COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. — A Collier County animal sanctuary is looking for more space, and are partnering with a local developer in a bid to acquire a site to relocate.
"We're looking to find more land that we could move to, to build bigger habitats," said Deanna Deppen, executive director of Shy Wolf Sanctuary.
With sixty-nine animals - including wolves, wolf dogs and panthers - on a two-and-a-half acre site, Deppen said they're outgrowing their property in Golden Gate Estates. They're looking to expand to twenty acres, and had previously bid $1 million for a 47-acre parcel owned by Collier County near Randall Boulevard and Immokalee Road.
But they face competition from developers Crown Management Services and Metro Commercial, who both bid millions higher than Shy Wolf.
But at an April 30 town hall meeting with Collier County Commissioner Bill McDaniel, people living in the area voiced opposition to a 40-acre shopping center proposed by Crown Management at the site.
"It became clear that a combined effort of Crown and Shy Wolf is what the community really wanted," said Richard Yanovsky, an attorney representing Crown Management.
Crown scaled down its proposal to a ten-acre neighborhood shopping area, and offered Shy Wolf twenty acres of land already owned by the developer just down the road at the corner of Immokalee Road and Wilson Boulevard.
Yanovsky said their new offer will be competitive with Metro Commercial's $3.5 million bid.
Fox 4 called Metro Commercial on Monday to ask about its plans for the 47-acre parcel, but was unable to reach them, likely due to the Memorial Day holiday.
Deppen said the sanctuary's new animal habitats would include hurricane-rated shelters that could house animals other than those residing at Shy Wolf during a hurricane.
"That's something you can't put a price on," Deppen said.
Collier County Commissioners are expected to discuss the issue of which bidder to award the sale of land at their regular meeting Tuesday.
