CAPE CORAL, Fla. — The proposal to remove 14 acres of trees for a water system in Cape Coral’s portion of the Yellow Fever Creek Preserve is headed to the city’s Planning and Zoning Committee.
Some residents in the Entrada neighborhood, which backs up to the proposed site, told Fox 4’s Bella Line they are fighting this proposal, which would bring the water system almost in their backyard.
Watch Bella Line's full report below:
People in the Entrada neighborhood tell Line the serentity the Yellow Fever Creek Preserve brings is why they moved there.
"If you're ever back here at night, you can hear a pin drop,” said Noelle Tolbert, who lives in Entrada.
Tolbert and her neighbor, Pamela Howard, have the preserve right in their backyards and they say they were shocked to find out the plans the city has for it.
"We were told nothing would ever be built behind us, that it's a preserve, and we paid a premium for our lot to be on the preserve,” said Howard.
"It's very disappointing, especially because we picked this property because it had the preserve behind it,” said Tolbert.
However, the city is thinking about clearing 14 acres of the preserve to build two booster stations, two potable water storage tanks, two reclaimed water storage tanks, and an over 4,300-square-foot storage building in the northeastern region. The city says this is part of the plan to bring city water to north Cape Coral.
"We understand we all need water, but this is not the right place,” said Pascha Donaldson.
Donaldson was the president of the Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife when the project was first proposed back in 2018. She says the plans have grown larger since then.
"You're opening up the floodgates,” said Donaldson. "If you can do it to one park, oh yeah, we can do it in another park."
The proposal has sparked a petition, which has nearly 500 signatures, but it has left some of the Entrada neighbors with many questions.
"How much light are we going to have? How much noise are we going to have? I mean, they don't care,” said Howard.
Fox 4 has reached out to the City of Cape Coral to find out why it chose this spot and they say they are looking into it. We will keep you up to date on this development online and on air.
