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Change is coming to Goodland and, the way some residents see it, about to set an unwelcome precedent in the process.

Construction of the first mega house in the small fishing village is back on schedule after the Collier County Commission concluded property owner Jim Inglis had properly pulled the county building permits to build his dream home.

The commission decision has divided Goodland residents: those who say they want to preserve the village’s small-town feel versus those who believe a property owner has the right to do as he chooses with his property.

“It’s kind of split. Some people said, ‘Live and let live,’ while others don’t want anything to change,” said Mike Barbush, a former Goodland Civic Association president. “The county made their decision and we have to live with it.”

The average size home in Goodland is 600 square feet to 800 square feet. There are some bigger homes which range in size from 1,000 square feet to nearly 3,000 square feet.

It’s the size of the Inglis family home that has some Goodlanders opposed to the project.

Documents filed with county staff show that Inglis’ six-bedroom, 10-bathroom house will have 6,863 square feet of living space, or “under air” area, and 7,470 square feet of nonliving area, including two garages, a porch, lanai, balcony, portico and storage area, for a total of 14,333 square feet.

Goodland Preservation Coalition president Connie Stegall-Fullmer, along with several Goodland residents, claim the Inglis home violated the intent of the Village Residential Zoning District Regulations, or VR District, and that of the Goodland Zoning Overlay.

A zoning overlay is a distinct set of rules for a community above and beyond the county’s ordinances.

In 2000, the Collier Commission unanimously approved the Goodland overlay to preserve the small community’s Old Florida characteristics, which included low-profile buildings and homes with “small” footprints.

Regardless, county Attorney David Weigel told commissioners prior to their vote that the overlay’s purpose and intent wasn’t enough to stop construction.

A staff report said that for county staff to have rejected Inglis’ building permit for not complying with the intent of the VR District would have required them to make “subjective decisions with no precedence on which to base such decisions.”

Even though the VR District and the Goodland overlay contain descriptions relating to village character, low-profile homes and small footprint for a home, neither code actually set a limit on the maximum size of a dwelling.

The report said that the “action could not have been defended if challenged.”

On a 4-1 vote at a recent meeting, commissioners decided to take no action in relation to the building permit held by the Inglis family, effectively saying that the family could continue building their home and setting a new size precedent for houses on the island.

Commissioner Donna Fiala, whose district includes Goodland, cast the dissenting vote.

The board’s decision was welcome by Inglis, who owns the property with his sister.

“Our family has been coming here for 37 years. We’ve enjoyed Goodland and we want to continue doing that,” Inglis said in an interview. “We’ll just have a new house to do it in.”

Stegall-Fullmer said that the board’s decision was the wrong one.

“It is still our position that the permit does not comply with the land development code,” she said.

For their part, county officials are keeping track of building applications in Goodland.

As of Friday, county spokeswoman Lisa Koehler said that there were no plans for similarly sized homes in the works on the island.

However, Goodlanders already have started to regroup in order to stave off any more megahouses.

Efforts to update Goodland’s overlay, and clear up what county staff called “vague language,” to finally include density and size descriptions have begun gathering steam.

But before any changes can be made to the county’s land development code, 50 percent plus one of the island’s population will have to vote in favor of the updates.

“When you get down to it it’s about specifics,” Barbush said. “Now we have to come together to amend the overlay.”