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A proposed shopping center at the corner of Collier Boulevard and Pine Ridge Road has residents on a nearby street concerned about the quality of life in their neighborhood and the safety of children waiting for the school bus.

The 105,000-square-foot center proposed by The Sembler Co. would sit on 21 acres and include a large grocery store anchor. The design will be brought before the county’s Planning Commission on Aug. 3 and then before the Collier County Commission for rezoning.

Sembler hopes to begin construction in early 2007 and open in fall 2007. Sembler wouldn’t release the names of any of its planned tenants.

The company surveyed residents at the beginning of the planning process and found them to be concerned about design, entrances and exits, traffic on 11th Avenue S.W., buffer areas between residential and commercial property, and a school bus stop at the end of the street, said Amber Overby, spokeswoman for Sembler.

Karen Leiti, a resident who lives near the site, would prefer the land called Tract 114 that borders her street, 11th Avenue S.W., remained undeveloped. She’d rather the center was just a little farther away.

“It looks as though most of our neighbors are now in favor, but I’ve always been opposed to them using Tract 114,” Leiti said. “If they left that alone it would provide a larger buffer. I’d rather there was no access to the center from 11th Avenue S.W. I moved to a residential neighborhood and I’d like it to stay that way.”

As the plans currently stand, there is an access on 11th Avenue S.W. The details of that access — whether it will be limited or not — are being negotiated.

“It’s a safety issue, too,” Leiti said. “There’s a school bus stop on the end of the street and if traffic increases it could put kids in danger.”

Sembler agreed to add a school bus stop shelter to the corner of 11th Avenue S.W. The

bus stop will be built in the same old-Florida style design as the rest of the plaza. The developer is also creating a preserve area on 70 percent of Tract 114 with trees, a pond and walkways. Since the beginning of the process, the company decreased the center’s size by 20 percent.

Betty Huff, another 11th Avenue S.W. resident, was against the idea of the shopping center until she heard that the property was probably going to be rezoned in the near future anyway — whether by Sembler or another company.

“If we’re going to have something built there, this is what we want,” said Huff, a resident of 11th Avenue for 20 years. “It’s modern, they’ve improved the design and the company has been very good about calling neighborhood meetings.”