Nearly a decade of planning, $500,000 in cost all went for naught December 13 when the Collier County Commission failed to formally adopt the Immokalee Area Master Plan. 

The plan, a blueprint for the community's transformative future, needed four of the five county lawmakers to for it. Only three voted in favor: Commissioners Jim Coletta, Donna Fiala and Fred Coyle. 

Commissioner Georgia Hiller voted against the plan, saying it is deceptive and will only hurt Immokalee. Commissioner Tom Henning abstained form the vote altogether, citing what he said was a conflict of interest because he owns property in Immokalee. 

Penny Phillippi, executive director of the Immokalee Community Redevelopment Agency, said Immokalee will be undeterred and will begin the lengthy approval process once again from the beginning to press forward toward realizing the community's dreams and aspirations. 

The renewed approval process will take another 18 months to two years. 

Read the Naples Daily News coverage of the debate and vote here. 

Read and watch a video from WINK-TV here. 

Read and watch a video from NBC-2 News here. 

Click here to read a log of live Tweets from the December 13th Collier commission debate.