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Article Courtesy of The Naples
Daily News
By Maryann Batlle
Published March 6, 2016
From U.S. 41, the Pelican Landing community in south Lee County is walls, signs
and gates.
Only its members and those they let in get to see the streets of trimmed yards
and American-as-apple-pie suburban homes.
Behind the outer walls, there are tennis,
pickleball and boccie courts. There is a private beach on Estero
Bay, accessible only by boat. A sprawling clubhouse hosts
tasteful events for residents and their guests.
"It's a small town," said Barbara Craig, as she drove a
journalist on a tour one recent morning. "It's not a city, but
it's a small town."
Pelican Landing's neighborhoods are built on the promise of a
lifestyle that WCI Communities sold - one of luxury, exclusivity
and plush amenities. People bought in, snapping up about 3,200
housing units.
In February some of those same people sued WCI because they
claim the developer has put their lifestyle in jeopardy. Craig
is a plaintiff. |
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New midrises are under construction in The Colony Golf & Bay Club, which
sits along Coconut Road in Estero.
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"They're not evil," said Craig, a retired university professor, about WCI. "They
simply are what they are. They have no heart. They have no soul. They have
profit. That's what motivates them."
The dispute between Pelican Landing residents and WCI has been building for
years. What changed is that WCI is pursuing city of Bonita Springs permission to
build up to four high-rises outside the gates on what is a golf course known as
Raptor Bay today.
"That advanced everything," said Bob Loos, who lives in a The Colony Golf & Bay
Club midrise. (The Colony is a separate WCI gated community of residential
towers within Pelican Landing - so it's behind two walls.)
"It became a point where you have to take a stand," Loos said. "And it's time to
take a stand."
WCI would bring those four high-rises into the Pelican Landing homeowners
association, which would give people living in them access to all of the
community's amenities, Loos said.
But those amenities, especially the Estero Bay beach, are over capacity, he
said.
"Real estate developers, they like to make money. And I understand that. But
they have to be considerate of the people they sold to."
The ins and outs of the complaint - filed by Craig and an unknown number of
homeowners under the name "Residents for a Better Community" - are a glimpse
into the highly technical rules of Floridian homeowners associations.
The complaint argues that WCI broke its promise to turn over total control of
the homeowners association to residents. The turnover should have happened when
85 percent of the units were sold, the complaint claims.
Therefore, any WCI plan to add hundreds of people to Pelican Landing's homeowner
association - and give them all beach rights - is invalid, according to the
complaint.
WCI said in a statement that the homeowners association is not suing and that
Residents for a Better Community is "an unofficial group."
"We believe the allegations in the complaint are without merit, and we will
vigorously defend ourselves in this action," WCI said in its statement.
Craig - a widow who describes her condo surrounded by trees as "a peaceful
center" - said residents are prepared for a fight.
"This matters to me." |
