Estero Development Report

Important Mining Hearing on November 8th

If you are concerned about the dump truck traffic on Estero’s roadways you need to participate in the Hearing Examiner’s review of the mining permit application of the Estero Group on November 8th or 9th.
 
The Estero Group is seeking to develop over 300 acres along Corkscrew Road as a dirt mine. If approved this project will add about 450 truck trips per day to Estero and Lee County roads. If this project is approved other mines and more dump trucks will follow. At present there is only one mine operating along Corkscrew Road but two more Corkscrew Road mine permit applications have been filed in addition to the Estero Groups application.
 
Lee County zoning staff has recommended approval of this application. Only a large group of Estero residents participating in this Hearing will stop its approval and all its negative implications for Estero. Only persons who testify at this Hearing will be authorized to testify later when the matter is considered by the Lee County Board.
 
In order to testify come to the 2nd floor Hearing Room, Lee County Community Development building, 1500 Monroe Street in downtown Ft. Myers at one of the following times:

Wednesday afternoon, November 8th, or
Anytime Thursday, November 9th.

For further information on the Hearing process and how to develop your testimony see the Corkscrew Road Rural Community website at http://www.corkscrewroad.org/ .

Draft ECCL (DRGR)/Mining Position Statement

For several months the ECCL Committee on the Density Reduction/Groundwater Resource (DRGR) area and mining have been working on the following position paper. This document will be discussed at the November 17th meeting of the ECCL. Your suggestions and comments would be appreciated and will be discussed at that meeting. Just forward them to us through our website at http://esterofl.org/eccl/contact_eccl.htm.

Density Reduction Groundwater Resource Area (DRGR)

Phase 1: Prepare the scope of work and select a consultant to consolidate all DRGR studies; supplement them with needed additional information; identify all areas that need to be preserved for water supply; wetland; flood prevention; habitat preservation; environmental and ecosystem protection; groundwater, hydroperiod and aquifer protection; population uses and protection; compatibility of uses; mining and agriculture purposes and prepare a map that will be used in Phase 2. Importantly, all of this should be done with a maximum of public input and involvement.
 
Phase 2: Develop a land use plan for the DRGR with ample opportunity for all affected parties and the public to participate. This effort should result in an amendment to the Lee County Comprehensive Plan that creates an Overlay District for the DRGR. The Overlay District shall include provisions targeting the location of public infrastructure and incentives that will perpetually preserve the areas identified for preservation in the prior phase and achieve the mining objectives stated in the following section.
 
Both Phases should be accompanied with a broad based public awareness program about the DRGR and its importance to the region and the tools to be used by the DRGR land use plan. The County should publish and distribute a DRGR pamphlet; creation of a special section on the County website, provide displays and public information at all public libraries  and County sponsored workshops on the DRGR and related topics by noted professionals like Dr. James Nicholas. If Transfers of Development Right (TDR’s) are used they should include provisions for affordable housing units.
 
Both Phases should be coordinated with the City of Bonita Springs whose boundaries contain about 5% of the 96,000 acres (150 square miles) that are included in the DRGR. The Regional Planning Commission may be used to facilitate this coordination.
 
Possible amendment of the Lee County Charter to incorporate some long term land use planning principals including some DRGR land use and mining provisions.

Mining

Independently research the extent that permitted mining operations in the County have removed their available resources; the rate at which they are consuming these resources and estimate the remaining marketable resources.
 
Research the individual mine and cumulative impact of rock mining, and the blasting that is associated with it, upon the quantity and quality of the area’s water supply, habitat, the surrounding lands and neighboring homes and residents.
 
Determine the impact that truck traffic that supports Lee County mining is having upon traffic, traffic safety, road deterioration, efficiency of the road system and road litter.
 
Study the fill, rock and other resources of all south Florida counties and the policies of those counties regarding mining of those resources. Develop and adopt a mining policy that commits Lee County to providing its fair share of mining resources but not a disproportionately large share.
 
Review the sparse conditions that the Lee Plan currently imposes upon mining. Study those that are imposed by other Florida counties that authorize mining within their borders; collect and review all available data on the impact of mining, including cumulative impacts on nearby properties; determine what additional goals, objectives and policies the County should consider and, after obtaining appropriate public and industry input; update the Lee Plan’s mining policies.
 
Study the impact that mining has had in Lee County including the following: What has happened to the resulting mining pits? How have they been maintained? What are the costs of maintaining them? Are they contaminated like the Lakes Park mines? Do wildlife frequent the pits? Use available aerial photographs to compare the ecology of the area before and after the mining. Review water management monitoring reports for hydroperiod changes resulting from the mining activity. Study the impact of mining upon invasive species on surrounding lands.

Brief Roadway Status Report

The following seven road segments will greatly improve traffic conditions in Estero and the surrounding community. They are either under construction or will be within the next few months. While they will create some congestion during the upcoming season, and to a lesser extent over the next year or two, they will greatly benefit traffic conditions in Estero in the long run.

Via Coconut Point (formerly Sandy Lane)…

The central section of this new 4 lane roadway between Williams Road and Coconut Road is now open and available for use. The south segment between Coconut Road and the round-about at Pelican Colony Boulevard and the Pelican Colony Boulevard extension over to US 41 will open in November. The northern segment from Williams to Corkscrew will be available for use in December. 

I-75 Six Laning…

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) plans to award the contract for widening I-75 to six lanes throughout the 35 mile segment between Ft. Myers and Naples in February 2007, just three months from now. The project is set for completion in late 2010, a three and one half year project. Usually a project of this scope would be treated as several separate projects phased sequentially, thus taking much more time. The Southwest Florida Expressway Authority continues to investigate the possibility of constructing additional toll lanes in the median during this same time period.

Three Oaks Parkway

from Coconut Road to East Terry Street… at the end of October this new four lane road project was on the 175th day of a 630 day contract, or 27.8% of the way to completion if done on time. As of the 17th of October the contractor had expended almost $12.7 million of the $28.5 million included in the contract. In addition to Posen Construction, Bonita Springs Utilities, Florida Power and Light and Embarq are working on the site. At present the contractor is installing underground utilities; finishing some sidewalks; pouring curb and sidewalks.

Imperial Street

between Bonita Beach Road and East Terry Street… at the end of October this new 4 lane road project was on the 105th day of a 570 day contract, or 18.4% of the way to completion if done on time. As of the 17th of October the contractor had expended almost $1.5 million of the $12.5 million included in the contract. At present the contractor is clearing and grubbing the land; relocating some power systems; driving test pilings at the Imperial River and starting to install the drainage system. When this and the prior project are complete Estero residents will be able to travel all the way to Naples’ Radio Road on this new four lane corridor.

Three Oaks Parkway 4-Laning

between Corkscrew and Alico Roads… the contract for this segment was recently awarded to Posen Construction. The Notice to Proceed will authorize Posen to begin construction next month, on December 4th. When complete this segment will permit motorists to travel from Alico Road in Ft Myers to Radio Road in Naples upon a continuous 4 lane highway.

Estero Parkway Flyover

between Three Oaks Parkway and Ben Hill Griffin… the County is awaiting final air-rights approval and permits from FDOT. Upon receipt, expected next month, the project can be advertised for bids.

Corkscrew Road

from Ben Hill Griffin to east of the Bella Terra development… the project has been advertised for bids and the bids are expected to be opened on December 4th. This project is being financed by a special district composed of the businesses and residential communities located along the road segment.

County Road Financing

On October 10th and 24th the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) held hearings on a consultant’s recommendation to triple the County’s road impact fees, raising the fee on a single family home from about $3,000 to about $9,000. In spite of considerable opposition from the Lee Building Industry Association and some advocates for affordable housing, the BOCC voted unanimously to approve the increase. Several representatives of the ECCL testified in support of the increase because many roads proposed for the Estero’s area are annually threatened by delay due to rising costs and lack of funding to pay those cost increases.  
 
It appeared that the unanimous vote was the result of the County having no other option for continuing its road program at this time. Under Florida law County governments have only three possible funding sources for road building: gasoline taxes, property taxes and impact fees.
 
Until last year the County had never used property taxes to fund its road program. In 2005 it allocated $30 million to establish a one year road development revolving loan program. This year the BOCC approved a budget for the 2006-07 fiscal year that includes another $20 million for the revolving loan program and a $10 million grant for roads. These increases were possible because of the exceptionally rapid growth in the County’s property tax base and the BOCC’s resistance to calls for further reductions in the County’s access to property tax growth.
 
For many years the County has imposed the maximum gasoline tax rate authorized for Counties by Florida law. However, that rate has been sufficient to fund only about 15 to 20% of the annual road building budget.
 
The bottom line is that Road Impact Fees currently finance over three quarters of the County’s new and improved roads. Under Florida law the County’s only alternative is higher property taxes.

Why Such A Big Increase

For most of the 1990’s the County did not raise its road impact fees. In recent years the County has reviewed and revised impact fees every three years. So it has been three years since Lee County’s Road Impact Fees have been increased. During that period Lee County land values have increased dramatically and simultaneously the cost of most road building materials have skyrocketed from asphalt to steel and concrete. The cost of carry-over projects in the County’s 5-year Road Capital Improvement Program increased by about $80 million in each of the last two years. As a result each year some projects that were ready for construction have been postponed for lack of sufficient funds.

In addition, the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) recently determined that the County has a $2 billion deficit in its 2030 Transportation Plan. This plan includes State as well as County roads.

Conclusion

The unanimous vote by the BOCC will permit the County to have a vigorous road program for the next few years. However, these Hearings indicate that the County needs to diversify the funding of its road program…it is now too heavily dependent upon Road Impact Fees. Since Lee County’s property taxes are already quite high, other alternatives need to be considered.

Testimony at the Hearings indicated that the Florida Legislature has previously considered and rejected authorization of a real estate transfer tax for county roads. There seemed to be considerable support for this idea. Others suggested that the Road Impact Fee be indexed for inflation so that future increases will not be so large and the program’s revenue stream can better keep up with increasing road costs.

Coordination with the City of Bonita Springs

On October 27th an eight member delegation from the Estero Council of Community Leaders (ECCL) met with the Mayor and the members of the Bonita Springs City Council to discuss problems of common interest and how cooperative action might resolve them more effectively than our separate efforts. The meeting was once again facilitated by Jim Stansbury, a professional facilitator and mediator from Bradenton.
 
The meeting began with a presentation by Audrey Vance, Bonita Springs City Attorney, on the implications of the Florida “Sunshine Laws” upon this policy coordination process. A couple of guiding principals were determined:

• All written Estero communications should be transmitted to the Council members through the City Manager’s office,
• There is ample opportunity for the Estero representatives to make presentations to the City Council at any of its meetings,
•  One representative of the City and one or more representatives of Estero could meet for fact finding purposes and their report could be transmitted to each community so long as it did not exclude any alternatives that were considered for any proposed action to be approved by each body, and
• Estero representatives could not meet with a Bonita Council-person and then communicate that person’s views to the other Bonita Council-persons.

Next Paul Piller, the City’s Tallahassee lobbyist, made a presentation about the 2007 plans and procedures of the Florida legislature. He indicated that the primary focus of the 2007 legislative session would be on appropriation matters.

Sandy Lane (or now in Estero Via Coconut Point)…

The City of Bonita Springs has contracted with Florida Transportation Engineers to advise the City regarding the following:

• The cost of designing, permitting, acquiring right of way and constructing the segment of Sandy Lane between Pelican Colony Boulevard and Old 41, just east of US 41. The estimated cost, in 2002 dollars, as determined by Lee County when the road’s alignment was determined in 2004, was $12,194,000. The updated costs will be broken out so that funding for the design phase might be sought as early as the 2007-08 budget year of the City and County.
•  Update the traffic impact of the segment on Old 41 to the south of its connection with the Sandy Lane extension and upon the road network in and around E, Terry Street, where Old 41 narrows to two lanes.

This work is to be presented to the Bonita City Council at one of its December meetings. If all goes well this would be in time for inclusion of some of the design costs in the County’s 2007-08 Capital Improvement Plan.
 
Councilman Nelson indicated that several landowners along the route had expressed interest in the road and might be willing to partner with the County and City regarding some of the costs in order to accelerate its construction.

Improving Emergency Medical Care and Attracting a Hospital to the Area…

After considerable discussion all participants agreed with the following agenda for addressing this need:

Paul Piller would investigate the prospects for the Florida legislature seriously considering legislation that would change the standards for establishing Freestanding Emergency Departments. Earlier this year the Florida Hospital Association actively assisted the Estero community and Lee Memorial Hospital in pursuit of legislation that would direct the Agency for Healthcare Administration (ACHA) to develop new standards for such facilities that would have been effective at the end of 2006. According to Lee Memorial these new standards are necessary for such a facility to be constructed in our area within the next few years.

Representatives of the two communities, Sam Levy for Estero, and John Joyce for Bonita Springs, were directed to work together to develop information and a draft letter that upon approval by the Bonita Springs City Council and the ECCL would be used to solicit all hospitals and hospital systems that might have an interest in developing a hospital in the area.

The group then heard a presentation by Greg Rawls, who has studied the groundwater system in the Density Reduction Groundwater Resource (DRGR) for both the City of Bonita Springs and County. The presentation made it clear that a large proportion of the Bonita Springs DRGR area has been developed and disturbed by mining and other activities. The City has also contracted with a consultant to prepare a land use plan for this area. The City Council recently unanimously voted to deny a comprehensive plan amendment for a developer seeking to develop at higher density levels than would be permitted in the DRGR until this work is complete and the Council has had an opportunity to adopt a land use plan for the 4,000 plus acre Bonita Springs DRGR area. The Estero representatives offered to share with the Bonita council a position statement they have been developing in order to convince the Board of County Commissioners about the need to map and plan for the 90,000 acre County section of the DRGR, including the mining provisions that are incompatible with the low density residential both of which are permitted throughout the area.

The conferees also briefly discussed affordable and workforce housing and agreed that more of the money that has been and is being contributed to the County’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund  should be returned to the area in order for us to provide more affordable housing in the area.

Finally, the representatives of the two communities agreed to meet again at 9 a.m. on Thursday, January 11, 2007 in the Bonita Springs City Hall, where the meetings can be televised for all to see. In addition to the issues that are being addressed, the tentative agenda for that meeting will include discussion of:

• increasing the amount of greenspace and methods for financing public purchase of these environmentally sensitive lands
•  affordable and workforce housing
•  the density reduction groundwater resource (DRGR) area

November - Grand Opening Month in Estero

For several years the Estero Development Report has been reporting on plans for future development. Now some of those plans are being completed and the facilities opening. There will be three of them during the coming month.
 
On November 8th…at 9:30 a.m. the Dillard’s store in Coconut Point will sponsor its “Ribbon Cutting” Ceremony at its western entrance. You can’t miss this large 180,000 square foot, two story store on the northeast corner of Coconut Road and US 41 at the south end of the Coconut Point Town Center.
 
On November 10th… the Simon Development Group will open the Coconut Point Town Center with many stores being opened, activities on the mall and in other of the Town Center’s public places.
 
On November 18th…at 11 a.m. Lee County Parks and Recreation Department will hold its “Ribbon Cutting” Ceremony on the stage of the amphitheater at the rear of the 43,000 square foot Community/Recreation building overlooking the large central oval within the Estero Community Park. The Park is located at 9200 Corkscrew Road. Its entrance is on the south side of Corkscrew between US 41 and River Ranch Road.
 
The public is invited to all these events.

Estero’s Housing Permit Growth Coming Back

Housing units permitted in Estero during September were driven by the year’s highest number of single family permits (103) and the near absence of multi-family permits, for a total of 105 units.
 
The following table shows how the first nine months of 2006 compares with the same period during the prior six years:

As the above table shows, the first nine months of 2006 ranks next to last in the number of permitted housing units but tops in average building value during this seven year period, in spite of having the smallest percentage (36.4%) of single family homes.

Year to Date Commercial Building Value Continues Highest on Record 

The value of commercial buildings permitted in Estero during the first nine months of 2006 totaled $171million. The next highest commercial permit total for that period, $74.2 million, was in 2000, when the Hyatt Coconut Point Resort was permitted.
 
The major projects that contributed to the 2006 total are:

• About $80 million in the Coconut Point Town Center;
• $47.5 million for the Lowe’s store in the Estero Town Commons
•  over $10.5 million in Phase 5 of the Miromar Outlets Center
•  nearly $3 million for an office building in Estero Park Commons
•  $950 thousand for the Walgreens Drug Store in Paradise Shoppes (northwest corner of US 41 and Williams Road)
•  $1.06 million for the Lee County Utilities facility on the south side of Corkscrew Road east of I-75; 
•  $1.4 million for the Barkis Car Wash south of the Corkscrew Village Shopping Center on US 41, and
•  $2.3 million for several Empire Builders office buildings in the Galleria project.

REMINDER: The building values understate the cost of each residence or commercial building because it excludes the value of the underlying land.

Estero Community Planning Panel (ECPP) Community Planning Workshop

On October 28, 2006 the Estero Community Planning Panel conducted a workshop
at the South County Regional Library to discuss updating and revising the Estero Community Plan. Twenty-seven people attended the meeting, including two from the press, two members of the Estero Design Review Committee and six ECPP members. 
 
The goals of the meeting were to identify what is required to update and improve the Estero Community Plan; to define what that means; to define how the plan should benefit the Estero community; and to identify what the community wants in the plan.
 
The meeting began with a review of its September 2, 2006 public meeting which focused on “mixed use” development and the County’s planned comprehensive plan amendments designed to implement that concept. 
 
By way of background, ECPP Chairman Neal Noethlich noted that the current plan:

•  will soon be 5 years old, and
•  focused primarily on Estero’s then soon to be develop commercial corridors.

Funding is now available from Lee County to update five year old community plans with a fresh look at how to address new issues and resolve some older issues that were inadequately addressed in the current plan.
 
Dan DeLisi a member of the ECPP led a discussion of some items that might be included in the revision: common open space, looking beyond “our property” for rezoning, better integration of disconnected parks, walking/biking trails into the community; addressing affordable/workforce housing, redevelopment and others. 
 
After a review of the history of significant citizen participation during the past 6 years, each attendee was asked to discuss issues they felt should be addressed in the Plan revisions.  Five easels were filled with comments and suggestions.   Involved Estero Developers brought forth an important issue: finding funding sources for the desired improvements. Under current densities, reliance only on developers’ contributions will be a real impediment to the affordable/workforce housing initiative, especially when coupled with recent increases in impact fees. Other attendees felt that Lee County should participate to a greater extent because, in the long run, the County benefits from increased property values that result from the improvement.
 
After much discussion of many issues, it was concluded that the ECPP and its supporters should define the scope of the plan revision effort and estimate how much it will cost to complete the plan revision with a maximum opportunity for community input. Thereafter, the ECPP would approach the County to fund the planning effort.
 
ECPP member and professional planner Dan DeLisi, with the support of Lin Welch, another ECPP member, will lead this effort in behalf of the Panel. Three attendees volunteered to serve on the Committee. They are Adele Amico, John Goodrich and Roy Hyman. It was suggested that the Plan amendment should use many of the techniques that were used when the existing Estero Plan was developed, e.g. many public hearings; workshops and public opinion surveys. The ECPP would like more Estero residents to serve on the Committee.

Report on October Arts Estero Board of Directors Meeting

The October 25, 2006 meeting of the Greater Estero Cultural Arts Council, Inc. entertained three proposals for cooperation.

Proposals for Cooperation

The Bach Ensemble is a group of 40 professional singers specializing in less-familiar works of Baroque music. Their presentation to the board of directors was made by Dr. Vic Silvestri, founder, and Ginny Goodman, representative. They are a non-profit relying on charitable contributions. Now in their fifth season, the Bach Ensemble is presenting five concerts. Information and tickets can be ordered online at www.thebachensemble.org. Arts Estero agreed to publicize their efforts and invited them to put their concerts on our online interactive calendar. They agreed to do this.
 
A Fifth Anniversary dinner and concert will be held on Sunday November 5, with cocktails at 6:00 p.m. with dinner and concert to follow at Quail Creek Country Club. Tickets are $75 per person. Info at 239-732-1055.
 
The Bach Ensemble will also work with the Friends of South County Regional Library to present a free concert at the library in the 2007-08 season.
 
Arts Estero will include the Interfaith Care Givers at our Arts in Estero 2007. Their “Chair-ity Event” consists of an auction of 50 chairs decorated by artists. The chairs are useable works of art and will be auctioned with a minimum bid of $100.
 
The Kraichy Erickson Harp and Violin duo mailed Arts Estero a presentation whereby they envisioned a series of coordinated concerts to employ musicians. The board thought their proposal looked too much like a request for us to be their booking agents and we declined for now. Perhaps as we grow we and they may be of mutual benefit in the future.

Form 1023 Filed

With the assistance of our Advisory Board legal counsel, we filed Form 1023 with the IRS on October 10. This is the document that petitions our request for tax-exempt 501(c)3 status. We are told that once we do receive our tax-exempt status, the IRS will make the status retroactive to the date we filed. Application gestation time at the IRS is six months to a year.

Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra

In cooperation with Arts Estero, the Southwest Florida Symphony (SWFSO) is actively working on a one-concert program for Estero Community Park in January. In the industry, they call it a “runout”. SWFSO will piggy-back on a concert in Sanibel with Estero getting a program of Rossini and the Beethoven Seventh Symphony and another piece. The idea is to save money on rehearsal time.
 
At this moment, they are working on trying to raise $20,000, not the $50,000 per concert originally envisioned. They are proceeding as if they already had the money in place. Debbie Burnett at Colonial Bank said that the bank would be good for $5000 for the Concert.

Advisory Board, Opportunities and Membership

By action of the board of directors, Kathleen Davey, General Manager, WGCU Public Media, was made a member of the Advisory Board.

Arts Estero people participated in WGCU's fall pledge campaign and anticipate volunteering in WGCU's January 21 Arts Edition Live celebration of artists and performers at the station from 12:00 noon to 5:00 p.m. WGCU indicated they would mention on-air the participation of Arts Estero. As of now, Arts Estero is supplying 12 people. Volunteers for the January 21 event can call Christine Hause at 590-2345. Say you want to volunteer under the banner of Arts Estero.

The Arts Estero website is live at www.artsestero.org . Visit us often and check our growing calendar of events.

Memberships are coming in even as the brochure is going to the printer. We hope to distribute brochures around so that we can go into high gear in soliciting members. Arts Estero’s annual dues structure is $5 students, $15 individual, $25 family and $100 lifetime.
 
Prospective members can join in five ways:
In person at a meeting
By sending checks to GECAC, Box 103, Estero, FL 33928
Online with a credit card
Online by check debit
Online using a new or existing PayPal account

Arts in Estero 2007

Mark your calendars for Arts in Estero, February 17, 2007 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Estero Community Park. According to chairperson Bev MacNellis, as of today we have six acts on the main stage and 14 groups at the display and information tables. Other planned features of the  
day will include the aforementioned Interfaith Care Givers “Chair-ity Event”, a juried art show, an inexpensive “Garbage Art” sale, a Chili Cook-off, strolling musicians and other entertainment.

An invitation-only Afterglow party immediately afterwards will be held for Performers, Advisory Board, and other VIPs.
 
An estimated budget for the event will probably top $7,250. Arts Estero is actively seeking sponsorships and donations.
 
Ads for the program and advertising rates and exhibitor applications are available from Bev MacNellis, 498-0678.
 
The next meeting of the Greater Estero Cultural Arts Council, Inc., Board of Directors will be held at the new Estero Community Park, Wednesday, November 22 at 10:00 a.m.

Monthly Estero Fire Rescue Report