Homebuilder shares plans for new residential development

SimplyDwell Homes, the newest brand from Neal Communities, shared its East County plans to build 99 single-family homes with the public, some who were not pleased to hear another development was on its way. 

The approximately 43-acre proposed site is generally located north of State Road 64, east of Zipperer Road and north of Uihlein Road. 

“We’re angry,” Waterline Road resident Lindsey Ryan said. “Year after year after year, we’re watching everything get plowed down around us.” 

About 30 residents attended the neighborhood workshop held at Bayside Community Church’s Lakewood Ranch campus on Nov. 12.

Commissioners approved a rezone of the site from Mixed Use Community Residential to Residential 1 on Nov. 7, which clears the way for the proposed development to fit within the county’s zoning requirements. Only Commissioner Jason Bearden was opposed. 

The approximate density of the community is planned to be 2.3 dwelling units per acre, but the actual proposal to build 99 homes needs a separate approval from the commission. 

Courtesy image

Katie LaBarr, principal planner for the consulting firm Stantec, estimated the project will be presented during a public hearing sometime in spring 2025. If approved, SimplyDwell will break ground sometime between late 2025 and early 2026.

Ryan’s fear is that the development could lead to Zipperer Road being extended because a secondary access point to the new community is planned for 18th Avenue East, which connects to Zipperer Road.

“It would literally run along the side of our property,” Ryan said. 

She and her husband, Mike Ryan, operate a nonprofit on the Waterline Road property. DD’s Miracle Minis offers equine and animal assisted therapies, so they said a road would have impacts on more than just their home.

Photo by Lesley Dwyer

Some residents said a more general fear stems from Hurricane Debby causing widespread flooding in the area in August. Residents who attended the meeting wanted to know how stormwater management would be handled. Matt Morris of Morris Engineering took the lead on explaining the plan.

“We’re not in the business of raising property and just letting the water flow off onto other properties,” he said. “Yes, the property will be raised, but it’ll be graded such that all the water that falls on the property from rain goes into the stormwater ponds we’re constructing.” 

Morris said that a typical development in East County reserves between 12% and 15% of the overall acreage for stormwater ponds. The SimplyDwell plan provides nearly double that range with about 23% of the acreage reserved for stormwater ponds. 

Another concern brought by residents was on behalf of nesting birds on the property. Residents say they've seen owls, crested caracaras and scissor-tailed kites in the area, but none of the three were observed during the wildlife study. 

Residents said they don't believe it, especially when it came to the scissor-tailed kites not being sighted. A collective grumble rippled through the room, and one irritated resident told the staff to “look up” to see the birds. 

Residents requested a third-party wildlife study. There’s no answer yet as to whether or not the study will be performed, but LaBarr said the planned habitat preservation is required to be put into a conservation easement. 

According to the project’s environmental narrative, 1.18 acres of native wetland habitat and 2.73 acres of native upland habitat will be preserved. 

In addition to an independent wildlife study, residents requested the stormwater management be designed to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s new forecasted rainfall levels and the construction dust be kept under control by clear cutting only a few acres at a time. 

The neighborhood workshop team couldn’t give residents answers on the spot. Following the meeting, Christine McKelvey, director of marketing for Neal Communities, said in an email that staff had already reached out to neighbors to schedule in-person meetings. 

“Our team will discuss the feedback from the meeting and make accommodations if possible,” McKelvey said.