Changed zoning could bring 2,000 homes and commercial space to the Burnt Store area

The Charlotte County Planning and Zoning Board has approved amended rezoning requests for the second phase of planned developments in the Burnt Store Road area.

Between Zemel Land Partners LLC, which submitted two applications for two adjacent properties, and the application from CC Burnt Store LLC, the area could ultimately see nearly 2,000 homes and up to 300,000 square feet of commercial space built.

Zemel Land Partners, represented by attorney Robert Berntsson of The Big W law firm, is seeking approval to rezone its Firelight project. The initial application is for nearly 350 acres and an additional land use equivalency matrix that allows for a mix of residential and commercial development.

Now Zemel can build either the 1,000 residential units previously approved without commercial development, or 466 residential units with more than 9,200 square meters of commercial space.

Two of the four parcels are located on Burnt Store Road. One parcel is located on Zemel Road, one is north of Zemel Road, one is south of Shotgun Road and one is east of Burnt Store Road.

During the public portion of the meeting, several residents spoke out against the rezoning of Zemel Land Partners’ projects.

Burnt Store Village resident Kathleen Sova pointed out that the area has many wetlands. She said the high water table has affected the pool she had built on her property. Like others, Sova expressed concerns about flooding. She urged authorities to halt construction projects “until all the empty (houses) are filled.”

“I don’t want to be in a place where there are thousands of houses,” she said.

Kathleen Sova

Richard Lincoln held up photos of flooding on his property when a stream flooded into his yard during a rainstorm. The floodwaters nearly entered his swimming pool, which he spent $100,000 on, he said.

“How much water is going to be left in my yard? And if it goes over my yard, it will flood the next four or five streets and have nowhere to go,” Lincoln said.

Lincoln also expressed his concern for wildlife. “We’ve lost thousands,” he said. “I want wildlife.”

Sova said she doesn’t see the sandhill cranes and storks like she used to and traffic is a problem. Lincoln said he moved to Punta Gorda from Cape Coral, where he said there is too much traffic and crime.

To allay residents’ fears, Berntsson said Zemel Land Partners is adding 34 acres but is not densifying the site in the initial application, as 1,000 units are already planned. In addition, the commercial zone, which will be decided during construction, will be on 12.44 acres.

Rob Berntsson

Berntsson said developers would preserve 93% of the wetlands and add lakes for stormwater management in their first application. He said older developments along the Burnt Store corridor do not have the same stormwater management systems that new developers are building.

Land use planning officer Shaun Cullinan said the homes would be a combination of detached single-family homes, terraced homes and townhouses.

According to Zemel Land Partners’ second application, which was approved, the residential development is adjacent to the first parcels and covers 144.84 acres. The amended plan reduces the number of residential units by 86, bringing the original plan down to 273 from 359.

Berntsson said 98 percent of the wetlands would be preserved permanently.

“Out of 54.96 acres of wetland, we are only impacting 1.03 acres and that is because this is the only way to get the road through this area,” he said.

Jie Shao

Jie Shao, the county’s chief planner, explained the projects and their zoning history, saying building heights will not exceed 38 feet.

The development is located north and east of Prada Drive, south of Zemel Road, east of Burnt Store Road, and west of the Charlotte County Landfill and Weigh Station within the boundaries of the Burnt Store Area Plan.

“This area is right behind our road,” resident Grace Dattolo told the panel. “This land is very wet. It’s a wetland.”

Dattolo said the area should not be developed. He added that Punta Gorda is “the 10th most popular town to retire to and you’re going to ruin it if you keep bringing in commercial products and destroying all the land.”

Next, the rezoning of Coral Creek Phase 1A was approved by applicant CC Burnt Store LLC.

What remains unchanged is the allocation of 999 residential units, 200,000 square feet of commercial use and the transfer of 268 residential units to meet the requirement to build the 999 units. Derek Rooney, an attorney with the Gray Robinson law firm representing CC Burnt Store LLC, said it could be difficult to find 268 residential units to transfer and that the project could end up with 844 residential units.

Coral Creek Phase 1A covers 306.5 acres on three lots on Burnt Store Road. No member of the public commented on the Coral Creek development.