The area is part of the county's Density Reduction/Groundwater Resource, or DR/GR area, which limits development to one unit per 10 acres to protect the county's drinking water supply.

Mining is an approved use in the area, and some say the development limitations — which reduce residential projects' profitability — are pushing land owners into mining.

The largest property is 1,356 acres across from Six L's Farms Road, owned by the local Youngquist Brothers and two east coast partners.

It is being proposed for up to eight years of fill dirt mining without blasting as Corkscrew Excavation. The land would then be developed into a subdivision of 135 2-acre lots around a 6-acre lake.

Further east, Golfrock LLC owns 255 acres proposed for 10 years of rock mining — with blasting — followed by development of a 24-home subdivision.

Just beyond Golfrock is the existing Westwind Mine. East of that is Estero Group Ltd. of Naples' proposed 318 acres of fill dirt mining without blasting.

Kevin Hill, 44, lives on Corkscrew Road less than half a mile from the Golfrock property. He created the Web site corkscrewroad.com to keep the rural neighborhood informed.

"I haven't had a lot of updates lately," he said. "As things get hotter, we'll get more out there."

Hill anxiously awaits dates to be set for the mines to go before the county's hearing examiner. Those public hearings will give residents an official forum to voice their opposition.

"As long as we've got people willing to speak up, their voices will be heard when the decision is made whether to allow this," he said.

County commissioners will eventually make the final decisions during more public hearings.

County planner Chip Block said commissioners must weigh factors such as protecting groundwater, environmentally sensitive lands and residential areas against the need to mine building materials to support construction locally and across the state.

"They all have to be weighed together," he said.

The first step, however, is making sure each rezoning application is complete. All three have been sent back for revisions.

Estero Group's second try was sent back Monday. Corkscrew Excavation's was sent back April 7; and Golfrock's second try was sent back April 20.

No revisions have yet been submitted. Each developer has about 60 days to do so or request an extension.

County planner Chahram Badamtchian said the earliest Golfrock could be scheduled to go to public hearing is August.

"There are always some environmental issues, wetland issues, with earth mining that are not easily solved," he said. "Their information was not adequate on how they're going to protect the environment."

A Golfrock representative did not return a call for comment.

Neighboring residents have already fought off a Schwab rock mine on the south side of Corkscrew Road and an expansion of the Westwind mine on the north side of the road.

"This area was all agriculture and grazing lands and small ranchettes," Hill said. "We certainly didn't expect Corkscrew Road to become an industrial corridor."

Jim Lytell, who lives on Glades Farm Road on the south side of Corkscrew, is coordinating the protest signs. He and several other residents have contributed thousands of dollars to hire experts for each mine battle.

"The impacts from a mine don't have any compatibility with any residential rural zoning," he said. " ... Mines ruin the land forever."

Lytell said he wants to continue watching the stars in a clear sky, not under the haze of a mine's lights and dust.

He said blasting damage to homes is an obvious concern, but it's not the only one. Topping the list is an increase in already heavy dump truck traffic along Corkscrew.

"We don't mind mines up in the Alico area where they've been for years and years," he said. "There were no mines here. We were here first.

" ... I'm 63 years old. I don't want to spend the last 15 to 20 years of my life dodging dump trucks. I'd rather see it developed with houses."

Richard Friday, chief financial officer for Youngquist Brothers, said houses are the eventual goal of Corkscrew Excavation. First, though, they want to excavate 16 million cubic yards of fill dirt for area construction projects.

"Where is the material for I-75's additional four lanes going to come from for 36 miles?" he said. "The county needs the material that comes out of fill pits. They need it for houses, to bring up the foundation. It's a necessary product that literally feeds our economy."

Beverly Grady, who represents the Estero Group mine, agreed that Lee County's growth in private and public construction projects has created a high demand for fill dirt.

"Although I understand truck trips are an issue, if you don't have in-county operations that can meet the demand, we're going to have even more and longer trip lengths because you must have fill," Grady said.

Friday said he's held about 10 meetings with neighboring residents and addressed concerns by prohibiting blasting and rock mining, and limiting dirt mining depths and hours of operation.

"Those are not requirements of the county," he said. "They're self-imposed because we felt it was something the neighbors would want."

Friday said he cannot reduce the projected 862 trucks Corkscrew Excavation will add each day to Corkscrew Road.

"We realize truck traffic is going to increase out there," he said. "We agreed to do some paving on some (side) roads to get people off dirt roads."

In exchange, some neighbors have agreed to support the mine project.

One resident who doesn't oppose fill dirt mining is Pat Hayes. His home on Burgundy Farms Road is about 500 feet from Corkscrew Excavation's property. As a real estate agent and developer, he said he sees both sides of the issue.

"I realize the county is going to have to have mines. It's a necessary evil. I'm just a realist," he said.

"The highest and best use of land out there is not residential. At one unit per 10 acres, you can't develop anything. It's not feasible. Either the land use plan has got to change and be more conducive to a developer, or it's going to continue this way."

He said he isn't concerned about the neighboring mine because it won't blast for rock. And he likes the idea of eventually living next to homes around a lake.

"I would oppose sitting on my pool porch and dynamite goes off and the wall falls down," Hayes said. "In this case, that's not going to happen."

He said it is better to have several mining operations compete for county jobs to bring projects' costs down.

"If the pits weren't there, then everything would skyrocket," Hayes said. "Four bidding is better for our economy than two."

But Hill said the existing rock mining corridor on Alico Road can adequately handle the demand for materials. He said it's premature to spread into Corkscrew's residential areas.

He said residents are tired of spending their own money to fight new mines each time a rezoning application is filed.

"We'd like to have some assurance from the county that we can turn this off and not have to deal with it every time property changes hands."