Estero
Development Report
Volume 2, Number 4
Edited by ECCO--the Estero Concerned Citizens Organization
For further information, to provide information or to add names to our mailing list,
Email Don Eslick at doneslick@worldnet.att.net or call him at 949-4050
Estero
Development Activities during August 2002
September Opportunities for Citizen
Participation
In Protecting Estero's Quality of Life
|
Date |
Time |
Event |
Location |
|
Tuesday, Sept. 3rd |
6 p.m. |
Roadway Landscape Advisory Committee Meeting on Use of the $2 million Landscape Funding Increase |
County Community Development Building, Conference Room 3A, 1500 Monroe Street, Ft. Myers |
|
Thursday, Sept. 5th |
5:05 p.m. |
Board of County Commissioners First FY 2002-03 Budget Hearing |
Commission Chambers, 2120 Main Street, 2nd Floor, Ft. Myers |
|
Tuesday, Sept. 10th |
7 p.m. |
Estero Fire District Budget Hearing |
Fellowship Hall, Estero United Methodist Church |
|
Thursday, Sept.19th |
5:05 p.m. |
Board of County Commissioners Final FY 2002-03 Budget Hearing |
Commission Chambers, 2120 Main Street, 2nd Floor, Ft. Myers |
|
Tuesday, Sept. 24th |
9:30 a.m. |
Board of County Commissioners Consideration of Parks and Recreation Plan for the Estero Community Park. |
Commission Chambers, 2120 Main Street, 2nd Floor, Ft. Myers |
|
Tuesday, Sept. 24th |
6:00 p.m. |
Estero Community Planning Panel meeting |
Fellowship Hall, Estero United Methodist Church |
|
Tuesday, Sept. 24th |
7 p.m. |
Estero Fire District Budget Hearing |
Fellowship Hall, Estero United Methodist Church |
|
Wednesday, September 25th |
5:30 p.m. |
Estero Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours |
Bonita Chop House (formerly The Ship Restaurant) |
|
Wednesday, October 2nd |
9 a.m. |
Continued Hearing -- Miromar Design Center Rezoning |
Hearing Examiner's Hearing Room, 1500 Monroe St., 2nd Floor, Ft. Myers |
County Financial Assistance for Estero's Priority
Needs--- On August 5th the
Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) met as their Management and Planning
Committee and discussed at length a staff recommendation to increase funding
for Roadway Landscaping by $2 million during the fiscal year starting October 1st.
Although no vote is taken at these meetings it was clear that a majority of the
Board supports the proposal.
As a result the following day
the County's Roadway Landscape Advisory Committee (RLAC) was briefed on the
proposal and proceeded to establish a sub-committee to recommend to the BOCC
how the added money should be spent. The Estero Roadway Landscape Committee
consisting of ECCO, the Estero Chamber of Commerce and most of our major developers
were invited to attend the sub-committee meeting and contribute our suggestions.
On August 20th the RLAC
sub-committee on the spending increase met for the first time. The
sub-committee permitted our delegation to make a presentation on our plan for
intensified core roadway landscaping of (1) Corkscrew Road between US 41 and
I-75 and (2) Three Oaks Parkway from Williams Road to Corkscrew Road.
This plan, depicted on five large graphics, greatly intensifies the number of
trees planted in the medians, adds trees in the Right of Way (ROW) along the
roadside, where possible, and, in cooperation with adjacent landowners, would add
plantings on private property at high visibility intersections. When
implemented this plan would add about $670, 000 in roadway landscaping to these
two roads. The County is already planning to spend about $355,000 for
landscaping on these two segments during the next year.
The subcommittee extensively
debated the following alternative approaches to spending the additional $2
million:
Our proposal appealed to
several members of the committee for the following reasons:
In the end the sub-committee
decided to recommend that the full RLAC allocate the $2 million to the
following uses:
It is expected that such an
allocation will distribute these funds fairly throughout the county. If not the
RLAC will, no doubt, make adjustments to bring about that result.
On Tuesday, September 3rd
the full RLAC will meet to discuss the sub-committee's recommendations for
spending the $2 million. In the meantime the Department of Transportation has
agreed to study our drawings in order to help our landscape architects identify
the roadside planting sites that can be properly maintained. They have also encouraged
us to present an improved set of drawings to the RLAC at their September 3rd
meeting. Our Landscape architects are now upgrading the plans so that we can
make an outstanding presentation at this important meeting.
On Tuesday, August 27th
the BOCC approved an amendment to the County Capital Investment Program (CIP) increasing
the proposed budget for the roadway landscaping program by $2 million for the
upcoming fiscal year. The entire budget, including the $2 million addition,
will be the subject of two public hearings during September prior to adoption by
the BOCC before the new fiscal year begins on October 1st.
Simon Suncoast (now "Coconut Point") Mixed
Use Development (on the east side of US 41 from Williams Road to the Bonita
Springs Boundary)--- The Hearing
Examiner's report does not resolve the Estero community's concerns about the
adequacy of the road network needed to support this major project and all the
other growth occurring in the area. The Hearing Examiner would permit the 1,800,000
square foot retail part of the project to be constructed according to the
following schedule:
|
Date |
Square Footage Permitted |
Estimated Occupancy Date |
|
Upon Zoning Approval |
400,000 |
October 2004 |
|
January 1, 2003 |
800,000 |
January 2005 |
|
January 1, 2004 |
1,200,000 |
January 2006 |
|
January 1, 2005 |
1,800,000 |
January 2007 |
The
Hearing Examiner's report states: "The Applicant has testified that it
would be anywhere from one year to eighteen months from the time the Applicant
receives its permits to the time the 400,000 square feet of retail uses will be
open for business." In the above table we have been more generous and have
assumed that it will take the developer 24 months for permit approval, project
design, engineering and construction. In addition the Hearing Examiner would allow
permits to be issued earlier if certain
road improvements, located miles from Estero, have been started prior to these
dates. County staff indicates that all of these projects will be start within
the next several months, thus permitting all phases of the project to be
permitted quite soon. Under the Hearing Examiner's approach, the status of road
improvements surrounding the project would have no affect upon the phased
development of the retail center.
In addition the Hearing
Examiner would permit all of the other parts of the project to be permitted
immediately. They are: 300,000 square feet of office space, 600 hotel rooms,
1,000 multi-family housing units and a 200 unit assisted living facility.
In January 2005, when 800,000
square feet, or 44%, of the retail center could be opened for business the
following eight local road projects are expected to be under construction or
still in the planning stage and acquisition stage:
6 lane widening of US 41 from
south Old 41 to north Old 41
4 lane Three Oaks Parkway
from Bonita Beach Road to Coconut Road
2 or 4 lane Sandy Lane from
Corkscrew Road to Old 41
4 lane widening of Three Oaks
Parkway from Alico Road to Corkscrew Road
4 lane widening of Old 41
from Rosemary to north US 41
6 lane widening of US 41 from
Corkscrew Road to San Carlos Park
4 lane Koreshan Boulevard
from Ben Hill Griffin to Three Oaks Parkway
6 Lane widening of I-75
through all of Estero
The added traffic produced by
the January, 2005 Coconut Point retail opening will compound problems produced
by:
In addition the four lane
construction work on Three Oaks Parkway between Alico Road to Corkscrew will
add to the traffic problems on the four lane US 41 between Corkscrew
Road and San Carlos Park. This problem will be intensified by the failure of
both Three Oaks and Ben Hill Griffin to provide continuous north-south service
(not all segments will be completed by that date).
One year later in January
2006, when 1,200,000 square feet, or 67%, of the retail center could open for
business and again in January 2007, when all 1,800,000 could be open for
business, the following Estero vicinity roads are not expected to be completed:
4 lane Three Oaks Parkway
from Bonita Beach Road to Coconut Road
2 or 4 lane Sandy Lane from
Corkscrew Road to Old 41
6 lane widening of US 41 from
Corkscrew Road to San Carlos Park
6 Lane widening of I-75
through all of Estero
Widening of I-75 ramps at
Corkscrew Road
Without a fully operational 4-lane
Sandy Lane and with the discontinuities on Three Oaks Parkway, traffic on US 41,
now 6 laned from north Old 41 to Corkscrew Road, will be intense.
The Hearing Examiner recommends
that the Developer be responsible for financing $14.6 million of roadway improvements.
He further recommends that these funds may be used to help finance (pipeline)
the following road improvements and numerous intersection improvements:
With respect to Sandy Lane
the report continues: "Consistent with the County’s long-range plan for
Sandy Lane as a 2-lane collector and the County’s standards for collector
roads, no more than 125 feet and no less than 100 feet of right-of-way and 2
lanes of construction will be eligible for credits against the proportionate
share obligation. The reasonable cost of providing the railroad crossing
between Williams Road and Corkscrew Road will be eligible for credits against
the project’s proportionate share obligation.
If the Developer chooses to build more than 2 lanes, it will be at
the Developer’s sole expense."
This recommendation creates
two problems:
1.
by providing no funds for the construction of Sandy Lane from the south
boundary of the project to Old 41 it forces all southbound Sandy Lane traffic
to US 41 at or above the north entrance to Pelican Landings; and
2.
by providing no funds for four-laning Sandy Lane it greatly reduces the
potential for Sandy Lane to provide relief for US 41, for Three Oaks Parkway
through The Brooks and for project construction traffic.
In addition to these traffic
problems the Hearing Examiner's reports do not adequately address signage,
building setbacks and heights, lighting, and several appearance and buffering
issues. ECCO and the Estero community groups most directly affected by all
these issues plan to work with the County, the City of Bonita Springs and the
Developers to remedy these problems before the Board of County Commissioners
(BOCC) meets to approve the zoning and DRI Development Order conditions for the
project on October 21st.
Estero Community Planning Panel (ECPP) Activities--- the ECPP met three times during the month of August
completing the following work:
Estero's 2002 Permitted Housing Unit Growth--- during the month of July another 115 housing units,
with a total building value of $20.6 million, were permitted for Estero.
During the first seven months
of 2002 a total of 915 housing units were permitted for Estero, down from 1,122
last year and 1,399 in 2000. Most of the decline has been in multi-family
housing units. Five hundred thirteen (513) single family homes have been
permitted in Estero thus far this year, up from 462 last year but down from 629
in 2000. During the same period housing units in buildings with 3 or more units
has declined from 744 in 2000 to 536 in 2001 and 334 this year.
In spite of the 19 per cent year
to year decline in housing units permitted thus far this year, the total
building value of all housing units fell by less than one percent. The increased
proportion of single family homes and higher housing prices are offsetting the decline
in the number of new housing units. Estero's average housing unit building
value thus far this year is up 23 % from last year and 11% from 2000.
For the first seven months of
the year Estero constituted 24% of the total building value for all housing
units permitted throughout unincorporated Lee County, and was approximately
double that of the City of Bonita Springs.
Estero Community Park ( Centrally located between
Corkscrew and Williams about 1 mile east of US 41) Progress Report--- On August 6th the county officials
responsible for the design and construction of this 65 acre park presented two
alternative master plans for the remaining 55 acres to the citizens of Estero.
Each plan contains the same features including, but not limited to, recreation
center with covered outdoor stage; two soccer fields; playgrounds for different
age groups; a water park; skate park; horseshoe and bocce courts; a 5K cross
country course; a large central lawn; bike/walking trails; picnic pavilions; a
dog park and a 9 hole disc golf course. The Estero citizens attending the
meeting preferred the following features: an oval central lawn; an entrance
with a roundabout; and separate active and passive recreation sections within
the park.
The two plans may be viewed
on the Parks and Recreation Department section of the Lee County website www.lee-county.com. The county and its
planners will now amend the plan and present it to the BOCC for their approval
in late September or October. Public testimony will be permitted at that
meeting. Thereafter the park will be designed; three additional public meetings
will be held late this year or early 2003 to discuss various park design
issues, including the size and design of the recreation center; and
construction will begin--probably next spring.
Estero Median Roadway Landscaping and
Lighting Update
The University Overlay--Ben Hill Griffin &
Corkscrew Road east of I-75--- this
project will soon become the second jewel in Estero's roadway landscaping plan.
It is our northeastern anchor similar to the manner that the Brooks anchors the
southwestern sector of our roadway landscaping plan.
The project was slowed by the
discovery of high iron content and low water pressure in the project's test
irrigation wells. As a result the irrigation system had to be redesigned, more
test wells drilled and new permits obtained. During September and October the
County and its project manager, Lodge Construction, will prepare bid documents;
advertise for bidders; and evaluate and select contractors. Construction is
expected to begin in November with plant installation being completed in
February or March 2003.
The landscape design will
provide the corridor with median landscaping well above the County's
"core" landscaping standards, with more mature trees and other plant
materials being planted more intensively.
Corkscrew Road from Sandy Lane to Corkscrew Woodlands---
During September, Lee County will
begin installing "core" median landscaping on this important segment
of Estero's "Main Street". The irrigation and plantings should be
installed in about three months. If the community and its developers can access
some of the additional $2 million being budgeted by the County for roadway
landscaping this year, additional plantings will be installed along this
roadway next year.
Estero Road Improvement Progress
US 41 from North Old 41 to Corkscrew Road--- during September
FDOT will conduct a public
meeting to discuss the widening and resurfacing plans for this road segment
with Estero and Bonita businesses and residents. Construction will begin during
the later part of the month. The road design includes five foot sidewalks on
each side of the road and six foot shoulders for bike riders. The construction
contract provides incentives for the contractor to complete the job ahead of
schedule. Recent traffic counts for the
road showed that an average of 41,500 vehicles per day passed the Old 41 terminus.
Some of Estero's Pending Rezoning
Proposals
Corkscrew-River Ranch (Northwest Corner)Commercial
Planned Development--- On August 12th David McKee
reported to the ECPP on changes made to the Corkscrew River Ranch CPD as a result of his July 24
meeting with the Panel:
There
were several significant problems with the site plan as modified:
McKee
said he will confer with the owner to see if he will agree to eliminate some of
these uses. He will furnish the Panel with a copy of his meeting report to be
submitted to the County and consider the Panel's suggestions before final submittal.
Park Circle CPD--- On August 12th Charles Basinait and Gary F. Muller
presented this project to the ECPP. The project site is on the north side of
Corkscrew Road between Country Creek and Kristen Woods, an approved mixed use
project located on the northeast corner of Sandy Lane and Corkscrew Road.
Zoning for this project would authorize the owner to construct one 12,750 sf
two story Office/Retail building on a 1.17 acre site.
Dan
DeLisi noted that if the site plan were approved by the ECPP as submitted it
would raise credibility issue for the ECPP because it deviates from the set
back requirements recently approved by the County. The location of the building
on the site will depend upon the location of the interconnection with Kristen
Woods. Efforts will be made by the developer to work with the owners of Kristen
Woods to relocate their interconnect road so that the building could be moved
forward with parking in the rear. This would permit the project to comply with
the setback requirements of the Corkscrew Road Overlay District recently added
to the Land Development Code.
In
addition to the entrance through Kristen Woods the site plan contains an
entrance off Corkscrew Road on a little used existing road that does not have a
turn lane. Basinet will furnish the Panel with a copy of his county required
meeting summary for review and comment before submitting it to the county.
Koreshan Skilled Nursing Home--- On August 19th Doug
Widner and Dale Johnson presented a zoning amendment to add a 24 bed
Alzheimer’s wing to the previously approved 155 bed Koreshan Skilled Nursing
Home Facility now under construction on the north side of Williams Road just
west of US 41. The facility is a one story building with large buffers on the
north and west sides adjacent to residential developments. The new wing will
begin construction shortly after the existing facility is completed. The
traffic generated by the project is expected to be less than would have been
generated by the 155 bed hospital originally approved for this
site.
The developer indicated
that they are willing to pay their proportionate share of the cost of landscaping
the US 41 median and of maintaining it even though they do not front directly
on US 41.
Estero Pointe CPD (approximately ¼ mile north of the
intersection of US 41 and Coconut Road on the west side of US 41 in front of
Marsh Landing) --- Also on August 19th
Greg Stuart, of Stuart and Associates, presented
a rezoning application for the Estero Pointe CPD that would change the zoning from
Agricultural to 95,000 sf of retail and office. The project will consist of two
small retail tracts on the north and south ends of the property and two central
tracts that would be used for office development.
The application would preserve 35-ft of native
vegetation in an area that would buffer a portion of the Marsh Landing boundary
in depth from 60-ft to 145-ft. To implement a “Village” concept for the
property the plan provides for residential units above the commercial space. The
recent amendments to the LDC encourage this kind of development while Lee
county requirements have historically made this combination of uses quite
difficult.
Officers of the Marsh Landing homeowners association
raised concerns about the potential for the inter-connect road near the rear of
the property and adjacent to Marsh Landing causing possible loitering and
lighting problems. ECPP Chairman Noethlich indicated that the Panel will work
with the homeowners association to ensure that their concerns are addressed by
the developer.
In addition serious objections were raised about a
number of the proposed uses: service stations, fast food restaurants, convenience
stores, car washes, package stores, parcel and express services and rental and
leasing establishments. Stuart promised to supply the ECPP with a copy of the meeting
summary he is required to file with the County.
Plaza del Sol CPD (northeast corner of Corkscrew and Three
Oaks) --- Finally on August 19th Tracy N. Bean, Zoning and
Land Use Coordinator of Bean, Whitaker, Lutz & Kareh, Inc. presented an
amendment to the existing commercial zoning of Plaza Del Sol CPD project. If
approved the amendment would:
·
relocate a lake from
the highly visible southwest corner of the property to the back of the
property,
·
increase the number of
tracts, mostly outlots, from 7 to 9,
·
add 50,000 square feet
of retail space in order to provide a large parcel for a potential buyer.
Bean indicated that the property owners have a
development order that permits them to clear some of the property and install
some of the infrastructure. Chairman Noethlich emphasized the Panel’s desire
for a consistent architectural theme for all the property and that this section
of Corkscrew Road, including this property, not become a gasoline or fast-food
alley. The panel pointed out that the proposal, as presented, would permit a
fast food restaurant on each of the nine parcels.
The developer replied that the tone for the project would
be set by the bank that will anchor the corner if the requested change is
approved by the county. Strong opposition was also expressed to the request for
a free standing bar or cocktail lounge. Such a request is inconsistent with the
Estero Community Plan. Finally, it was suggested that the project site should have
only one Corkscrew Road entrance instead of the two sought by the developer.
Bean indicated that they will review the list of possible uses in view of the
objections and send the Panel a revised list.
Cascades Amendment--- On August 27th Harry Sleek, Senior Vice President, Levitt and Sons
updated the Panel on the latest plans for the Cascades adult (55 or older)
single-family community being built between Koreshan Boulevard and East
Broadway, about 1/2 mile east of Three Oaks Parkway. Levitt has acquired the
Sunny Grove Nursery property located just southeast of the Cascade site and
just north of Country Creek. The zoning amendment would add this property to
the development resulting in a 20% expansion of the project's site. This
acquisition will greatly reduce truck, other traffic and noise on East
Broadway. Present zoning for the Cascades prohibits access to the Cascades from
Broadway except for emergency vehicles. This amendment retains that limitation.
The amendment also replaces
the multi-family housing units planned for the northwest section of the site with
zero lot line detached villas. Thus, the project will ultimately contain 700
single-family homes and no multifamily units. A 40-foot wide buffer with a
5-foot berm and a 6-foot wall will be installed along Koreshan and a 6-foot
wall will separate the Cascades from Rookery Pointe. The panel and the audience
were supportive of the proposed changes.
New Proposed Development Projects
Ginn Company Proposes Major Project East of FGCU--- as reported in earlier editions the Ginn Company, an
Orlando based developer, is assembling about 5,400 acres of land immediately
east of FGCU. Virtually all of the land is in the County's Density Reduction Groundwater
Recharge (DRGR) Area -- an area that supplies one third of the county's
drinking water. The DRGR designation was established by the county in the late
1980s and restricts housing density in the area to one residential unit per 10
acres.
The proposed project would include:
1,400 housing units (or about 3 units per acre), four golf courses, some hotel
rooms and office and commercial space. In order to encourage FGCU support for
this density increase, Ginn has agreed to donate 100 acres to the University;
swap another 215 acres located close to the University campus; build some new
roads for the University; donate $7.5 million toward construction of a school
of engineering and contribute another $2 million to help operate that school in
its early years.
The developer hopes to
convince the BOCC that the project will be better for the DRGR property than
continued use for farming and mining and by limiting the area covered by
impervious materials to 500 acres, or about 10%, of the area. The developer's
engineers argue that the land has already been heavily scarred by past mining
and farming activities. The land contains 1,273 acres of quarries, 2,258 acres
that has been used for farming and 1,875 acres infested with exotic plants.
In 2000 the BOCC approved
construction of 10 golf courses for the DRGR area with tight construction and
operations guidelines and a requirement that no houses would ever be built on
them. Thus far the Bonita Bay Group has sought zoning for 6 courses (one has
been approved) and Ginn recently received approval for one 27 hole golf course
on over 400 acres of this project site.
It is estimated that it
will take at least two years for this project to work its way through the
approval process, no matter how it ends up. Inasmuch as some of the property is
located in Estero the developer will undoubtedly be making several presentations
to the ECPP and the Estero community during the next couple of years, but is
unready to do so now.