28.2.3 calls for compact, clustered neighborhoods, open space, resource conservation and continued commercial agriculture.
A separate county amendment, CPA2026-00005, would delete that goal. The Local Planning Agency agenda for August 31, 2026 lists Goal 28 among the goals to be deleted. The other community plans in the package would go too, and some of their text would move into other goals and maps. The agenda states that the changes "will not change allowable densities and intensities within Lee County."
On September 22, commissioners canceled the October 7 hearing on the countywide package. They sent it back to staff and asked for a revised timeline plus public outreach, the Pine Island Eagle reported. Alva Inc. is part of the Lee Communities Coalition, which praised the pause. No new schedule had been announced as of mid-October.
That leaves an Alva parcel's future tied to two separate hearings. One decides what one 192-acre site becomes. The other decides whether the rules that weigh in on the next proposal stay in the plan.
What Is Already Being Built on the Approaches
The roads and public services around Alva are changing too. North of the river, FDOT's $85 million, 4.91-mile SR 31 project runs from SR 78 to Lake Babcock Drive. It includes a restricted-crossing U-turn design at North River Road. FDOT's October 8 Roadwatch expects it to be finished in spring 2027. In Alva itself, Lee County approved a roughly $7 million EMS station at 2480 Iversen Street, with construction expected to start this month, WINK reported. A temporary station at 12850 North River Road will serve the area in the meantime.
Reading an Alva Parcel Before You Write an Offer
Everything above points to the same habit. Check what the county's maps and pending cases say about a property and its neighbors, not just how it looks today.
- Look up the future land use category for the parcel and the land around it. Rural, Urban Community and Sub-Outlying Suburban allow very different densities, as the Caloosa 80 site shows.
- Check the utility service area. Whether a property sits inside Lee County Utilities' future water and wastewater service areas affects what can be built nearby.
- Search for pending cases. The county's case page for CPA2024-00016 shows how filings appear. The newest record there as of mid-October is the state review transmittal packet dated September 10, 2026.
- Watch the hearing calendar. The county posts zoning and Lee Plan amendment hearings on its zoning page.
- Follow the countywide amendment. Whether Goal 28 stays in the plan will shape how the next Alva proposal is reviewed.
FAQ
Is Caloosa 80 approved? Not yet. The September 2 vote sent it for Expedited State Review. It then returns to commissioners for an adoption vote, and the staff report lists that hearing date as TBD. Commissioner Trish Petrosky told the News-Press she was "reserving my vote on the next step, adoption."
Did the countywide pause stop Caloosa 80? No. They are separate proceedings. The pause applies only to the countywide Lee Plan and Land Development Code package.
Where did the "first urban use" description come from? The News-Press used it in its September 3 coverage. County staff describe the requested category as moving the land from "Future Non-Urban" to "Future Suburban," on a site that already includes Urban Community land.
This post is general information about land use proceedings, not legal or financial advice. Confirm how any rule applies to a specific property with a land use attorney or the county's planning staff.
If you're looking at Alva acreage or a home near SR 80, iConnect RE can help you pull the land use, utility and pending-case records for the parcel and its neighbors before you commit. Schedule a Consultation, and we'll go through that map with you.
