Collier County Gives Green Light to New Rural Village, Paving the Way for 3,205 Homes in East Collier
Collier County commissioners have unanimously approved plans for a sprawling new rural village in eastern Collier County — the eighth such community authorized under the county’s Rural Land Stewardship Area (RLSA) program.
Horse Trials Village, a 1,217-acre development proposed at the northwest quadrant of Oil Well Road just west of State Road 29, will bring 3,205 homes, including 305 affordable units, along with commercial space, parks, schools and public-safety facilities. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2027 and is expected to take about 15 years.
The vote on Dec. 9 capped years of planning, negotiations and environmental review. Commissioner Bill McDaniel Jr., whose district includes the area, praised the extensive coordination behind the proposal.
“This development’s been coming on for many, many years, with an enormous amount of communication and an enormous amount of planning,” McDaniel said.
Commissioner Chris Hall, who seconded the motion, called Horse Trials Village a model for where and how the county should grow.
“This is the exact kind of project that we need to grow with,” Hall said. “It’s not in our normal, regular traffic patterns. It’s got its own commercial, it’s got its own schools, it’s got its own fire station. I love the project and I’m glad that we passed that unanimously.”
The village will sit east of Golden Gate Estates within the RLSA, bordered by Okaloacoochee Slough State Forest to the north and the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge to the south. Of the total acreage, 560.2 acres will be set aside as a Stewardship Sending Area to preserve high-quality wildlife habitat.
Plans call for a comprehensive mix of uses, including:
169,865 square feet of commercial space for retail and office needs
At least 100,000 square feet of indoor storage
32,050 square feet of civic and institutional uses
Up to 300 senior-living units
A K-8 school
A fire station
Parks, preserves and an amenity center
The development will also feature sidewalks, 10-foot multiuse pathways and direct access to both Oil Well Road and State Road 29. A Collier Area Transit station and park-and-ride facility are also planned.
Project planners say the village exceeds several key RLSA requirements. It offers nearly 50% open space—well above the required 35%—and includes 37.29 acres of active parks and green space, triple what the stewardship program mandates.
“This village is designed to support pedestrian and bicycle circulation,” said Certified Planner Bob Mulhere, CEO of Hole Montes. “We substantially exceed the required park and green-space numbers.”
Among the 3,205 homes, the plan guarantees a mix of multifamily units, single-family detached homes and single-family attached villas, with at least 10% of each type represented. Thirty acres are set aside specifically for affordable housing.
The county’s Housing Demand Model shows Collier needs more than 3,100 affordable homes this year alone.
To comply with wildlife-protection standards, the design buffers residential areas from the Florida panther corridor with a lake system. Within the sending areas, former farm fields will be restored as natural flowways and habitat.
No residents spoke in opposition during the commission hearing, and the Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval in October. However, one Belleair resident submitted a letter opposing the project, citing environmental and ecological concerns.
“This development aims to destroy our beautiful wild Florida and a piece of wildlife corridor,” wrote Rosa Mary Jimenez Ocejo, referencing endangered species such as the Florida panther, eastern indigo snake and bonneted bat. “Please don’t let this development move forward.”
Land-use attorney Rich Yovanovich, representing the developer, said the project meets all criteria for village designation.
Horse Trials Village is one of several major projects underway through Collier Enterprises, part of Punta Gorda–based Tarpon Blue Companies. The developer is also behind neighboring communities including the Town of Big Cypress, Rivergrass Village, Longwater and Bellmar. Other approved projects in the area include Hyde Park Village, Brightshore Village, Collier Rod & Gun Club Compact Rural Development and Ave Maria.
The RLSA program, adopted in 2002, covers roughly 185,000 acres in eastern Collier County. It was created as a way to protect ecologically sensitive land while directing growth toward appropriate areas and preventing urban sprawl.
To secure approval for Horse Trials Village, developers used 9,519 stewardship credits, though public-benefit uses required no credits.
Traffic impacts will be limited by capping weekday peak-hour trips at 2,429. Collier Enterprises also committed $835,800 toward road improvements at Oil Well Road and State Road 29.
The project team includes Trebilcock Consulting Solutions Inc.; Coleman Yovanovich Koester, land-use attorneys; Agnoli Barber & Brundage, civil engineers; and Passarella & Associates, ecological consultants.
With unanimous support from county leaders and years of preparation behind it, Horse Trials Village is poised to become the newest addition to a growing landscape of rural communities designed to balance development with environmental stewardship in eastern Collier County.