Haley Jacobs
•8/20/2026
GATEWAY, Fla. (WINK) — Months after Hampton Park neighbors first raised concerns about a new FPL transmission line through Gateway, the project is moving closer to construction and residents are shifting their focus from whether the line will be built to how much of the wooded area around it can be preserved.
Florida Power & Light now tells WINK News it is finalizing designs for the new transmission line within an existing easement through Gateway.
For neighbors like Charlie Smith, that changes the question.
“The neighbors are asking for the woods not to be clear cut,” Smith said.
Smith lives in Hampton Park and is part of a neighbor-led team that has spent months researching the project, meeting with local officials and pushing for more information from FPL.
He says residents understand FPL has the right to construct the transmission line within its easement. Some neighbors would prefer the line not be built at all, but Smith says the group is focusing on what it believes is a more realistic goal: preserving as much of the wooded buffer as possible.
“I don't really think that's a reasonable request,” Smith said of trying to stop the line altogether. “I don't think that's something that we can accomplish. But saving this woods is something that we can do.”
WINK News first reported on neighbors' concerns in May after some Gateway residents received letters notifying them about plans for a second transmission line through an existing FPL easement.
At the time, residents were still trying to understand what the project would look like and how close new infrastructure could come to their homes.
Since then, Hampton Park neighbors say they have formed a dedicated team, commissioned an independent property survey, met repeatedly with Gateway Services Community Development District and researched vegetation management standards related to transmission lines.
Smith says the group has learned a lot since the spring.
He says the team is now focused on whether FPL can build the new line while keeping more of the existing trees in place.
The wooded stretch runs along Gateway Linear Park and continues toward the Hampton Park boundary. Residents use the area for walking and biking, while neighbors say it is also home to birds, bobcats and other wildlife.
“When you walk through the woods, you get a real sense of what old Florida used to be,” Smith said. “It's just a beautiful preserve that we just can't afford to lose.”
Smith says residents have researched vegetation management regulations and believe there may be options other than removing the entire wooded buffer.
The Hampton Park team has also discussed bringing in an arborist to help identify trees closest to the community that could potentially remain.
Those requests have not yet resulted in a final vegetation plan from FPL.
In a statement to WINK News, FPL spokesperson Jack Eble said the company is now finalizing designs for the project.
“FPL is finalizing our designs for a new transmission line within our existing easement to support continued growth in our service area and improve reliability for all customers, including the residents of this community,” Eble said.
FPL also said it has received feedback from residents and is considering ways to reduce the project's impact.
“We have — and continue — to receive feedback from residents in this community that we are taking seriously,” Eble said. “We are exploring ways to minimize impacts while also ensuring this project delivers safe, reliable electricity when complete.”
FPL says residents will be notified well in advance of construction.
The company has also agreed to hold a community meeting in September, when Hampton Park neighbors expect to see a visual design of the project and learn more about tower locations and how the line will fit within the existing easement.
Smith says that meeting could determine what the neighborhood group does next.
He says communication with FPL has improved since April, but residents are still waiting for many of the project-specific answers they have requested.
“If the meeting in September is effective in communicating to us everything that the project's doing and its impact on the development and the neighborhood and the district, then I would tell you that it's great,” Smith said. “But that's untested yet.”
Avery Dimmig has lived in Hampton Park for 16 years.
His home is not directly next to the transmission corridor, but he says he is concerned about how losing the wooded buffer could change the look of Hampton Park as a whole.
“It will change the feel directly because the view will change,” Dimmig said.
Dimmig says his concern is not limited to homeowners immediately bordering the easement.
He believes the visual impact of additional transmission infrastructure could affect how buyers view the entire 569-home community.
Dimmig also raised concerns about property values. He offered examples of how even a percentage decline could translate into significant losses for homeowners, though those estimates are his own assessment and WINK News has not independently verified that the FPL project would cause home values to fall by a specific amount.
One issue that caused confusion during the early months of the project was which government agency had authority over the land and easement.
Gateway Services Community Development District has since told WINK News that this is an FPL project and that the utility's easement dates back to 1971, before the surrounding Gateway communities were built.
District Manager Chelsea O'Riley said Gateway has consulted with a surveyor to confirm the boundaries of the FPL easement near district-owned property.
Gateway says it continues to communicate with FPL about vegetation removal, the visual buffer and possible mitigation.
The district has also requested a community meeting with FPL multiple times.
Lee County Government, meanwhile, told WINK News county staff has no role in the project.
Smith says one thing that has changed since residents first began asking questions is their relationship with Gateway Services.
He says members of the Hampton Park team now meet with Gateway District Manager Chelsea O'Riley twice a month and exchange information about the project.
“The biggest thing I think I've learned is that we need a good working relationship with the Gateway District,” Smith said. “We've made a bunch of progress.”
Hampton Park is also looking at steps it can take on its own to reduce the visual impact if trees along the corridor are removed.
The group says the community plans to plant 10 live oak trees near four streets that terminate at the transmission corridor. Residents acknowledge those younger trees would not immediately replace the existing mature canopy but hope they could eventually provide additional screening.
For now, neighbors are waiting for FPL's September meeting.
They want to see the final proposed layout, where towers could be placed and how much vegetation would need to be removed.
Smith, who says he spent his career working in the utility industry, believes FPL has an opportunity to show residents their concerns are being heard.
“I saw companies that I worked for plow over people and just not listen to them,” Smith said. “And I think we have a real, real opportunity here to have a feel-good story for FPL.”
For Hampton Park neighbors, the transmission line itself may no longer be the part of the project they believe they can change.
Their focus now is what surrounds it — and how much of that wooded stretch will still be standing when the project is complete.
