Five Year Estero Housing Development Projections

Last month we summarized Estero's housing development since the 2000 calendar year. During that four year period a total of 7,117 housing units were permitted.

This month we estimate the number of housing units that will be permitted each year from 2004 to 2008 for each of the 29 residential communities now under development in Estero. The estimate for each community is based upon:

·         the total number of units authorized by the property's zoning;

·         the total number of units that the developer has announced will be built -- typically somewhat lower than the zoned amount;

·         the community's prior permitting trends, or for new communities, the trends for comparable communities;

·         the stage of the community's development.

Our best estimate of the number of new housing units to be permitted in the Estero community planning area during the 2004-08 period is 6,428. Due to the volatility of housing markets we assume that the actual number of units permitted during this period will be no less than 90% of this total, or 5,785 units and no more than 110% of this total, or 7,071 units.

A total of eighteen (18) communities are expected to permit 100 or more housing units during this 5 year period. They are:

This research indicates that Estero can expect at least five more years of rapid residential growth comparable to that experienced during the last two years. As some existing residential communities sell-out new ones begin on the remaining vacant residential land while others continue to develop.

Estero's Recent and Projected Population Growth

The University of Florida Bureau of Economic and Business Research (BEBR) estimates the population of all Florida municipalities and counties as of April 1 each year so that state funding for local governments are apportioned fairly between censuses. BEBR does not make an annual estimate for Estero because we are not a municipality but they have shared with us their procedures so that we could make comparable estimates.

Using this methodology Estero's permanent (full time) population is determined by adding the April 2000 population to the product of the following multiplication: the number of new housing units built and occupied during the intervening year(s) times the occupancy rate times the average persons per household.

The 2000 census found that Estero contained 2,737 seasonal housing units, or 37.3% of all housing units. Assuming that Estero's snowbird households are the same size as its full time households (2.06), Estero's seasonal population in April 2000 was 5,638. Estero's current snowbird population is estimated by adding 5,638 to the product of the number of new residential units built and occupied by seasonal residents during the intervening years times the average persons per household.

Using this methodology Estero's population has nearly doubled (+90%) during the last three years and nine months.

If Estero realizes the lower growth in housing units estimated in the prior section our population will increase as projected in the following table:

If Estero realizes the upper growth in housing units estimated in the prior section our population will increase as projected in the following table:

In conclusion, Estero's population:

• Has grown by 90 % since April 1, 2000
• Is projected to increase by 169% to 186% between April 1, 2000 and December 31, 2008
• Is expected to grow another 41% to 51% between now and the end of 2008.

Progress Reports on
Estero's Many Mega-projects

Most of this month's Estero Development Report updates the reader on seven large projects currently under review or construction. They are:

Our success with the State and County on the Boomer property means one less large development parcel to require our attention. Four of these projects will begin construction this year…the International Design Center, Embassy Suites, Coconut Point and the Estero Community Park. Collectively they will establish a high standard of appearance for commercial development along our major thoroughfares, US 41 and Corkscrew Road. If the Wal-Marts are approved they will be exceptional Wal-Marts, comparable to their Coral Springs store that we visited last year.

Koreshan Wal-Mart Progress Report

Late in January Lee County zoning staff found Wal-Mart's zoning application to be complete enough to set the date for a public hearing by a County Hearing Examiner on April 1, 2004. If approved by the County Wal-Mart will be able to construct a 208,000 square foot super Wal-Mart on the northeast corner of Koreshan Boulevard and US 41. Super Wal-Mart's contain a large grocery operation and a tire-lube facility in addition to the general merchandise stocked by all Wal-Mart stores. The application also would authorize one additional store on an outlot located directly on the corner of US 41 and Koreshan.

On February 12^th the Wal-Mart Committee of the Estero Council of Community Leaders met with Wal-Mart's representatives and experts for a briefing on the zoning and Development Order (DO) applications found "sufficient" by county staff. In addition to the briefing, Wal-Mart addressed in detail the 37 issues contained in "Wal-Mart Issues Raised by the Community", dated July 12, 2003, that was submitted to Wal-Mart when they made their presentation to the ECPP.  As its title implies the issue paper incorporates all the questions and concerns raised by Estero residents at several community meetings on the proposed project.

At this meeting, Wal-Mart addressed all the issues raised by the community, committed to substantial concessions and agreed to change their zoning application accordingly. Major commitments are as follows:

• Eliminated their request for outdoor displays and sales
• Eliminated their request for outdoor storage
• Significantly increased landscaping
• Significantly improved noise abatement
• Significantly reduced truck delivery times
• Committed to a property maintenance “Bond”
• Committed to no blasting
• Site lighting complies with Lee County’s new lighting ordinance
• Agreed to prohibit auto shows and parking lot special events.

Copies of Wal-Mart's presentation have been distributed to all the member of the CCL and are available by email upon request. The meeting was monitored by Jerry Murphy, the County Zoning staff member assigned to the project.

In earlier meetings Wal-Mart had agreed to store design and architecture sought by the EDRC and the community and had eliminated some outlots that they had originally sought. Separately Wal-Mart has agreed to provide The Vines community with a private entrance road that will provide Vines residents with direct access Koreshan Boulevard. This gated facility will allow Vines residents to travel south on US41 using the signal at Koreshan rather than having to use the dangerous intersection at their main entrance.

The Committee thanked Wal-Mart for their extensive effort to address the community's concerns and established a schedule for negotiations after the Committee files their report with the Council of Community Leaders (CCL) and the CCL finalizes their position paper on the project.  

On February 13^th the Wal-Mart Committee made a progress report to the CCL.  On February 16^th the Committee met to discuss their recommendations to the CCL and on February 18^th met with Al O'Donnell, a knowledgeable landscaper with extensive experience in southwest Florida and member of the EDRC, to discuss Wal-Mart's detailed landscape proposals. The Committee then developed a draft position paper and circulated it to the CCL for their comments and approval. This process is now almost complete. The position paper will be provided to Wal-Mart in time for them to prepare for a discussion of all outstanding issues with the CCL tentatively on March 8^th.

After this meeting the CCL will decide what testimony it will present at the April 1^st public hearing conducted by a Lee County Hearing Examiner. Only persons and organizations testifying before the Hearing Examiner are permitted by law to make presentations to the BOCC when they make the final zoning decision on the project. The Board's final decision is expected to be scheduled in May or June after the Hearing Examiner has completed his report and the matter is added to the BOCC's agenda. 

If Not Wal-Mart, What?

This property is zoned for 320,000 square feet of retail and 20,000 square feet of office space. As with most "bubble plans" the number of possible retail uses is almost endless. Fortunately for the community the existing zoning limit the hours of operation on a parcel that Wal-Mart would otherwise be able to operate on a 24/7 basis. That is the primary reason that Wal-Mart is seeking to rezone the property. Any other "big box" user or combination of retail users that do not require 24/7 operation would not need to rezone the property and thus would not need to work with the community as Wal-Mart has these last 9 months.

All that those users would be required to do is to present their site plan and design to the EDRC for advisory review and file the necessary report with the county as part of their application for a DO. They would be subject to the same "Concurrency" requirements as are discussed below, but the only opportunity for community participation would be that one EDRC meeting.

The Widening of US 41

Present plans call for the six-laning of all segments of US 41between Naples and Ft. Myers to be completed by the end of 2005 except the segment between San Carlos Park and Corkscrew Road, which is now scheduled for 2010. The Estero community has been working with FDOT and Lee County for several years to accelerate the 6-laning of this segment of US 41.

Jointly we have now achieved funding for the first two phases necessary for the widening. The County loaned the State about $2.3 million so that the design could begin last year. FDOT was able to obtain a $7 million loan from the State Infrastructure Bank so that right-of-way acquisition could begin later this year and permitting soon thereafter. All parties worked together last year to get the Metropolitan Planning Organization to add $17 million for construction of the road in 2008-09 to its five year funding plan.

As things stand today, widening the road could begin in the fall of 2006 but the $17 million needed to pay for it is not available until July 1, 2008, a gap of nearly two years.

As you know Wal-Mart has offered to pay the interest on a low cost County loan to the State that would permit the widening to start in 2006 instead of 2008. This offer need not and cannot legally be considered by the County until after Wal-Mart is zoned. Because traffic on this segment of US 41 is so bad, with or without Wal-Mart, Florida's "Concurrency" law prohibits Wal-Mart, or anyone else, from obtaining a Development Order (DO) allowing construction to start on the project until July 1, 2005, the first date that is within  three years of the funding for construction of the road becoming available.

Before Wal-Mart can obtain a DO they must also obtain a "Concurrency Certificate" from the County. Before the County can issue a Concurrency Certificate the Metropolitan Planning Organization must advance the US 41 construction funding in their five-year road budget and FDOT must amend their work program to reflect the accelerated widening of this segment of US 41. Should Wal-Mart obtain zoning approval by the BOCC, then, and only then, can the loan possibility be discussed and subsequently approved by the County, the MPO and FDOT. Once this process is complete the County can issue its Concurrency Certificate, DO and building permits and construction can commence.  

As a result of comments from Estero representatives, the BOCC has directed staff to evaluate the possibility of the County advancing the funds for the State's construction phase, independent of Wal-Mart or any other developer currently seeking zoning approval.  The County's Budget Services Department and the County Attorney's Office are currently preparing that evaluation, which includes potential costs to the County, and will be reporting back to the Board in the near future.

Coconut Road Wal-Mart Status Report

On February 11^th Wal-Mart presented architectural and landscaping plans for a proposed 208,000 square foot super-store on the northwest corner of US 41 and Coconut Road to a packed meeting of the EDRC. Wal-Mart decided to present to the EDRC in spite of considerable community opposition based upon Wal-Mart failure to hold preliminary meeting with the neighboring communities as they had done at The Vines on their proposed Koreshan Boulevard store.

As a result the EDRC and the community had so many suggestions for Wal-Mart that the EDRC asked Wal-Mart to return to their March meeting with responses to the following suggestions and comments:

• Generally the site plan looks and feels forced on the parcel, EDRC suggests the Light Industrial portion of the parcel be rezoned to Commercial to allow for a more suitable location and orientation of the building and parking areas, this would also give the citizens of Estero more opportunity to express concerns about issues not dealt with by the EDRC.
• Many citizens expressed concerns over issues that are zoning issues which would normally be negotiated during meetings with the ECPP (i.e. traffic, noise, pollution, environmental impacts, use compatibility, etc.).  EDRC suggested the Wal-Mart representatives hold individual public meetings with the neighboring communities to discuss and attempt to alleviate these concerns.
• The proposed 18-foot tall wall on the west side of the building to screen HVAC/condensing units is not shown on the plan.
• The 10-foot wall along the north side of the store is shown on the plan as a 6-foot wall.
• The retention pond and the dry detention areas should be redesigned to reflect a sinuous lake edge and increased edge to area ratio.
• A 4 foot landscaped berm is to be built on north side of the property along the existing preserve.
• Asked the developer to prepare elevations illustrating buffer plantings at the time of installation to be presented to the EDRC and public at all future meetings.
• The committee will recommend an increase in the number of trees, palms, and/or shrubs upon reviewing those elevations.
• Add continuous hedges in parking-lot “dog bone” islands.
• Recommend planting entire U. S. 41 buffer (including not-yet-sold outlots) prior to County issuance of its Certificate of Occupancy for the store.
• Suggest much heavier plantings on the east property line buffer to match required plantings across US 41 in the Coconut Point DRI parcel.
• Plant larger canopy trees (45-Gallon Container, 14-16 feet in height).
• Suggest increased density of plantings along the East Side of the building (near the south entrance).
• Asked applicant to check building perimeter planting areas to satisfy or exceed county code minimum (10% gross floor area plus an additional 5% gross floor area for large shopping/retail developments)
• Suggest widening the median at the northernmost U. S. 41 entry in order to enlarge the planting area (the traveling public will see the back corner of the store from this entrance).
• Suggest applicant use any landscaped areas that have been intentionally increased or widened to incorporate additional plant material, otherwise what’s the point of the added landscape area (an example of this was the enlarged southern most parking islands, the applicant allowed for greater planting area, but did not take full advantage of the increased area to help buffer Coconut Road)
• Applicant committed to add sidewalks in 3 main parking-lot medians
• The plan contains 106 more parking spaces than the Lee County Code requires. Thus the committee recommends applicant delete some of the required parking spaces to allow for more building perimeter landscaping and interior parking island landscaping.
• Suggest moving upgraded landscape from south parking-lot end caps to front of building to satisfy 5% county requirement (an upgraded south buffer along Coconut road should render the larger south parking-lot islands unnecessary).
• Suggest using plantings around the store in “important” spots; landscape around building should be designed with emphasis on breaking up the mass of the building; and all proposed landscape species and their installed heights should be specified to read on building façade at the time of installation.
• Traffic calming – instead of the proposed painted markings, the committee suggests a material change in paving at front of the building to calm traffic.
• Similar paving material changes should be utilized to accent all pedestrian crossings and to accent and upgrade vehicular entrances to the site.
• Suggest palm upgrade in main entry median (instead of queen palms).
• Suggest increasing native tree count (Sabal Palms instead of Queen Palms in other areas).
• Recommend increased architectural variety for the sides and rear of the  building as well as upgrading the front detailing.
• Color-scheme discussed but no consensus was reached, as the architecture is likely to undergo radical changes.
• Suggest creating larger planting areas to incorporate large trees and palms between cupolas in front of building.
• Suggest matching signage to accepted Koreshan plan.
• The Estero citizens present at the meeting preferred the Mediterranean architecture style of the proposed Koreshan building.

On Friday, February 13^th Wal-Mart met with County staff for an informal pre-filing meeting regarding their DO application for the site. County staff informed Wal-Mart that they considered the proposed development plan for the eight commercial parcels they planned to use for the store to be inconsistent with the zoning for those parcels. Wal-Mart’s proposal for the site would build the superstore on a combination of a large 13.4 acre parcel, 7 outlots and the land designated for internal roads. The parcel it would not use for the store is an 11.2 acre parcel at the west end of the property that is zoned for “light industrial” uses. This parcel must be rezoned if it is to be used for retail purposes.

Wal-Mart has several options available to it if it decides to  proceed with this site. They may:

• They can develop another DO that attempts to overcome the County's reservations about the one they presented to the EDRC and county staff.
• Wal-Mart can appeal the County staff decision to a Lee County Hearing Examiner and to the BOCC. If Wal-Mart follows that procedure and wins the appeal, they could legally proceed to obtain a DO and build the proposed store. On the other hand if Wal-Mart loses the appeal and decides to proceed with the project they would be required to rezone the property before obtaining a DO and constructing the store.
• They could rezone the property.

Wal-Mart has contracted to purchase the entire 46-acre site in spite of the fact that a Wal-Mart superstore only requires about 32 acres. In addition to the super-store the plan Wal-Mart presented to the County contained three outlots, one future lease lot in the commercial section and the light industrial parcel for future development.

Prior to the meeting with County staff Wal-Mart had committed to a series of meetings with the residents of communities adjacent to the Coconut Road site including: The Brooks, Pelican Landing, Marsh Landing and the communities along the north side of Coconut west of US 41…Coconut Shores, Meadowbrook and Eldorado Acres. Based on our discussions with Wal-Mart we would expect them to deal with the neighbors of this store and the community in the same way that they have dealt with The Vines and the community on the Koreshan store…no matter which option they choose. The Coconut store poses many of the same issues as the Koreshan store due to the close proximity of neighboring residential communities. Many of the lessons learned on the Koreshan store should be adaptable to the Coconut property.

At press time we do not know how Wal-Mart will proceed with this site.

Why Two Wal-Marts in Estero

Many Estero and north Bonita Spring's residents have asked if Wal-Mart really wants to build two super-stores in Estero. We have been told that the grocery departments of Wal-Mart superstore have greatly increased the sales of merchandise in Wal-Mart super-stores by shortening the time between the shopping trips of the typical Wal-Mart shopper. Thus the market area for these stores is far smaller than in the past when groceries were not a major factor. These two stores are about 3.7 miles apart, less than some recently constructed Wal-Mart super-stores.

If Not Wal-Mart, What?

This large 46.36 acre parcel of property was zoned in 1998 to contain two development areas…a 31.95 acre retail/commercial tract and a 14.41 acre limited light industrial tract. The retail/commercial tract is divided into 8 parcels…7 outlots ranging size from 1.27 acres to 2.5 acres and a large 13.44 acre parcel. The light industrial tract contains one parcel of 11.17 acres. The zoning authorizes the property owner to build up to 250,000 square feet of retail space and 50,000 square feet of office space on the retail/commercial tract and up to 200,000 square feet of light industrial on that tract.

Among the 72 permitted use categories applicable to each of the seven outlots are: automobile service station; bar or cocktail lounge; car wash; convenience food and beverage store; lawn and garden supply stores; package store; repair shops; fast food restaurants; vehicle and equipment dealers. Unlike our more recent zonings that are no limitations on the number of outlots that may be used for service stations, fast food restaurants etc. The four outlots along US 41 could be developed as a fast food, gasoline alley.

In addition to these outlot uses the large retail/commercial parcel can be used for the following uses: Boat parts, rental, repair and service and sales stores; building material sales; bus station/depot; golf driving range; helistop; hotel/motel; mini-warehouse; nightclubs; vehicle and equipment dealers; and warehouses. Zoning for this parcel permits 95 categories of uses such as these few that we have enumerated. Without rezoning this parcel could be used for 100,000 to 120,000 square foot "big box" or strip center or a boat or automobile dealer.

In addition to many of the above use categories zoning for the 11.16 acre light industrial parcel includes the following uses among the 55 use categories listed in the zoning ordinance: factory outlets; government maintenance facility; manufacturing of apparel products, electrical machinery and equipment, food and kindred products; leather products; lumber and wood products; measuring, analyzing and controlling instruments, novelties, jewelry, toys and signs, rubber and plastic products; mobile home dealers; processing and warehousing and research and development laboratories.

Should Wal-Mart not purchase the property there are many authorized, but undesirable, uses of each parcel within this property that would require only one public meeting with the EDRC, the filing of a report on that meeting with County staff before the County would be legally required to issue a Development Order and construction could begin. With the six-laning of US 41 well underway and Three Oaks Parkway open for use north of Coconut Road, "Concurrency" issues probably would not prevent any of these developers from obtaining a DO for their project.

State Purchase of Boomer Property

This is great news from Tallahassee for the residents of Estero. On February 6^th the State Acquisition and Restoration Council voted unanimously to use Florida Forever funds to buy the 100 acre Boomer property located on the southwest corner of US 41 and Broadway. This State Committee acted quickly after the Boomer's decided to offer the property for sale to a public body. Lee County's Conservation 2020 program had previously reviewed the site and worked with the Estero community to prepare the application for the Florida Forever funding.

The property is immediately north of the Koreshan State Park, both of which share a border on the Estero River. Because of this connection the acquisition is considered an addition rather than an entirely new purchase, the decision by the Committee is final approval. Now the State can begin negotiations to buy the property from the Boomer family. The purchase will contain a "life estate" that will permit the members of the Boomer family who presently live on the property to continue to reside there until their death before that part of the property will be available for inclusion in the park.

When completed this purchase will increase the size of the Koreshan State Park by about 50%.  This addition greatly enhances the "Old Estero" area between Corkscrew Road and Broadway as well as opportunities for residents to use the river for recreation and sight-seeing. Finally, by eliminating the use of the property for retail and residential use, it will reduce traffic on US 41 in that area.  

International Design Center Breaks Ground

On February 25^th Miromar Development Corporation broke ground on the first phase of the International Design Center (IDC) located on the south side of Corkscrew Road just east of I-75. When completed this facility will be another upscale commercial anchor for Estero that will help to set the standard for all future commercial development.

The first phase of the project will consist of 250,000 square feet of showrooms for interior design products, furnishings and fashions. The first floor of the three story building will be open to the public while the upper two stories are restricted to industry professionals. In addition to the showrooms phase one will contain a gourmet café and a large central atrium suitable for special events and receptions. The Design Center's primary competition is the Design Center of the Americas (DCOTA) located in Dania, just north of Ft. Lauderdale, and Florida's only other similar facility.

Phase one will be occupied by about 50 showrooms featuring furniture, fabrics, wall coverings, fine art, marble, tile, lighting, fixtures etc. Presently about 50 per cent of the phase one space has been leased. The first phase of the IDC is expected to open for business in mid 2005.

Later phases will add another 150,000 square feet for a total of 400,000 square feet upon completion. A 150 room hotel is also planned for the property.

Embassy Suites Hotel Progress Report

Architects for the developer of the Embassy Suites Hotel to be located on the northwest corner of I-75 and Corkscrew Road made their third and final presentation to the Estero Design Review Committee on February 11^th. During this sequence of meetings the architects have greatly improved the “Mediterranean” appearance of the building. Nonetheless the EDRC made several additional suggestions that were accepted by the developer. They include:

• Enlarge the parapet walls so that they are more in proportion to building mass.
• Change the color on the east elevation (to match front of building to help break up the mass of the building).
• Repeat arrangement of arched windows on the top floor of the front of the building on the sides and rear of the building.
• Add decorative ironwork to create false balconies at windows on the front of the building.
• Increase the number of tall Washingtonian Palms in front of the building and stagger the heights more.
• The landscape plan should include tree and palm heights at installation that will help break up the mass of the building. 

Coconut Point Progress Report

During February Coconut Point started to take more definitive shape through the following actions:

·         The BOCC held the required two hearing on the Development Agreement for the project and voted to approve this document on February 24^th. The Development Agreement specifies the road impact fee payment schedule for the project and how those funds must be used to reduce the impact that the project will have on the surrounding roads. The developers paid $6.2 million of the $14.8 million required by the agreement in December. Those funds were to Old 41 in Bonita Springs ($2.1 million) and to Three Oaks Parkway between Coconut Road and E. Terry Street ($4.1 million). The remaining $8.6 million will be used to reimburse the developer for constructing Sandy Lane between Corkscrew Road and Pelican Colony Boulevard.

·         The Estero Design Review Committee (EDRC) reviewed three Development Orders for the project. One for the Rapallo housing project that will be developed in the North Village; one that would permit the developers to prepare the site for Rapallo and one to prepare the site for the Coconut Point Town and Community Center and to construct the lakes for each of these projects.

In addition the plans for Rapallo were presented in detail to the Estero Council of Community Leaders at their February meeting. This 450-unit housing, 78 acre development will be developed by Wallace Homes, the developer of Lighthouse Bay in The Brooks. It will be a water oriented, non-golf, resort lifestyle community with numerous recreational amenities. Among the amenities are a large clubhouse and sports club; a 25,000 square foot lagoon pool with rock waterfalls; a resort pool; freshwater sunning beach; a learning center for fine arts, languages and computer; a library; biking and walking paths and a park.

Rapallo’s design is based upon revival Mediterranean architecture inspired by small costal towns along the Cote d'Azur and the Italian Riviera.  Every housing unit in Rapallo will face the waterfront. Housing styles include terrace homes, coach homes, luxury carriage homes and courtyard villas. The single story units in the center of the property will be ringed by two and three story multi-family units. The entrances and the community buildings are unique and strongly Mediterranean along with seven bridges, each of which will be unique. The design of the project was well received by both the EDRC and the ECCL.

The EDRC suggested that the Coconut Point developers increase the number of showy flowering littoral plantings in and around the lakes.

The developers expect to gain approval of these DO some time in March and to begin site preparation and lake construction shortly thereafter. This work is expected to be completed by the end of the summer.

Estero Community Park Progress Report

On February 2nd the BOCC approved the zoning for the 65 acre Estero Community Park located between Williams and Corkscrew Roads just east of the railroad tracks. At month’s end work crews had almost completed clearing all the exotic vegetation from the site. The designers are in process of completing the construction drawings. The County Parks and Recreation Department plans to present its plans for the 42,000 square foot Recreation/Community Center to the EDRC on March 10^th. The Park will be built in two or three phases. Phase 1 included the Recreation Center and all the amenities located in the northern half of the park. This phase, which will cost almost $10 million, will be completed in August 2005.

Roadway
Landscaping Progress Report

Corkscrew Road from Sandy Lane to I-75 -- The intensified core landscaping is nearly fully installed in the median and along the northern right-of-way. The southern right-of-way cannot be landscaped because of utility conflicts. The county is investing about $400,000 on this 1.5 mile road segment.

Three Oaks Parkway from Corkscrew to Williams -- The landscape design for this segment is nearly complete. Once the installation contract has been let installation will begin, later this spring. The landscaping is expected to be completed this summer.

Koreshan Boulevard from US 41 to Three Oaks Parkway -- The Reserve of Estero is rezoning a large 160 acre parcel of land immediately north of The Cascades. The rezoning will eliminate the retail part of the existing plan and the need for three median breaks added to Koreshan in order to service that property.

As a result ECCO and Lee County DOT met with Toll Brothers, the developers of The Reserve of Estero, and Levitt Homes, the developer of The Cascades, to discuss closing these median cuts in order to increase the median landscaping between the properties. Toll Brothers and Levitt Homes have agreed to share the cost of closing the three medians. Two of the three median cuts will be closed later this summer after The Reserve of Estero has been zoned while the third median cut will be closed in 2005 after the developers discontinue using it for construction traffic.

The landscape design is being amended and construction bidding completed during the period while The Reserve of Estero is being zoned so that installation can begin soon after the rezoning is completed. Thus landscape installation of this 1.8 mile roadway is expected to begin this summer and to be completed this fall.

US 41 from the north end of Old 41 to Corkscrew Road -- Landscaping of this road segment has been amended several times in order to accommodate changes in turn lane configuration due to zoning approval of Coconut Point, by billboard limitation and changing limitations imposed by state regulations on roads that are designed for speeds of 50 mph or more. In response to Federal pressure FDOT no longer permits planting large trees in the medians of roads such as this that are designed for 50 mph or more.

In addition FDOT does not permit trees to be planted in the median where they may obstruct driver's view of billboards during 500 feet out of the last 1,000 feet before each billboard. Finally "clear zones" must be provided adjacent to all intersections so that the view of oncoming traffic is unimpeded for the turning vehicle.

The combination of all these limitations resulted in a landscape design for this segment that would spend less than $200,000 out of the $640,000 of state funding available to landscape the segment. As a result of this situation ECCO and Lee County DOT, the agency in charge of designing the landscaping for the road, met with local billboard companies to seek some relief from the state law governing billboard clear zones. As a result of this meeting a draft agreement is being prepared that would apply to median landscaping of this segment as well as landscaping on all other State roads within Lee County.

ECCO has also met with one property owner with three (3) billboards that would negatively impact the median landscaping. The purpose of the meeting was to explore the possibility of removing the billboards well before the land is developed, when they would be removed to make way for the development.

In addition the County is exploring possible "design variances" with FDOT. Although this road segment is being designed for 50 mph traffic, when Coconut Point and all the other retailers open for business along the road the speed limit is likely to be reduced to 45 mph. Roads designed for 45 mph are not subject to the "large tree" prohibition. Lee County is studying the accident record of other local state roads with large trees in the median in order to demonstrate to FDOT that large trees will not be a danger to drivers using this road segment.

FDOT indicates that such variances can be reviewed and approved within 30 days of an application being filed by the County. Hopefully, the design can be finalized later this spring so that installation contracts can be let in time for the landscaping to be installed as the road is completed later this fall.