A freshly squeezed glass of orange juice was once quintessential Florida. But as operating a citrus grove became significantly less lucrative than real estate in Naples, owners of the last operating citrus grove and farm stand in Naples sought to sell their farm.
South Naples Citrus Grove is located right next door to Picayune Strand State Forest on the edge of the Sabal Palm community of East Naples. It is owned by the Smits family with one family member who operates the farm stand, Henry Jacobs, and the others as out-of-state family members who were particularly eager to sell the property to developers with the prospect of building more than 400 homes there.
The development was unpopular among immediate neighbors of the 170-acre site and even among residents living farther away as dozens of people spoke at the Collier County Commission meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 13 in opposition…