NEWS

Ray Sandrock

Charlotte County staff from the Community Development and Public Safety departments and Legislative Affairs and Public Information offices met with officials at Babcock Ranch Friday for their latest monthly update.

The meeting featured a tour of the residential and commercial areas currently under construction.

Topics of discussion included development and planning timelines, permitting, certificates of occupancy, road construction and public safety. Remarkable progress is being made on many aspects of the project. The Founders Square Welcome Center is nearly complete, as is the Tap & Table Restaurant, which is expected to be open to the public next month.

A 500-foot boardwalk offers sweeping views of Lake Timber.

To underscore how far along several of the model homes are, landscaping is being installed on several properties. Five builders are currently constructing model homes and one of them, Homes by Towne, recently closed on its first home sale to a Georgia couple.

Construction is underway on the Babcock Neighborhood School, which broke ground in December. The K-8 school has already exceeded its student registration goal for classes scheduled to begin in August.

Babcock officials reiterated their appreciation for innovative initiatives undertaken by the Community Development department, including its new online permitting and inspections scheduling program.