COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. — Collier County commissioners have approved the next phase of the county’s largest mental health project yet: a $56 million behavioral health center developed in partnership with the David Lawrence Center (DLC).
Construction is expected to begin soon off Golden Gate Parkway. The facility will be located near 60th Street SW, adjacent to a parking lot across from the David Lawrence Centers for Behavioral Health.
WATCH TO SEE WHAT THE NEW FACILITY WOULD LOOK LIKE:
After at least 19 public hearings and contract negotiations, commissioners voted 3-2 to move forward with the project that will add 87 beds for people experiencing psychiatric emergencies under Baker Act and Marchman Act situations. This will bring the total bed count for patients to 120, according to the non-profit.
The decision came despite opposition from dozens of neighbors who voiced concerns at Tuesday's meeting about safety and financial risks associated with a taxpayer-funded facility operated by a private organization.
"I absolutely support the cause," said Penelope Hayes, who lives next to the proposed site. "But the location was wrong. It was wrong for the neighborhood, it was wrong for the safety of the people, and it was wrong financially. It's also reduced the bed count from 105 we could have had, down by 39 — so 87 beds in essence but really a difference of 39."
Hayes added that the facility could become an "unspoken operation cost" and pose "an enormous safety risk in the neighborhood" while burdening local authorities.
Despite these concerns and commissioners not seeing eye to eye on the agreement, they ultimately sided with the David Lawrence Center's position that the county's mental health needs have grown too large to ignore.
"We are in a mental health crisis in our country and in this county," said Father Michael Orsi, a local priest who expressed support for the project. "We have a drug problem, a mental health problem."
The approved agreement includes provisions allowing the county to withdraw in the future if funding falls short or operational terms change.
According to the David Lawrence Center, construction could be complete within 18 months of breaking ground.
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