Estero Development Report
Volume 8, Number 2
Edited by ECCL--the Estero Council of Community Leaders
June Opportunities for Citizen Participation In Protecting Estero's
Quality of Life
|
Date
|
Time
|
Event
|
Location
|
|
Tuesday, June 10th
|
5 p.m.
|
Monthly
Meeting of the Estero Fire Rescue District. For further
information see
http://esterofire.org/
|
Estero
Community Park, located on the south side of Corkscrew Road midway between Sandy Lane and
River Ranch
|
|
Wednesday, June 11th
|
9 a.m.
|
Hearing
Examiner Hearing on the rezoning of the North Point
development. This project is the 100 acre parcel on the
northeast corner of US 41 and Williams Road. The Staff Report will be
posted on the ECPP website at
http://esterofl.org/ecpp/index.htm when it becomes
available about one week before the meeting
|
Second
Floor Hearing Room, Community Development Building,
1500 Monroe St.
in downtown
Ft.
Myers
|
|
Wednesday, June 11th
|
9 a.m.
|
Sierra
Club Coffee with a report on the Lee County Fertilizer
Ordinance public outreach and education program
|
Atrium
Conference Room, 8695 College Parkway in Ft. Myers
|
|
Wednesday, June 11th
|
1:30 p.m.
|
DR/GR
Steering Committee Meeting. This group is monitoring the
DR/GR policy and planning process. Open to Public. For
further information see
http://www.lee-county.com/dcd/ComprehensivePlanning/SELeeCounty.htm
|
Lee County Community Development
Building,
1500 Monroe St., Conference Room
1B, in downtown FT.
Myers
|
|
Wednesday, June 11th
|
5 p.m.
|
Estero
Design Review Committee review of the following projects: See the
full agenda at
http://esterofl.org/edrc/agenda.asp.
|
Estero
Community Park, located on the south side of Corkscrew Road midway between Sandy Lane and
River Ranch
|
|
Friday, June 20th
|
1p.m.
|
Estero
Council of Community Leaders Monthly Meeting . …Open
to the Public…for the full agenda see
http://esterofl.org/eccl/minutes/
|
Estero
Community Park, located on the south side of Corkscrew Road midway between Sandy Lane and
River Ranch
|
|
Friday, June 20th
|
1:30 p.m.
|
Lee County
MPO Meeting. For detailed information see
http://www.mpo-swfl.org/agendas.shtml about one week
before the meeting.
|
1926 Victoria Street
in downtown Ft. Myers
|
|
Wednesday, June 25th
|
1:30 p.m.
|
DR/GR
Steering Committee Meeting. Open to public. This group is
monitoring the DR/GR policy and planning process. For
further information:
http://www.lee-county.com/dcd/ComprehensivePlanning/SELeeCounty.htm
|
Lee County Community Development
Building,
1500 Monroe St., Conference Room
1B, in downtown FT.
Myers
|
|
Wednesday, June 25th |
4:00 p.m. |
ARTS ESTERO monthly meeting is open to the public. |
Estero
Community Park, located on the south side of Corkscrew Road midway between Sandy Lane and
River Ranch
|
From January through April about 32,400 persons visited this site
to learn about Estero. During the same period in 2007 only about
24,200 visited the site, thus our website traffic increased by 34%
year to year.
On the peak day this year 557 persons visited the site up from
300 in 2007.
The community groups sponsoring the site are:
Estero Community Planning Panel (ECPP)
Estero Civic Association (ECA)
Estero Design Review Committee (EDRC)
Estero Council of Community Leaders (ECCL)
Greater Estero Cultural Arts Council (Arts Estero)
Estero Community Improvement Foundation (ECIF)
Begins Estero High School Landscaping
The ECIF has raised about $22,000 for
landscaping the northwest corner of River Ranch Road and Williams
Road so that the ¾ mile chain link fence that surrounds Estero High
School can be made to look much more attractive for the students and
faculty of the school, all Estero residents and the thousands of
visitors who travel Williams Road daily to and from Coconut Point.
This phase of the project will landscape two High School
entrances along River Ranch Road and two along Williams Road.
O’Donnell Landscaping has been contracted to implement the project.
Last week the location of all the plantings were flagged. The trees
and plants will be installed over the next month or two depending on
when the rainy season begins.
We would like to thank Dan Dronkers and Jim Ramsburg, the ECIF
project coordinators, for all their hard work in raising funds for
the project, all who supported them by making contributions big and
small and those who attended the ECIF’s fund-raising events.
New Estero Post Office under
Construction
Estero’s new
Post
Office is under construction along the east side of Three Oaks
Parkway just north of Corkscrew Road. This 4,000 square foot
facility will house the Post Office’s retail operations for Estero.
The existing Post Office facility on east Broadway will continue to
support mail delivery beginning with the existing 28 routes during
the season and 23 routes during the summer months.
Thus far the site has been prepared, the underground utilities
and floor have been completed and the cement block walls are close
to completion. The building is scheduled to open for business on
November 17, 2008
Meanwhile the leaders of the Estero communities along the north
side of Estero Parkway….The Vines,
Belle Lago,
Osprey Cove and
The Reserve of Estero… that
now are served by the Ft. Myers Post Office, are seeking to be
served by the far more accessible Estero Post office.
Florida Wildlife
Federation (FWF) Awards ECCL The Conservation Organization of
the Year Award
On April 16th the Florida Wildlife Federation notified the Estero
Council of Community Leaders (ECCL) that it has won the
organization’s Conservation of the Year Award for 2008. The letter
from FWF President Manley K Fuller, III announced the award in the
following words:
“Congratulations! We are very happy to officially inform you that
your organization has been chosen as the recipient of Florida
Wildlife Federation’s Conservation Organization of the Year Award
for 2008. Your group was chosen by the Federation’s Board of
Directors to receive this award because of your outstanding efforts
in building community partnerships, problem solving, and promoting
solutions for Lee County’s environment to leaders who ultimately
made decisions and to the public.”
The Award will be presented to the ECCL at FWF’s Awards Banquet
at the Collier Athletic Club, 710 Goodlette Road in Naples on
Saturday, June 14th. Tickets are available by contacting FWF at
(850) 656-7113 or by email at
dhines@fwfonline.org .
On May 30th the
Bonita
Springs City Council and Mayor and the leadership of Estero’s civic
associations met for the seventh time over the last 2 plus years
to discuss issues of common concern. Because of the Bonita Springs
elections, including the Mayoral runoff election in April, the two
communities had not met for six months, since November 30, 2007. As
a consequence the focus of this meeting was upon bringing each
community up-to-date on the activities of the other community on
issues of common concern. The community’s decided that they should
meet twice per year in the future and develop mechanisms for
cooperation and coordination between meetings.
The primary issues of common concern discussed at the meeting
were:
- Seek to develop common positions and coordinate our joint
response to the updated South Lee County Watershed Study now
being implemented by Lee County and the South Florida Water
Management District,
- Jointly explore implementing the Spring Creek
recommendations of the 1999 South Lee County Watershed Study
that have not been pursued by the Water District,
- Initiate an effort to see if the property owners along the
Sandy Lane alignment of the segment between Coconut Point and
Old 41 would contribute some funds to be used to begin the
design of that road,
- Continue our dialog seeking to join forces in order to
convince the Lee County MPO that the $10 million that had been
earmarked for the Coconut I-75 Interchange should be used for
I-75 improvements at the Bonita Beach Road and Corkscrew Road
Interchanges,
- Continue our joint efforts to convince Lee Memorial and , if
necessary, other hospitals to provide a Freestanding Emergency
Department in south Lee County as soon as possible,
- Coordinate the two communities understanding of the County’s
DR/GR planning study so that a common position can be presented
to the BOCC in August,
- Continue to discuss any changes in the City’s interest in
annexation of any properties located within the two-mile buffer
area in southern Estero and the efforts of Vote Estero to
develop an incorporation proposal to be presented to the
Legislative Delegation late this year for consideration during
the 2009 legislative session,
- Coordinate the two community’s interest in keeping the
permitting and regulation of mining at the County and Municipal
level and not have them preempted by the state,
- Seek to develop a joint effort to increase the
representation of South Lee County on the Metropolitan Planning
Organization (MPO).
On Wednesday, May 28th Diana Parker, the Chief Lee County Hearing
Examiner, conducted an expedited Hearing for the
Midtowne Estero
development rezoning application. This 48 acre development, located
on the southwest corner of Three Oaks and Corkscrew, is one of the
most visible sites in Estero. If it is not done right it could be
very detrimental to the overall success and property values of the
Estero community.
In June 2007 this property was zoned for 90,000 square feet of
commercial and 234 housing units along the south branch of the
Estero River. The community and The Estero Community Planning Panel
supported this zoning request with enthusiasm. While the Board of
County Commissioners approved the zoning for the property they
vigorously debated the developer’s offer of a cash contribution for
affordable housing in lieu of providing some of those units on the
property, when the developer withdrew this request. Thus the zoning
was approved without any provision for workforce housing.
The current zoning application would dramatically change the
zoning on the property by:
Increasing the amount of commercial on the
property from 90,000 square feet to about 300,000 square feet
including a 140,000 “Big Box” store, and
Reducing the number of housing units from 234 to
92 units.
Unfortunately Lee County zoning staff has recommended approval of
this proposal.
About 20 Estero residents and representatives of the Estero
Community Planning Panel, the Estero Design Review Committee and the
Estero Council of Community Leaders traveled to Ft. Myers and
presented testimony to the Hearing Examiner in opposition to the
rezoning application. The three primary objections raised in this
testimony concerned the impact of the development upon the already
dangerous traffic congestion in the area surrounding the
Corkscrew/Three Oaks intersection, the potential for downstream
flooding especially in the
County Creek
and Pelican Sound
communities and the “Big Box” store being inconsistent with the area
west of Three Oaks Parkway and as a generator of much additional
traffic.
Most testifiers urged the Hearing Examiner to recommend to the
BOCC that they retain the present zoning for Midtowne Estero and
find a way to deal with the workforce housing issue that prompted
the rezoning effort in the first place. The following
testimony provides the legal basis for rejecting the proposed
rezoning:
- Traffic Safety Problems: It will create
severe traffic conflict problems on both Corkscrew Road and
Three Oaks Parkway around the entrances to the commercial part
of the project. The limited entrances and exits to and from the
commercial section of the development create the need for many
dangerous u-turns at critical intersections,
- Incompatibility: The Estero design
standards included in Section 33-100 of the Land Development
Code requires that developments in Estero …”fostering
compatibility with surrounding developments”. The proposed
big box is not consistent with all the other developments along
Corkscrew Road west of Three Oaks parkway, whether built or
zoned. All the others are small office and retail developments.
Unlike the “Big Boxes” to the east this property is not located
in an Interstate Overlay Zoning area. The rumored Home Depot
store should be located in the recently approved big box site in
the Corkscrew Crossing development just east of Estero Town
Commons, the development where the Lowe’s store is sited,
- Big Box Location: The location of the “Big
Box” store is inconsistent with Section 33-458 of the Land
Development Code which states: “(2) Big box retail buildings
must be placed away from residential areas”. The proposed Big
Box site is immediately adjacent to the residential housing
included in the development.
- Flooding: By August 28, 2008 the Lee County
Board must adopt new FEMA flood maps. For the first time in
history FEMA is creating flood control zones along Estero’s
rivers and streams. The staff report puts the applicant on
notice “that a major portion of the development is located
within the floodway designated in the Flood Insurance Rate Map
(FIS) but recommends allowing this development to be zoned prior
to an analysis of the impact of these changes and without
providing an opportunity for public input on the County staff’s
decision on the impact of the new maps on the development. This
is not right when that decision could have great impact on
downstream flooding of properties along the south branch of the
Estero River and the River itself.
- The location of the ‘Big box” immediately adjacent to the
south branch of the Estero River and the large parking lots
necessary to service it raise serious questions about the
appropriateness of this proposal. The staff report indicates
that this proposal reduces the amount of open space by more than
2 acres, thus indicating a comparable increase in impervious
surfaces.
- Lack of Appearance Standards: Unlike
Estero’s other major multi-use developments the zoning does not
require appearance standards to ensure that all of the buildings
in the development are compatible from an architectural and
appearance perspective,
- Lack of Community Cooperation: Although the
developer made several appearances before the Community Planning
Panel the comments and opposition of the community were not
heard nor heeded,
The development is located in the Corkscrew Road Overlay
District. As a result it is subject to the provisions of Sections
33-400 through 33-406 of the Land Development Code.
- Serving Community Needs: Section 33-402 of
the Land Development Code provides as follows: “The Corkscrew
Road and Sandy Lane district will be developed as the Estero
Community’s Main Street, a corridor of architecturally appealing
and attractively landscaped ….developments that cater to the
needs of the community.” Big box stores are not community
shopping centers, they serve a regional market far beyond the
boundaries of the community.
- Inconsistent with Corner Lot Requirements:
Section 33-403, Corner Lots, requires that “the development must
create visually and attractive street corners using distinctive
building entryways in combination with landscaping or artwork.”
Having a group of small stores with the rear of the stores
facing the intersecting streets that create the corner is
inconsistent with this provision.
- Lacking Street Wall Commitment: Section
33-406 provides setback requirements for this section of
Corkscrew Road intended to make the corridor from Three Oaks
Parkway to US 41 look like a main street with all the building
being situated within 25 of the street right-of-way. In addition
it encourages the development of a “street wall” by requiring
the longer side of the building be parallel to Corkscrew and
where possible the buildings be located close together. A tour
of the street demonstrates that this provision is being met by
the other developments in the corridor, but this not this
proposal.
On February 14th the South Florida Water Management District
(SFWMD) agreed to undertake a comprehensive study, wit Lee County as
an equal partner, which will update the 1998 South Lee County
Watershed Plan. This will allow all interested parties, including
the City of Bonita Springs, to decide:
- the best way to handle flood waters in our area,
- if any and how
many culverts should be installed under I-75 just east of The
Brooks, and
- where and how the water should be directed to reduce
flood dangers throughout South Lee County in a way that enhances the
environment and water quality entering Estero Bay.
On May 8th staff of the SFWMD and Lee County Department of
Natural Resources briefed the public, representatives of the City of
Bonita Springs, ECCL, the Brooks Concerned Citizens, The Conservancy
and Lee County Commissioner Ray Judah on the scope of work in the
consulting contract for this important flood control study of our
area in a workshop in the Bonita Springs City Council Chambers. All
in attendance from Estero and Bonita Springs agreed that the study
addressed all the concerns that both communities have raised during
the scope development phase.
At the May 8th meeting Karen Brandon from Boyle Engineering, a
hydrologic engineering consulting firm, was introduced as the lead
consultant on the project. During the next two months Lee County and
SFWMD will be working with the consultants to update the database
for the study area. During this period all of the deficiencies in
our knowledge about the watershed will be identified and the
proposed research objectives will be outlined for consideration at
another public meeting here in the watershed area.
At that time a schedule for completion of each of the research
projects will also be presented and finalized. Additional public
input sessions will be scheduled when significant research results
become available.
The SFWMD and the consultants will post the progress of the study
in a special section on the District’s web site. The consultants
have been in touch with our local representatives to tour the area
and gain more updated information on development that has occurred
in the area since the last study was completed. Finally, the SFWMD,
the County and the consultants assured everyone that the updated
plan will be completed by the May 14, 2009 deadline.
In September 2007, Lee County Commissioners adopted an Action
Plan to study land use alternatives in the southeast Lee County
Density Reduction/Groundwater Resource (DR/GR) area. As part
of that plan, Dover, Kohl & Partners has been hired to gather input
from property owners, local citizens and others; to use this input
to develop land use scenarios for the Southeast Lee DR/GR; and to
recommend Lee County Comprehensive Plan and Land Development Code
changes to the Board of County Commissioners for their approval.
In addition the BOCC Appointed an Advisory Committee to provide a
forum for all groups with an interest in the DR/GR to provide a
local perspective and interact with the consultant and staff and
make recommendations to the BOCC.
During May the Advisory Committee heard presentations on May 14th
and 28th from experts on topics germane to the future use of the
DR/GR.
On May 14th the Committee heard a presentation by Robert Renken
and Kevin J. Cunningham of the U.S. Geological Survey regarding the
scope of a proposed contract with the Lee County Division of Natural
Resources to study wellfield protection in the DR/GR. The proposed
contract is not a part of the DR/GR study being performed by Dover,
Kohl and Partners. It stems from the recent updating of the
Wellfield Protection ordinance, which prompted Commissioners to ask
if the area around Lee County’s wellfields could be affected by
mining as in the recent investigation in the Lake Belt in Miami-Dade
County. USGS investigated the movement of contaminants from mines to
wellfields in Miami-Dade, and is proposing to do a similar study for
Lee’s wellfields in the DR/GR.
Mr. Renken noted the proposed work would not duplicate the
existing land use contract with Dover Kohl & Partners, but could
enhance the water modeling subcontract. He pointed out that land use
and water issues in the DR/GR are linked. The purpose of the
proposed USGS contract is to develop a conceptual hydrogeologic
framework of the physical system – the natural “plumbing” of the
DR/GR – to study groundwater flow from mines to wells and from well
to well. The second purpose is to assess the susceptibility of the
wellfields to contamination. The model will take into consideration
the time it takes for water to travel and the distance it will
travel under certain circumstances. For further information on this
presentation see
http://www.lee-county.com/dcd/Agendas/DRGR/Minutes/may142008.pdf
.
On May 28th the Committee heard a presentation by Howard Wegis of
Lee County Utilities about the County’s water supply, a large
proportion of which is extracted from the DR/GR, where three major
County well-fields are located. Lee County residents consume
about 30 million gallons of water per day with about 20 million
gallon per day coming from the DR/GR. Mr. Wegis’s informative power
point presentation on our water supply can be found at
http://www.lee-county.com/dcd/CommunityPlans/SELC_DRGR/LCUWaterSupplyCapacity.pdf
.
Several other informative presentations about resources in the
DR/GR and the water system of which it is a part can be found at the
following website:
http://www.lee-county.com/dcd/CommunityPlans/SELC_DRGR/ReportsRelatedDocs.htm
.
On June 11th the Advisory Committee will meet with Jerry Keener,
a facilitator that the County has used for Comprehensive Planning
meetings to start to plan the Committee’s effort to develop
recommendations for the BOCC after reviewing the Consultants Draft
Report expected to become available to the Committee and the public
about July 1st.
On June 25th the Committee will hear presentations from Kirk
Martin, a committee member and a geologist, Jim Beever of the
Southwest Florida Regional Planning Commission who will talk about
reclamation in the DR/GR and Dr. Richard Weisskoff, a regional
economist and author from the University of Miami, who will talk
about the demand and supply of aggregate in the southwest Florida
market.
During July the Committee will intensively review the Consultants
Report and staff recommendations for changes in the Lee Plan and the
Land Development Code and develop some recommendations for the BOCC
regarding plans, rules and regulations that would guide the future
use of the DR/GR.
During August the BOCC will review the Consultant’s Report, the
Advisory Committee recommendations and the Lee Plan and Land
Development Code amendments.
Last month’s edition of the Estero Development Report provided
detailed information on the work of Dover Kohl, the County’s DR/GR
planners, while they were here doing their local research in
April…to view this report see
http://esterofl.org/eccl/EDR/estero_development_report_april_2008.htm#Public_Participation_in_DR/GR_Planning_Sessions_
.
To learn more about the Southeast Lee DR/GR study, go to:
http://www.lee-county.com/dcd/CommunityPlans/SELC_DRGR/subcommittee.htm
To view the consultant’s “Work in Process” presentation that
summarizes what they learned during their week in Lee County go to
the bottom of the following webpage…
http://www.lee-county.com/dcd/CommunityPlans/SELC_DRGR/DoverKohl.htm
.
On May 13th the Board of County Commissioners approved the
County’s first ordinance regulating the use of fertilizer by
professionals and the public in order to improve the quality of the
water flowing in our rivers, streams, estuaries and bays. The final
ordinance had undergone many revisions over the past year, generally
strengthening its provisions. The ECCL and the Brooks Concerned
Citizens worked with several environmental groups and county staff
and Commissioners to improve the ordinance and in the end supported
the legislation as passed. We congratulate the Board and county
staff for their good work and support for this measure.
The purpose of the Ordinance is to reduce the amount of nutrients
(nitrogen and phosphorus) that runs off into our waterways. If we
can reduce this runoff we will be able to start reversing the
degradation of our rivers, streams and bays.
The main features of the Ordinance are:
- Everyone who applies fertilizer is covered and will be required
to adhere to the legislation,
- The legislation establishes a one year
implementation period, during which professional landscapers must
get certified. There will be no penalties enforced during this
period,
- It establishes a black out period where no fertilizers can
be used between June 1st and September 30th each year,
- All
fertilizers must contain: at least 50% slow release fertilizers, no
more than 4 pounds of nitrogen and no more than ½ pound of
phosphorus per 100 square feet per year,
- No fertilizers may be
distributed within 10 feet of any water body,
- All fertilizer
spreaders must have deflector shields,
- The County will develop a
public education program that will include instructional signs in
all stores that sell fertilizers,
- After the first year fines for
violation of the ordinance will be:
- First violation… $100
- Second Violation… $250
- Third Violation and
thereafter…$500
The City of Bonita Springs does not yet have a fertilizer
ordinance but will soon be considering one similar to the County
Ordinance.
During April only 7 housing units, five single family homes and
one duplex, with a value of $1.89 million were permitted in Estero.
The first four months of 2008 continue the downward trend in new
housing construction in Estero that began two years ago, in the
spring of 2006.
Housing units permitted during 2007 were by far the lowest in
the 9 years that the County’s system has tracked Estero’s permits.
It would appear that 2008 will be much lower than that minimum
performance
The County permitting information used in this report may be
found at
http://www.lee-county.com/dcd/Reports/EsteroReports.htm
The following table shows how the first four months of 2008
compare with the prior eight years:
|
Year
|
Annual Total
Housing Units
|
Building Value of Units
|
Average
Building
Value Per Unit
|
Percentage of Single
Family Units
|
|
2000
|
733
|
$95,634,278
|
$130,470
|
36%
|
|
2001
|
743
|
114,361,268
|
153,918
|
43
|
|
2002
|
453
|
79,305,463
|
175,067
|
56
|
|
2003
|
694
|
100,480,796
|
144,785
|
34
|
|
2004
|
506
|
101,842,275
|
201,269
|
73
|
|
2005
|
1061
|
207,175,802
|
195,265
|
43
|
|
2006
|
648
|
143,344,385
|
221,210
|
19
|
|
2007
|
258
|
66,051,728
|
256,015
|
31
|
|
2008
|
47
|
16,486,400
|
350,774
|
87
|
Not only are the 2008 total housing units far below all prior
years, they equal only 10% of the quantity during 2002, the season
immediately following the tragedy of 9/11/2001 and is down by 82%
from last year.
On the other hand the average building value, excluding the land
beneath it, continues to increase, up 37% from the prior high set
last year and over two and one-half times the average in 2000.
First four months building permits of all types continued at a
very slow pace. The value of
commercial buildings permitted in Estero during the four months
totaled $20.4 million.
|
Year
|
Year to Date
|
Annual Total
|
|
2000
|
$7,780,586
|
$77,250,835
|
|
2001
|
15,427,071
|
44,116,526
|
|
2002
|
3,712,079
|
23,135,139
|
|
2003
|
4,935,094
|
23,234,725
|
|
2004
|
7,699,199
|
60,859,820
|
|
2005
|
12,676,374
|
111,037,977
|
|
2006
|
70,651,988
|
184,709.240
|
|
2007
|
51,145,498
|
157,614,045
|
|
2008
|
20,431,973
|
?
|
As the above table indicates Estero commercial development
started to expand rapidly in 2004, peaking in 2006 with a total of
$184.7 million. (All figures are exclusive of the underlying land).
2007 was Estero’s second highest commercial development year, far
ahead of the third place year, 2005, with $111 million. Thus far
2008 is running ahead of 2005. While it has slowed considerably
since last year Estero’s commercial growth is far from over.
During the first four months the major projects that contributed
to the year to date totals are:
$10.19 million for the Hyatt Garden Hotel at Coconut Point
$6.13 million in the
Coconut Point
Town Center; $3.32 million for
Miromar
Outlets expansion
$1.06 million for Lee County Utilities
$217,000 in the
Estero Ridge Shopping Center
$241,600 in
Estero Town Commons
$160,000 in the
Brooks
Town Center (retail) at Coconut Road and Three Oaks Parkway
$129,000 in the
International Design Center
REMINDER: The building values understate the cost of each
residence or commercial building because it excludes the value of
the underlying land.
