Collier County’s zoning director has sided against residents in their fight against a proposed water park at the Naples Grande Beach Resort.
On March 20, Mike Bosi, the county’s planning and zoning director, made his official interpretations of the land development code in favor of the resort.
Naples attorney Douglas Lewis asked for the interpretations as a representative for Bay Villas, the small tight-knit neighborhood that would sit closest to the new water park in the bounds of the Pelican Bay community.
Lewis could not immediately be reached for comment.
The Naples Grande is part of the Pelican Bay Planned Unit Development (PUD) in North Naples.
Bay Villas is one of more than 90 distinct neighborhoods and subdivisions in the expansive development, which has more than 6,500 residences, including high-rise condos and single-family homes.
Days after the release of the official interpretations, during public comment at a county commission meeting on March 24, Andy Dimitriou, president of the Bay Villas Homeowners Association, said his group believed “staff got it wrong.”
“We expect to be filing appeals before the end of the week,” he said. “We are working on it right now, just to give you a heads up.”
Public discussion limited at commission meeting
Dimitriou and other opponents went to the commission meeting to make their voices heard, but Dan Kowal, the board’s chairman, limited discussion, saying it wasn’t the right time for it, with the matter likely to end up on a future agenda.
Kowal pointed out the resort’s owners weren’t at the meeting to give their “rebuttal.”
Some opponents who signed up to speak chanted “No Water Park” and booed Kowal’s decision. One of the nine intended speakers burst out that hearing from opponents now would “make you more prepared” in the future.
“Listen, I’m making a split-haired decision,” Kowal said in reaction to the criticism. “I’m just trying to keep the sanctity of this chamber intact. That’s all.”
He emphasized he just wanted to “follow the rules.”
“There are some rules, and you know, sometimes, we don’t like them, but we have to abide by them,” Kowal said.
Attorney: Commission won’t make a decision on the park itelf
Asked for his advice, county attorney Jeffrey Klatzkow told the board if the code interpretations are appealed as expected, he’d prepare an executive summary for commissioners to discuss the matter publicly at a future board meeting.
At this point, Klatzkow said the board’s decision would be about whether it agreed or disagreed with Bosi’s code interpretations — not on the water park itself.
Commissioner Chris Hall, whose district includes the resort, reiterated Klatzkow’s point that the board would not be voting on the water park itself. He said he’d sent out 500 responses by email to opponents in an effort to clear up “misinformation” that had suggested otherwise.
“We are not voting on the water park,” he said. “It won’t come to us for approval or rejection. It never has. It never will.”
Asked for his thoughts, Bosi said the appeals could be heard by the county’s hearing examiner first or go directly to county commissioners for a decision, depending on the will of the board.
The new water park — described by the resort’s owners as an amenity — would include two pools, with a lazy river, three slides and a splash pad. It would replace the tennis courts, which back up to Crayton Road.
So far, the resort’s owners have only submitted for a site development plan amendment, which is under review by county staff. The amendment is something that can be approved administratively, with no public hearings required.
The project — part of a larger reimagining of the waterfront resort — faces growing opposition. Multiple petitions have garnered thousands of signatures, and the war chest is growing, as battle lines are drawn.
During board discussions Tuesday, Commissioner Hall suggested that the water park won’t be as feared, with limited use by the public, through the sale of day passes, which is already allowed at the resort.
“It’s not going to be a Disney-type amenity,” he said.
However, he said, he’d have the backs of opponents, should the board have any say on what, if anything, gets built.
Kowal also expressed trepidation over the project.
More about the official code interpretations
In his responses to two separate requests for official interpretations on behalf of Bay Villas, Bosi disagreed with all of the statements made by the opponents and answered negatively to all of their questions about the ability of the resort’s owners to add another “water feature.”
After a review by county staff of one of the requests, Bosi found:
In response to the other request, Bosi determined:
The result of Bosi’s interpretations: The resort’s owners can go through fewer regulatory hoops.
The resort owners’ reaction to the interpretations
Henderson Park and South Street Partners, two private equity firms that specialize in real estate investment, have been the Naples Grande’s owners since March 2022. They purchased the property with intentions of bringing the luxury resort up a notch from the get-go.
In a statement, Peter Lunenburg, a principal with South Street Partners, said the county’s official interpretations highlight that “our proposed new pool is an accessory use to our existing resort and is being developed fully in accordance with all applicable zoning laws.”
“Since the start of this resort-wide restoration process, we have worked hard to maintain an open and collaborative dialogue between ownership and the community and continue to take feedback from our neighbors who call Pelican Bay home,” he said.
He noted that over the last six months, the resort’s designers have reconfigured the new pool and implemented additional sound-buffering systems in “mindfulness of those who live nearest to the resort.”
The owners have “committed meaningful capital to improve existing facilities at the hotel,” Lunenberg emphasized.
“The letters by Collier County contrast with misinformation that has been shared about the new pool and the reality of what we are working to deliver,” he said. “We are confident that the neighborhood and community will be proud of the renovated Naples Grande Beach Resort when it reopens later this year.”
Late last year, the resort announced it would undergo its biggest renovation ever in 2026, starting in April.
Code interpretations come as a big disappointment to opponents
The interpretations came as a deep disappointment to the many opponents. Residents from multiple neighborhoods and communities are opposing the water park, including in Seagate, Naples Cay and Park Shore — and across Pelican Bay.
In a letter of response, Patrick Wack, president of the Seagate Property Owners’ Association and a founding member of the No Water Park Coalition, said: “This proposed project threatens to destroy our quality of life and property values. It is a project of scale, intensity, and impact that should not be allowed in our dense residential neighborhood, which includes the United Church of Christ, St. William’s Church, a pre-school, the Seagate Elementary School, Clam Pass Park, and 100’ away, a sacred church memorial garden. We also have residences that are 100’ away.”
Nearly 5,000 signatures have been collected in opposition to the project, while more than $120,000 has been raised to fight it.
In his letter on behalf of Seagate, Wack rejects arguments that the water park is compatible, or customary, and argues it should not be allowed in an environmentally sensitive neighborhood, nor be considered comparable to the resort’s existing pools — or water parks at the Ritz-Carlton, Tiburón in North Naples and the Great Wolf Lodge in East Naples.
Wack lists what’s described as “numerous flaws” in the project, including the creation of flooding risks, excessive use of water and generation of traffic and noise.
His letter suggests there could be structural damage from “as many as four hundred 30-to-50-foot pilings,” and the potential for unwanted competition with Sun-N-Fun Lagoon, a county-owned water park.
In conclusion, Wack writes: “This is a battle for the soul of our neighborhoods. We willcontinue to fight the hotel and its private equity owners.”
Mixed reactions to limits on public discussion
Wack was among the residents who showed up at Tuesday’s commission meeting to oppose the project, and object to Bosi’s interpretations.
Although public comment was limited at the meeting, he said: “We respect the process and Commissioner Kowal’s decision.”
He said he was pleased to learn the board would likely hear the appeals, one way or the other.
“We were also pleased that Commissioner Hall said that ‘I’ve got your back,'” Wack said. “And we appreciate Commissioner Kowal’s stand against this project. It is very important that our elected officials stand with the people.”
Elizabeth Hackett, who lives with her mother in Bay Villas, was not so appreciative of the limits on public discussion.
In her speech, she hoped to share with county commissioners how her mother and father moved to Naples in 2002, buying their home in Pelican Bay with hard earned money from a family business they started and ran together — and that her mother still manages.
“They had always dreamed of moving to Florida, and Naples was the perfect choice,” Hackett said.
Now, the dream is threatened in her eyes — and the eyes of her 95-year-old mother.
“We wanted to share that the proposed development, a large-scale water park, will have a devastating impact on her home and life and our neighbors’ lives if it moves forward,” she said. “Sadly, we were not allowed to speak.”
Laura Layden is a senior business and government reporter. You can reach her by emailing laura.layden@naplesnews.com.
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This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Naples Grande water park plan advances, residents vow to appeal
Reporting by Laura Layden, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News / Naples Daily News
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