Alexa Velez
•6/9/2026
Collier County commissioners voted 4-1 Tuesday to approve a major expansion of Ave Maria after hours of debate and public comment, despite every speaker during public comment urging commissioners to reject the project.
The approved plan adds more than 2,000 acres to the Ave Maria Stewardship Receiving Area and allows 6,738 additional homes.
Plans also include nearly 1 million additional square feet of commercial development and increase the number of daily vehicle trips allowed in the community from 4,320 to 5,620.
Supporters of the project said the expansion would continue building Ave Maria into a self-sustaining community where people can live, work and shop without constantly traveling west toward Naples.
County staff and developers pointed to planned infrastructure improvements tied to the project, including a new roundabout at Camp Keais Road and Pope John Paul II Boulevard, additional bus stops, resurfacing work and added shoulders along Camp Keais Road.
One of the largest proposed development areas, about 1,000 acres east of Camp Keais Road, would become a 55-and-up community.
However, many residents and environmental advocates said they believe the growth is happening too quickly and could negatively impact traffic, wildlife and quality of life in eastern Collier County.
Several speakers raised concerns about the project’s proximity to the Camp Keais Strand, a well-known wildlife corridor used by endangered Florida panthers.
“It is a death knell for Florida panthers,” said Kim Feiner, a Collier County resident who spoke during public comment.
Matthew Schwartz, executive director of the South Florida Wildlands Association, also spoke against the project.
“Panthers are moving up and down it all the time. And it's a big hit to the wildlife on top of all the many, many more that have happened already," Shwartz said. "Our state wildlife agency anticipates stating that the undeveloped public lands will become islands in a sea of urban sprawl. And that's what's happening."
Schwartz and other environmental advocates argued that continued development in eastern Collier County is fragmenting wildlife habitat and increasing the threat of roadkill for Florida panthers.
Commissioner Chris Hall cast the lone vote against the project. During the meeting, Hall expressed concerns about whether the area’s infrastructure is ready for that level of growth and questioned whether current residents would benefit from the expansion right now.
Other commissioners argued that growth in eastern Collier County is inevitable, and this expansion would happen over the course of 20 years.
