Neighborhood Voices

I have been a homeowner on [redacted] for over 25 years. I read the Golden Gate Master Plan and believed my properties were safe based on the legal language within this supposedly "unchangeable" master plan. Now I find myself constantly competing against the power brokers in town who want to change it into something it was never intended to be. I'm just utterly crushed over this whole proposed project as it will be an absolute disaster for my neighborhood.

My husband and I intentionally chose this area to raise our three boys away from dense communities. I have personally visited other estate-designated neighborhoods such as Pine Ridge, Livingston, Logan Woods, and Vineyards Estates. None of these communities contain multi-unit housing developments within estate zoning areas. Allowing such a change here would set a dangerous precedent.

I've lived off of [redacted] for 15 years and I'm raising 3 young boys in our home. They're constantly biking and jogging on our road. I have an easement on my property that won't allow me to build a shed or basketball court but on the same type of land they want to build 36 units?!? Why even have master plans if people can just go and undo them?

From my professional perspective in urban design and architecture, I've seen this pattern before. Incremental changes like this — framed as isolated or reasonable — are often the starting point of broader shifts that lead to displacement, loss of neighborhood identity, and long-term gentrification. Once the precedent is set, it becomes much harder to protect what made the area livable in the first place.

I moved here for my kids to lead a different lifestyle than Miami and for us to have our forever home into retirement. Now it feels like we didn't move far enough away. Please consider your legacy. Are you the commissioner that laid waste to the land or the one that kept it semi rural?

Where does the change of zoning stop? We bought homes planning a legacy, and with a quick vote you can wipe out neighborhoods. Private homeowners can't afford attorneys to fight these changes. We have only you to stop this madness. I never thought I'd feel this hopeless or powerless to protect my home, neighborhood and my financial security.

I've lived in Golden Gate Estates since I was born — 19 years ago — and my family has even longer. The character of the Estates is unique to anywhere else I've ever seen. In recent years, the overdevelopment has not only led to overcrowding and tripled commute times, but it has affected the wildlife that we have historically always lived alongside.

The number one reason we moved to this area was because of the estate zoning, and the assurance that the Golden Gate Parkway corridor would be protected from high-density development. For the county to change the rules that many of us have relied upon would be just plain wrong and a violation of the trust we've placed in County government.

We are a dead end street bordering a 6 lane roadway — all those 36-90 people will only walk down our little street. The worst part is having the loss of a buffer for the family to the south. This is a real financial loss and not the lifestyle they bargained for. Please let it be known rurally zoned estate homes are incompatible with 36 townhomes.

As I sit here on my 2.73 acres, I cannot even fathom the thought of 36 families living next door to me. This is complete exploitation by the developers, a pure money grab. There are plenty of alternative locations. Any developer seeking such an arrangement is on a pure profit extraction mission and compromising a significant Master Plan that our residents depend upon.

I grew up in Golden Gate Estates. My parents purchased their home in 1984. It is now becoming a shell of what it once was. It takes me 45 minutes to take my child to school in the morning — a school that is only 8 miles away. I'm tired of developers destroying my home town.

During the November 2025 Planning Commission Meeting, planning staff mentioned that the wastewater system within this corridor is at capacity. The Golden Gate Parkway Congestion study indicates the Parkway is at capacity. The recommended improvements are unfunded and may take 10 years to complete. The infrastructure cannot support this project.

Like many of my neighbors, I made a significant long-term investment to live in this area. We chose this location because of its character, its density, and the expectations set by the County's adopted plans. When those expectations are changed through isolated approvals, it undermines confidence in the planning process itself. If the rules can change in this way, what can residents rely on?

I have been here in Naples for 59 years. Also an Army veteran who served his country for 6 years. I have seen the growth and what it does to all of us. At some point there needs to be a stopping point and this is it. Leave the Estates alone — quit trying to make us like the rest of Naples, overcrowded just so the county can make money on our backs.

I moved to the Estates 24 years ago to be away from all the development and not have people crammed on top of one another. I have seen nothing but the destruction of what the Estates was meant to be, unchecked development, destruction of the wildlife habitat that I hold dear, and infrastructure that can't support what is here now.

I am born and raised in Naples, Florida, and I am beyond tired of watching our natural land get eaten up by nonstop development. Areas like Golden Gate Estates are some of the last places that still feel like real Florida. Once this land is gone, it is gone forever. No amount of money or development can bring it back.

Naples — and especially the Estates — used to stand out because of its space, its balance with nature, and a certain quiet quality you just can't replicate once it's gone. When decisions prioritize short-term gains over long-term livability, that identity starts to slip away piece by piece. Growth isn't the problem — how it's handled is.

I moved out here 42 years ago. You've already made so many changes it's almost unrecognizable now. You need to look at how low our water aquifer is. It's been critically low for many years. All development needs to be stopped. When are you going to worry about this — when the fresh water is gone?