Riviera Golf Estates residents oppose plan to convert golf course to housing

An active 55+ community in Collier County wants to replace the private 18-hole golf course with new homes and lakes, and some people living there are not happy.

Riveria Golf Estates is a community for people age 55 and older, and some say they’re worried that a new community will bring younger families and teenagers to the area and they may have to deal with potential break-ins, vandalism, and could now get flooded out during a major storm.

On Monday, residents of Riviera Golf Estates heard the plans to bring more than 350 homes into the middle of their community.

This meeting was supposed to happen earlier this month but because of the large turnout, it was rescheduled.

Residents like Barbara Schweikert who has lived in Riviera Golf Estates for the last 27 years said they have major concerns with these plans, one of the main ones being what will happen to her and her home if there is a major storm.

“It disturbs me that they’re going to put all these units right in the middle of our community and it has served as a stormwater floodplain, which has protected us from flooding,” Schweikert explained. “But if they put these units in according to the code, they’re going to have to raise the level to accommodate the new code construction, which will flood me out. Where do I go?”

Riviera Golf Estates was developed by Winfield Companies between 1967 and 2003. The 55-plus community consists of nearly 700 single-family homes and condominiums.

Community members said their original deed states the golf course would never be built on, so they wrote to Collier County commissioners and state leaders.