PORT ST. JOHN - John Hempfling loves the serenity surrounding his mobile home on Clear View Drive, where children ride by on bicycles and mothers push strollers.

He is one of many who live in the area off U.S. 1 who are worried about what a 50-acre development adjacent to their street might bring.

The plan for nearly 150 single-family homes was approved in 1992, but the developers chose to move forward only recently.

"The property has become more attractive to develop with the upswing in home prices," said Rick Kern, project engineer for Coastal Properties.

Hempfling and other neighbors fear their road will have to be widened to accommodate traffic from the development.

They have collected about 50 signatures on a petition to block the new housing, but that might not be enough to stop the project.

"From a zoning perspective, the developers have the right to build," said Rick Enos, zoning manager for Brevard county.

The developers said they do not want to use Clear View Drive, and are requesting a change to the approved plan which will allow them to pursue another entrance, linking the planned gated community to U.S. 1 through Florida Power & Light property.

The County Commission will consider that request today.

"We prefer not to have our traffic go through that road," Kern said.

If the developers fail to get approval, they will have to make improvements at the intersection of U.S. 1 and Clear View, which includes adding left and right turn lanes.

Kern said the property was scheduled for development in the early '90s but some environmental issues about scrub jays and gopher tortoises cropped up.

"The old plan had no preservation issues built into it," Kern said.

He said the development will set aside 8 acres for scrub jay habitat.

"We still have to get all the permits. Construction is more than a year away," Kern said.

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