Special to East Lee County News
In the rural heart of Lee County, Alva stands as one of the few places where open skies, horse barns, and breathing room are still part of everyday life. But that way of life is now under direct threat. County officials have approved a sprawling development—nearly 1,100 homes across 788 acres at North River Road and Owl Creek Drive—that would fundamentally alter the area’s character and put residents and the environment at risk.
There’s no denying that growth is on the horizon. Lee County is projected to hit a population of one million by 2040. But not all growth is good. Smart growth is essential—growth that aligns with infrastructure capacity, preserves community identity, and protects public safety. What’s happening in Alva fails every part of that test. It’s rushed. It’s shortsighted. It’s careless.
Take, for example, the Fort Myers Central Wastewater Facility, which hasn’t been meaningfully upgraded since 1985. Already under a consent order from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the plant regularly struggles to maintain normal operations. When stormwater floods the system—as it routinely does during hurricane season—raw sewage spills become expected, not exceptional. This is the aging backbone on which new development is being layered.
And it’s not just sewage. The roads serving this area are rural and unprepared to handle the volume of traffic that this new development will bring. Emergency services are stretched thin. Schools are crowded. The very systems meant to protect and serve these future residents, along with the families already living here, are ill-equipped for the burden.
Meanwhile, the proposed housing doesn’t fit the landscape or the lifestyle. Homes squeezed onto 35-foot lots may suit dense urban environments, but they make little sense in a community where barns and open pastures still hold significance. You can’t build a horse barn on 35 feet. And nobody moves to Alva for a subdivision-style existence,, with houses stacked one on top of the other, cookie-cutter style.
This isn’t just an aesthetic concern—it’s a warning about the loss of function, identity, and safety. The county’s planning processes were intended to safeguard rural areas like Alva from dense development. But those systems failed. The land may have been zoned to allow this development, but permitting is not the same as planning, and simply because something is allowable doesn’t mean it’s advisable.
The stakes are more than theoretical. This is storm country. Infrastructure here needs to be stronger, not more strained. The proposed development poses significant risks—risks to families, the environment, and the very foundation of a rural lifestyle that generations have worked hard to preserve.
There is still time to choose a better path. Still time to invest in infrastructure before permitting more pressure. Still time to uphold planning principles that support both growth and preservation. Still time to stop treating Alva like an afterthought.
Alva isn’t anti-growth. The community understands that change is on the way. But it must be the right kind of change—grounded in reality, guided by long-term thinking, and built on a foundation that can support it.
This plan is none of those things. It’s a raw deal. It’s not smart. It’s sloppy, it’s risky, and it’s wrong for Alva or any other sections of rural Lee County.
