“Nineteen parcels of environmentally sensitive land came up for a vote to approve (or not) their purchase under the Conservation Collier land preservation program,” LoCastro writes of the Aug. 25 meeting. “This record number of parcels in one meeting is due to the many improvements County staff have made to the program with County Commissioner direction.
“Of the 19 lots – 18 of 19 parcels (totaling 50.02 acres) were acquired with our majority vote for final purchase and permanent protection (one small parcel was an outlier with minimal qualifications under the program). I voted for all 18. The owners had already agreed to the county appraisal offer… we as commissioners provided the final approval. County staff is now scheduling the closings for those properties. The total spent out of the Conservation Collier fund for these 18 parcels was $1,172,664 (includes closing costs). Of that amount, we will be receiving $95,040 from the Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation for four of the 18 properties … thus offsetting the cost to Conservation Collier.”
He says there are three additional lots on Marco Island coming forward soon at an upcoming meeting:
- Next to the Publix at Barfield and Sand Marco, appraisal $560K.
- Corner of Watson and W. Inlet, appraisal $475K.
- Corner of Scott Drive and Indian Hill St., appraisal $720K.
“Land on Marco Island obviously tends to be much more expensive than parcels we consider in other areas of Collier County – and thus some commissioners at times are reluctant to approve the higher appraisal prices for this more costly real estate,” he writes. “However, the lots on Marco Island always score at the top of the list due to their saturation with endangered animals actively living on the property…