Lennar's proposal to build up to 400 new apartments in eastern Collier County has cleared another hurdle.

On Thursday, the Collier County Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend approval to county commissioners, who will make the final decision.

The project, off Oil Well Road, near Palmetto Ridge High School, requires an amendment to an existing planned unit development, or PUD, known as Orange Blossom Ranch.

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Lennar, a national builder, has voluntarily agreed to set aside 10% of the total units as affordable housing.

The three-story apartment buildings would be built instead of more commercial uses. They'd sit about 1.5 miles east of Immokalee Road, on about 17 acres.

The plans have sparked neighborhood concerns, mostly about their impact on already congested roads.

If all 400 apartments are built, 40 would be offered to renters, or households, earning from 80% to 100% of the county's median income. Collier's median income now sits at $96,800 (for a family of four).

Rich Yovanovich, Lennar's land use attorney, told the planning commission that qualifying renters at the 100% threshold would pay about $2,200 a month for a two-bedroom unit at the new complex — $800 below the market rate of $3,000 for top-tier apartments like the ones planned by his client.

"It is a substantial discount from the market," he said.

Originally, Lennar proposed setting the eligibility cap higher at 120% of median income. While that may have allowed more renters from different income brackets to quality for the less pricey apartments, planning commissioners asked for a lower bar, to help those who are in the most need — and the builder agreed.

The need is being addressed more by developers on the higher end rather than the lower end, said planning commissioner Chris Vernon, so the adjustment from 120% to 100% is a "very good idea."

Proposed apartments "check a lot of boxes"

County staff has recommended in favor of the project.

Mike Bosi, the county's planning and zoning director, told planning commissioners the project checks a lot of the boxes promoted by Collier's growth management plan.

There is a tremendous amount — more than 600,000 square feet — of available commercial opportunities in the surrounding area, "so goods and services are entitled readily," but there's not a prevalence of multi-family rentals, he said.

"We think adding a concentration, 17 acres of multi-family, of apartments provides for housing diversity, which we know we want to promote within the county," Bosi said.

He praised the project for its good transportation and land use planning, saying its new frontage road should significantly benefit nearby residents, improving access and traffic flow.

"All of the individual residents that live within Orange Blossom will now be able to access a grocery store and also other commercial amenities without having to enter on to Oil Well Road," Bosi said. "The residential units that are within close proximity of Orange Tree will also have the opportunity to shorten those trips."

A grocery-anchored shopping center is planned on the commercial land next to the proposed apartments.

The apartment development would provide an internal link to Big Corkscrew Island Regional Park, with a new access road and traffic signal planned by the county, which could also benefit nearby residents.

Historically, the undeveloped land has been used to grow citrus.

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Neighbors concerned about traffic

Despite the positives, neighbors remain concerned about added traffic from the apartments, with thousands more homes already approved to be built on or near Oil Well Road.

Michael Stein, who lives in Orange Blossom Ranch, to the north of the project, told the planning commission that on a recent Monday cars backed up on Oil Well Road from Immokalee Road to "four cars short" of Everglades Boulevard — or for about 1.5 miles — between 6:30 a.m. and 7:45 a.m.

The back-ups happen all too often on school days, he said, so he and his neighbors fear the apartments will only worsen congestion, especially early in the morning.

Sometimes, it can take 20 minutes just to get out to Immokalee Road.

"I'm retired, so it doesn't affect me as much," he said.

However, it does affect his daughter, he said, who works in Bonita Springs and gets stuck in traffic, sometimes for hours, on her morning commute.

Rather than looking at the project's singular impacts, he said, there's a need to consider and address the larger picture, based on all the development that's coming.

"It's just an untenable situation, as all these houses come in," Stein said. "We are against it."

While they didn't speak at the hearing, several other residents in attendance applauded Stein's comments.

In defense, Bosi said county staff does look at the bigger picture when reviewing projects and evaluating traffic impacts.

In reviewing the application, staff found that the apartments would not increase the number of trips generated by, or approved for the planned unit development — at least, during the evening peak — due to a corresponding reduction in commercial uses of 100,000 square feet.

With the land use change, there could potentially be fewer trips generated in the afternoon and evening hours, with renters coming and going and different times.

Mike Sawyer, a transportation planner for the county, pointed to the many improvements on tap to the road network that should significantly ease traffic congestion out east. They include:

• A widening of Randall Boulevard, from Immokalee Road to Eighth Street

• An extension of Vanderbilt Beach Road, from Collier Boulevard to Everglades Boulevard

• A widening of Everglades Boulevard, from the Vanderbilt Beach extension to Oil Well Road

Planning Commission chairman Edwin Fryer expressed the urgent need to speed up the widening of Oil Well Road.

In reply, Sawyer said it could only be advanced "to a point," with right-of-way acquisition and design work expected to take a few years, and construction a few more. Construction is expected to start between 2026 and 2030.

Land use attorney: Lennar has proposed a "good project"

Before the vote, Yovanovich argued traffic would be helped by the county's many planned improvements, as it catches up with growth. He noted Vanderbilt Beach Road could have been extended sooner, if it hadn't faced so much opposition from residents, particularly in Golden Gate Estates.

He reiterated there's already a glut of commercial development in the immediate area, and the project would provide needed rental housing, including affordable housing.

Joe Schmitt, the planning commission's vice chairman, moved to recommend approval of the apartments, finding that the builder had adequately mitigated for the expected traffic impacts.

Vernon seconded the motion, saying it's not fair to punish the builder for existing problems the county needs to address.

As for the complaints about early morning traffic, Schmitt said there's one way to lessen it — by encouraging more parents to put their kids on buses, when possible, instead of taking them to school.

He said it's "really a school board issue."

Some relief could soon be on the way on the schools front.

Amy Lockhart, a representative for the Collier County School Board and a non-voting member of the planning commission, said there may be better ways to serpentine students through drop-off lines, and she'd look into it.

She also shared that a proposed boundary change for Palmetto Ridge, if approved, could eliminate longer trips to the high school, which could calm traffic overall.

New schools and school expansions could also help, she said, although not immediately.

"We hope over time, those capital improvements will also help us reduce traffic in that

concentrated area," Lockhart said.

County commissioners are scheduled to vote on the proposed apartments on Jan. 24.

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Lennar's plans to build 400 apartments in eastern Collier County