CHARLOTTE COUNTY — Neighbors in Charlotte County are organizing to oppose a planned development right across the street from their houses.
They say a company plans to turn more than two acres of woods into a shipping yard. We spoke with John Englert and Fred Brown as they were watching for wildlife from Fred’s driveway. Wildlife they’re afraid could be affected by the new development.
“The impact on our waterways is very, very severe, not to mention we’ve got a bald eagle’s nest here," said Englert.
Instead of bald eagles, Englert is afraid he will soon see shipping containers out his window.
“We’re going to have a lot of noise pollution, lighting pollution, air pollution with the tractor trailers and the trains going by," said Englert.
The county hasn’t provided many details, except that the developer, Seventeen and Seventy-Five, LLC, wants the entire property rezoned from residential to commercial.
”It’s definitely going to have an impact on the property value of our home. Not only mine, but my neighbor’s as well," said Brown.
Englert and Brown are just a few of the neighbors who have signed a petition opposing the plans, and they’re also planning to speak up in-person.
“We’re going to stage a protest, a peaceful protest there, against this project going through," said Englert.
Brown and Englert say they’re planning that protest to take place at the next planning commission meeting, where the board members have been advised to approve the zoning request.
“I wish the commissioners would really take a long look at this, or you know, I’m afraid some of us are going to have to move. That’s all there is to it," said Brown.
We did try to reach out to Seventeen and Seventy-Five, but we couldn’t find contact information for the company, and a phone number we found for the owner only led to a voicemail.
The commission meeting is scheduled to take place on Monday, September 14th at 1:30 p.m.
