NAPLES — A developer has big plans that would change the skyline along Vanderbilt Beach in Naples, but hundreds of people who live nearby are saying, not so fast.
People gathered at the Naples Park Association Community Building Thursday night to hear from Buzz Victor. He’s organizing the campaign against the planned development, and he said, he’s already raised almost $20,000 to do it.
If you look around Vanderbilt Beach, several tall buildings already dot the skyline. Buzz Victor said they don’t need another one.
“What he is asking for is an 18-story building set back 10 feet. That’s, that’s like walking down a street in New York City," said Victor.
The developer, Stock Development, wants to turn the busy corner of Vanderbilt Beach Rd. and Gulf Coast Dr. into what it calls One Naples. It has submitted designs for the development to the County. It includes two buildings over 200 feet tall, that would have 240 condos. Victor said, one of the biggest concerns is the added traffic.
“They’re already failing in the context of good highway safety and good transportation, and this is just going to add to the problem," said Victor.
Victor has hundreds of people helping him, selling shirts and putting in yard signs to bring awareness to the project. They’ve even hired a lawyer to fight it, but Victor said, they’re willing to compromise.
“If he took six stories off the top of it, that might be pretty acceptable to us. That would match a development that was done in the late 90’s called the Regata, which is just to the east of it," said Victor.
Ultimately, Victor just hopes the town that he knows and loves doesn’t drastically change for the worse.
“We think Stock’s a good developer. We would just like to see him do something that is more in scale with the neighborhood," said Victor.
The people opposed to the development will have the ability to voice their concerns to Stock Development directly. The company is holding a community meeting in Naples on March 3rd.
