Environmentalists to challenge Babcock Ranch

The Sierra Club says the plans developer Syd Kitson has for Babcock Ranch are nothing more than urban sprawl in disguise, and the group has filed an administrative challenge to halt the project.

Kitson has a deal to buy the 91,000-acre ranch property and businesses, but his deal is contingent on a sale to the state and to Lee County of 73,000 acres for $350 million. He wants permission to build a city of perhaps 45,000 people on the remainder.

The Sierra Club complaint, filed with two organization members from Charlotte County, where the bulk of the ranch is located, claims that much development in such a remote area will clog roads and threaten water supplies and water quality across the area.

Typically it could take six to nine months for such a challenge, a claim that the Charlotte county growth management plan amendments made to accommodate Kitson run counter to states county, regional and state goals, to be heard. Kitson has said timing is critical for his deal to work, even convincing Charlotte commissioners to approve the amendments in advance of a more thorough review.