COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. -- Collier County commissioners voted Tuesday on an 11-month moratorium on certain kinds of businesses from being built on a 7-mile stretch of U.S. 41 in East Naples. The temporary ban will affect land along the highway between Commercial Drive, near downtown Naples, to Price Street near Collier Boulevard.
The moratorium is for four types of businesses: gas stations, self-storage facilities, pawn shops and car washes.
Commissioner Donna Fiala hopes the moratorium will help attract more upscale businesses along the 7-mile corridor.
"We've been trying to encourage some retails shops and restaurants to come in, because we lack most of that in this area," Fiala said.
The 11-month ban will give county staff time to develop a business vision to attract shops and restaurants to the stretch of highway.
But Commissioner William McDaniel, who cast the only vote against the moratorium, said it isn't fair to landowners.
"It's after-the-fact zoning," McDaniel said.
Lawrence Kramer, a seasonal resident who's staying at a home on quiet Frederick Street near U.S. 41, wishes the ban wasn't just temporary.
"We do not need more gas stations, more car washes, and certainly in Naples, more pawn shops," Kramer said.
The 11-month ban, which will expire in mid-December, will not prevent two planned WaWa convenience stores and gas stations from opening on U.S. 41, since those businesses have already gone through Collier County/s planning process.
