What is Density?
Density is defined as the number of residential dwelling units permitted per gross acre of land and determined by dividing the number of units by the total area of residential land within the boundaries of a lot or parcel. Because of this, the terms “density units” and “dwelling units” are often used interchangeably.
When the Marco Island Master Plan (MIMP) was first developed over 30 years ago, the total buildable acreage of the island was 5,918 acres. The total maximum density for Marco Island was set at 23,672 dwelling units divided by 5,918 acres, or 4 dwelling units per acre.
In August of 2004, the City of Marco Island annexed 965 acres of land from unincorporated Collier County increasing the total buildable acreage from 5,918 acres to 6,883 acres. With the annexation, the number of dwelling units rose from 23,672 to 23,962 resulting in a density of 3.48 units per acre.
In 2005, the City Council voted to reduce the overall density by 4% by 2013. This resulted in a reduction of 947 units bringing the total to 23,200. Thirty-six more density credits were reduced by City Council in 2018 resulting in a total of 23,164 units. The last reduction in density came from the current City Council in 2021, with the adoption of the updated 2040 Comprehensive Plan that eliminated bonus and incentive densities from all applicable future land use categories. This final reduction, 389 units, brought the total allowable residential dwelling units down to their current level of 22,775 dwelling units. Dividing 22,775 dwelling units by the total acreage of 6883 gives us the current total density of 3.37 units/square mile.
As property owners continue developing their residential and commercial lots and we approach build out, the island’s allowable density will fill in and there will be fewer opportunities for future City Councils to add further reductions.
Zoning and Density
Marco Island is divided into different zones such as the Residential Single Family (RSF) , Commercial 1 (C1) etc. and Commercial 4 (C4) . Each zone has a specific number of allowable dwelling units assigned to the properties within it. The overwhelming number of dwelling units (about 19,000 of the 22,775 total) are located in the different Residential Zones including the Tourist Residential Zone along Collier Blvd. The remaining 3000 or so dwelling units are scattered across Planned Unit Developments (PUDs) and select Commercial Zones.
It is important to note that residential dwelling units are only allowed in Commercial Zones such as Towne Center that allow mixed-use development. An example of this would be the esplanade where you have commercial use on the first floor and residential on the floors above.
The reason I mention that this is important is because many residents who feel that the island is being “overdeveloped” blame businesses and commercial development.
In fact, Marco Island can never become “overdeveloped” because we have a finite number of building lots available and density is limited to 22,775 dwelling units. What is happening is the vacant residential and commercial lots are “filling in ” their allowable density.
Hopefully this clarifies whatever questions you might have.
If you have any questions feel free to respond to this post.
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