NEWS

Lavanya Sunkara 

Babcock Ranch   Babcock Ranch

In a world still clamoring for coal and drilling for oil, the power of the sun seems to have gone by the wayside. Yet, a small town in southern Florida is keeping its lights on with renewable energy, showing how a community can successfully live sustainably. Babcock Ranch, America’s first and only solar town, is an inspiring one-of-a-kind community filled with families enjoying a greener way of life.

Syd Kitson, former professional football player for the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys and Chairman and CEO of Kitson & Partners, had a dream of creating a simple town of his childhood, but one that’s run renewably. In this utopia, buildings and houses are powered by emissions-free energy, electric cars whiz by on two-lane roads, children ride their bikes to school, native plants adorn the landscapes and residents can be seen enjoying outdoor events with family and friends.

This vision came to fruition in 2006, when Kitson sold 73,000 of the 91,000 acres he owned to Lee County and Florida. This created Babcock Ranch Preserve and resulted in the biggest land preservation deal in the state. Next to it, he set upon creating Babcock Ranch. Kitson & Partners built this environmentally-friendly town on formerly impacted pasture, farm and rock-mined land and committed to keeping a majority of it green, with the first homes coming to market over a decade after its vision.

“At the end, 90% of the original ranch is in preservation forever and that’s probably what we are most proud of. With the remaining land, we wanted to create the most sustainable, new town that’s ever been created,” Kitson said proudly, whose company Kitson & Partners partnered with the Florida Government and Florida Power & Light (FPL) to make this ecocentric town a reality.

The town of Babcock Ranch, a short drive from Fort Myers, sits on 18,000 acres adjacent to fields and across from a horse rescue. It contains housing communities, commercial buildings, restaurants, shops, a daycare facility, charter school, pools and playgrounds, all surrounded by green spaces and overlooking the namesake lake.

Sustainable Town With Throwback Vibes 

For Kitson, Babcock Ranch was created with his Orange, New Jersey childhood hometown in mind. “What’s important to understand is that this is a real town. This is open to anyone who wants to be here and be a part of it. It’s a throwback for me to the Northeast. It’s a real, true hometown. We have well over a thousand people living here and it has really taken off,” he said, standing next to a solar tree in front of the sparkling lake at the town’s Founder’s Square.

Babcock Ranch currently has several communities, each with houses ranging in price. Kitson jokes that “it’s not a bunch of old people that live here.”

“Over half the people living here are young families, which is really exciting.” Babcock Ranch has sold 550 homes and 2000 lots to builders. The first families moved in at the beginning of 2018.

Everything at Babcock is built with a focus on preserving and appreciating the environment. Houses are energy efficient and built with sustainable materials; homes need to achieve a Bronze or higher standard of certification from the Florida Green Building Coalition. They are surrounded by beautiful lake vistas and 80% of the landscaping consists of low impact native trees and shrubs. Irrigation is done with water reclaimed from the onsite water and wastewater utility. Neighborhood community gardens provide produce to residents and restaurants. Additionally, there’s a sod farm, and onsite mining providing fill and road aggregate for the continued growth of the town.

An apartment complex and a Publix store are currently under construction. At Founder’s Square, the main hub of the town, you’ll find Lee Health’s Healthy Life Center, Table & Tap restaurant, Square Scoops Coffee & Creamery, ReCharge Juice Co., Slater’s Goods & Provisions, Bloom Academy and Curry Creek Outfitters. The town currently has a K-8 school and will expand to K-12 by 2021. In addition to regular curriculum, the students learn about the environment and renewable energy.

“When school is led out around 3 o’clock, you will see a mass of humanity on bikes, whether they are going home or to play. The kids just blast out all over the place; you will see them fishing all over the place. It’s a throwback to the way things used to be,” said Kitson.

A Sense of Community 

“We have doctors, occupational physical therapists, health, wellness and recreational activities here,” shared Kitson. Many of the teachers who work at the school, and some of those employed at the health center, live at Babcock. On any given day, you can spot families and couples enjoying bike rides, fishing, hiking and meals at the onsite eateries.

Jason Caissie, who moved to Babcock Ranch in 2018 with his family, likes the sense of community it fosters. The 33-year-old who works for the nonprofit, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy as a Electric Vehicle Transportation Coordinator, said he and his wife Grace wanted a “more sustainable, walkable community”. The town also felt like “it was living up to Walt Disney’s original vision for EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow)”.

When the couple had their second child last year, their neighbors started a meal train and took turns bringing them dinner until things settled down. “While we don’t know everyone in our rapidly growing community, we have developed lifelong friendships with the people we do talk to. We are also regularly invited to community birthdays and have fun with kids throughout the community. We try to attend the weekly ‘Food Truck Friday’ when we have about 15 food trucks in the center of Founder’s Square,” he shared. Caissie’s children go to Bloom Academy daycare, which regularly hosts events for the kids and parents.

Solar Energy Center

The town is powered by an 880-acre solar field at the Babcock Ranch Solar Energy Center run by FPL on land donated by Babcock Ranch, the largest solar and storage system in the country. Energy is harnessed from approximately 700,000 panels, processed and fed into the grid from the FPL substation. The power first reaches the town and the remaining returns to the grid to serve other customers. When the sun sets, the stored energy provides uninterrupted power.

Additionally, energy generated from rooftop photovoltaics and solar trees in neighborhood parks add additional power. Those living in the town can choose to have panels on their roof or simply get it from the solar center.

Embracing Electric Cars 

For Kitson, eco-friendly transportation has been a major initiative. “We are working hard on our autonomous vehicle system based on electric power,” he said about the town’s plans to run electric buses to various points in town. There are several FPL electric charging stations near the main square and throughout the community that residents and visitors use to charge their electric vehicles. Each house already comes wired to accept a power supply for electric cars.

“We were talking about electric vehicles back in 2005 and everyone thought we were nuts. But it’s now becoming more and more part of the culture and it is exciting to see how far it has come along,” said Kitson.

Surprisingly, the visionary doesn’t yet own an electric car, but says he is thinking about getting a Chevy Bolt EV. Chevrolet’s new electric car now has an extended 259-mile range on a single charge, longer than most cars of its kind on the road today. With that kind of range, those living at Babcock can take advantage of the larger radius it affords. They can easily drive to Miami or Orlando without having to re-charge on the way. With the convenience of charging at home, it makes sense to have an electric car when you’ve already made the choice to live sustainably at Babcock Ranch.

Touring The Innovative Town  

Everyone is welcome to visit and tour Babcock Ranch, and there’s plenty to do when you arrive. There are 50 miles of hiking and biking trails, and visitors can rent bike rentals at Curry Creek Outfitters. There’s chances to go fishing, kayaking, row boating and complimentary electric-boat riding on Babcock Lake. After exploring the outdoors, grab a bite at Table & Tap followed by dessert at Square Scoops Coffee & Creamery, before leaving. Or, you may just want to stick around and buy yourself a new home.