In a startling post-Christmas miracle, the Immokalee Area Master Plan suddenly has new life!
Collier County Commissioner Jim Coletta, who represents Immokalee and Eastern Collier on the county’s lawmaking panel, announced early Wednesday the State of Florida has extended the deadline for the Master Plan’s adoption at the local level.
At the request of Coletta, working quietly over the holidays with a handful of state legislators in Tallahassee, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DOE) extended the deadline for adoption of Master Plan by nine months, to September 27.
“This will save a lot of time, a lot of money and a lot of effort for the people of Immokalee and all of Collier County,” Coletta said, making the surprise announcement Wednesday in Immokalee.
The state previously set the deadline for December 28, 2011 and it was thought the Immokalee Master Plan was dead after Collier lawmakers failed to formally adopt it on December 13. Adoption by the county commission is the final step in a process spanning nearly a decade costing over $500,000 in Immokalee tax money.
The extension means the Immokalee Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) won’t have to start the approval process from scratch, a costly endeavor that could take as many as two more years and thousands of dollars to complete. The CRA can now continue to work with Collier commissioners to secure final adoption, a huge benefit for the community of Immokalee.
The Master Plan is an amendment to the Collier County Comprehensive Plan and the state was more than considerate on this request because Immokalee is designated as a “Rural Area of Critical Economic Concern.” The Master Plan enhances economic development.
“I am grateful the DOE saw its way clear to extend the deadline,” Coletta said. “I am also grateful to State Sen. Garrett Richter (R-Naples) and State Sen. Mike Bennett (R-Sarasota) for working with me to persuade the state to allow us to keep working on the Master Plan without having to start all over from the beginning.”
“This is the Immokalee Community’s opportunity to review, scrutinize and adjust the plan and work with the Collier County Board of County Commissioners to realistically address the impeding issues and to complete the blueprint for a real future for Immokalee,” said Penny Phillippi, executive director of the Immokalee CRA.
“District Five Commissioner Jim Coletta and state legislators have done their part, now it is time for the community to learn what the plan means and how it will affect their individual interest,” Phillippi said.
The next step will be for one of two county commissioners not voting for the plan to agree to bring it back for a reconsideration vote at the January 10th commission meeting.
While the final Immokalee Master Plan vote will need a super majority vote of four commissioners for approval, the vote for reconsideration will require only a simple majority of three commissioners. With the nine month extension the commissioners may decide to make the final decision after the August 14th primary election to lessen the degree of political pressure.
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