Estero Development Report

Volume 2, Number 11

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

This report will soon be available on the Estero Chamber of Commerce Website www.esterochamber.org and the Estero Fire District site at www.esterofire.org.

Estero Development Activities during March 2003

April Opportunities for Citizen Participation

In Protecting Estero's Quality of Life

Date	Time	Event	Location
Tuesday, April 1^st	6 p.m.	Roadway Landscape Advisory Committee Meeting	County Community Development Building, Conference Room 3A, 1500 Monroe Street, Ft. Myers
Wednesday, April 2^nd	9 a.m.	Hearing Examiner Hearings on Longwood Villas RPD	County Community Development Building, 2^nd Floor Conference Room, 1500 Monroe Street, Ft. Myers
Tuesday, April 8^th	5 p.m.	County Hearing on the Evaluation of the Comprehensive Plan	South County Regional Library
Tuesday, April 8^th	6 p.m.	Estero Fire Commission Meeting	Estero United Methodist Church--Founders Hall
Wednesday, April 9^th	5 p.m.	Estero Design Review Committee	The Perry Room of The Vines Country Club
Thursday, April 10^th	9 a.m.	Dedication of the Stoneybrook Fire Station	Stoneybrook Fire Station
Friday, April 11^th	2 p.m.	ECCO Council of Community Leaders Meeting.	Marsh Landing Clubhouse
Monday, April 14^th	6 p.m.	Estero Community Planning Panel Meeting	Marsh Landing Clubhouse
Wednesday, April 30^th	9 a.m.	Hearing Examiner Hearing on zoning the Park Circle project	County Community Development Building, 2nd Floor, 1500 Monroe Street, Ft. Myers
Wednesday, April 23^rd	5:30 p.m.	Estero Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours-- speaker Smart Growth Director Wayne Daltry	Grandezza Clubhouse

Community Planning Activities

"Estero--Village with a Vision" Presentations -- ECCO presented its first "Village with a Vision" power point presentation to the Villages of Country Creek Annual Meeting on March 11^th. A second program was presented at The Vines on March 31^st. The program opens with a colorful 20-minute Power Point presentation that traces the history of Estero, the Estero Core community boundaries and the effect that Estero's Community Plan now has and will have on the area. The presentation is followed by a 40-minute period in which the audience questions are fielded by a panel of active civic leaders.

Eight additional groups have scheduled "Village with a Vision" presentations during April. If your community would like to learn how Estero is developing and how that development will be guided by the Estero Community Plan and the statutes that flow from it, please call Andrea Bach at 267-7000.

Sign Regulations--- On March 5^th the ECPP met with many representatives of the commercial development community to discuss the signage overlay proposed by the ECPP for all the commercial corridors of Estero. In order for the County to enforce the regulations they must be approved by the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) as part of the County's Land Development Code (LDC).

After extensive discussion the ECPP decided to break up the proposal into two parts. The first component would continue in the current LDC review cycle and consist of the following major elements:

• A requirement that in the future all commercial development signs shall be "monument" signs-- a freestanding sign where the base is on the ground and the width at the top is no more than 120% of the width of the base.
• A prohibition on Pole signs and Pylon signs.
• Establish more stringent regulations for the sign area of a sign structure.
• A set of regulations governing the use of commercial temporary signs.

The second part of the sign regulations would be submitted in the next cycle of Land Development Code changes-- later this year-- and govern the following:

• The size, appearance and height of project, outlot and multiple user monument signs for different kinds and sizes of commercial developments.
• The size, appearance and other characteristics of wall signs on all commercial developments located in the Estero sign overlay area.

In addition a commercial developer workshop to produce a proposal addressing these deferred issues would be held on March 25^th. That workshop produced several specific recommendations concerning the size and appearance of all monument signs for each kind of commercial development within the Estero sign overlay. Dan DeLisi is formulating that proposal for presentation to the ECPP soon.

"Big Box"(very large stores within their retail category) Standards--- the development of Estero's commercial corridors is in its infancy but accelerating rapidly. During the last two years 18 commercial projects containing over 800 acres have made presentations to the ECPP or been rezoned with input from the Estero community. These vacant properties will ultimately contain about 40% of all of Estero's commercial facilities.

Estero's commercial corridors contain 18 large vacant parcels that include over 1,200 acres. These are both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because:

· they are planned developments -- providing more opportunities for community input

· their smaller number enhances the community's ability to manage Estero's commercial development, and

· they are usually undertaken by larger, more responsible businesses and developers.

The disadvantage of these large parcels is they:

· attract "big box" retailers that generate lots of traffic, noise and other kinds of pollution, increased crime and are generally unattractive with huge parking lots, large signs, poorly designed buildings and insufficient landscaping.

· often sell parcels for outlots to national chains seeking to develop unattractive "cookie-cutter" stores with incompatible architecture and inconsistent landscaping around the perimeter of the project.

Because of these land patterns Estero and the ECPP has recently been approached by several developers seeking to build "big box" buildings on some of these parcels (see last month's article about The Estero Town Center project and the article this month about the proposed Wal-Mart project). The Estero Town Center proposal has made a substantial attempt to satisfy and exceed the Corkscrew Road Overlay requirements of the Land Development Code (LDC). As part of that effort they have provided several good ideas for some "big box" standards that should be applied throughout our commercial corridors. They encouraged the ECPP to establish some "Big Box" standards so that developers would know what to expect regarding development of these properties, thus reducing their uncertainty and cost.

The McHarris Planning and Design Company, a nationally recognized "big box" building design standards firm, has agreed to work with the ECPP to develop a comprehensive set of "big box" standards for the Estero community. It is expected that these standards will be available soon so that they can be used by the ECPP in negotiations with the existing "big box" applicants and be added to the Estero provisions of the county Land Development Code (LDC) as soon as possible.

Expanded Estero Post Office Services--- Meg Judge, Chair of the Estero Chamber of Commerce, is heading up a committee whose goal is to ensure that all Estero residents are served well by an Estero Post Office. At present The Brooks and the portion of Pelican Landing in Estero are served by the Bonita Springs Post Office and the Estero Post Office is increasingly inadequate for the needs of our growing community.

Several committee members recently met with Post Office officials from the regional office in Tampa. They indicated that there currently is a five year moratorium on new post office construction, and that during this period they are encouraging the use of Contract Postal Units (CPUs). CPUs provide postal services from gas stations and other private facilities with easy access that are frequently used by postal customers. CPUs are economical for the Postal Service because they rely solely on the existing personnel of the private business, thus reducing personnel costs.

The committee is also investigating the use of special postal designations while using the same post office and zip code for emerging areas of Estero that otherwise might be served by the Bonita Springs Post Office because of the inadequacy of the existing Estero Post Office. Miromar Lakes recently changed their mailing address from Fort Myers, Florida to Miromar Lakes, Florida while still receiving service from the Fort Myers Post Office.

Historic Estero-- The Estero Community Plan recognized that Estero has a long and significant history and several significant historic buildings in the vicinity of US 41 between Broadway and Corkscrew Road. As a result the Plan includes policy 19.1.6 which states "By 2004 Lee County will evaluate historic resources and draft a proposal for their designation under Chapter 22 of the Land Development Code." Chapter 22, the Historic Preservation Ordinance, "provides for the designation of those sites, buildings an districts that contribute to the cultural heritage of Lee County, Southwest Florida, the State of Florida or the nation."

In order to implement this policy Mimi Straub, President of the Estero Historical Society, and Bill Brown, past Executive Director of the Estero Chamber of Commerce, will soon begin working with Gloria Slago, the Lee Count Principal Planner who manages this program for the county. At present the County has four historic districts and a number of scattered historic sites. The districts are located in Boca Grande, Bokeelia, Burgess Island and Matlacha.

Estero Design Review Committee (EDRC)-- The following projects were reviewed by EDRC during March:

Colonial Bank at Grande Oak Shoppes-- On March 11^th representatives of Colonial Bank made their second appearance before the Estero Design Review Committee (EDRC). The ERDC made the following recommendations for improving the developer's project design:

• The hedge should be planted on each side of Ben Hill Griffin and the entry road;
• Add one more handicapped parking space (above code);
• Connect the sidewalk from the front entrance to the public sidewalk
• Paint the building in a slightly different color than the other buildings in order to provide some contrast;

The developer's revised plan satisfied all the other recommendations made by the EDRC during the earlier review.

Estero Fire Rescue Coconut Point Station-- the Fire District presented their plans for this new station to the EDRC although they were not required to do so. The ERDC made the following suggestions for improving the proposal:

• Plant Sabal Palms in the 12 to 20 foot range in order to break up the roof line;
• Plant one Alexander Palm adjacent to the pillars in the front of the building
• Relocate the fuel tank and screen it from view.

In addition County staff has encouraged Bank of America to consider making some architectural changes to its proposed building in order to gain community support and in the interest of being a good neighbor. Such changes were recommended by the ECPP when the project was recently presented to them.

Estero's Continuing Growth

February Building Permits Third Highest on Record--- During February 267 new housing units were permitted for the Estero community, up from 108 last year and 143 in 2001 and 252 in February 2000. Unlike recent trends two hundred eighteen (218), or 82%, of all the February units permitted are multifamily units, most of them in buildings of 5 or more units. The largest contributors to this growth spurt were Lighthouse Bay at The Brooks with 76 units and a new project, Gardens of Estero, with 74 units permitted.

During the month Estero produced 38% of the total unincorporated Lee County permitted residential building value and 29% of total building value. During February Estero's permitted building value for all kinds of property was almost 3 times the comparable value for Bonita Springs. This differential resulted from Estero's housing growth equaling 5 times that of Bonita Springs.

Development Projects in Process

Estero Towncenter CPD On March 5^th the Courtelis Company’s representatives discussed the proposed Estero Towncenter project with the ECPP. This project would be located on a 33-acre site at the southeast quadrant of Corkscrew Road and Three Oaks Parkway. The developer proposes a community commercial shopping center with a maximum of 265,000 square feet of retail including one tract that would have a maximum building size of 180,000 square feet.

The developer is seeking a deviation that would reduce from 75-feet to 30-feet the setbacks from Corkscrew Road required by the Corkscrew Road overlay for parking lots, access streets and drives setbacks in order to use some of this land for the required on-site parking and to provide more design flexibility for drive-thru facilities. In exchange the developer would provide heavier landscaping in front of these areas and some limits on the percentage of front footage that would be allowed under the deviation. In addition the panel reviewed all the requested uses for each of the three tracts in the project and indicated the ones that the community typically finds objectionable. The most objectionable uses included two fast food facilities and one gasoline/convenience store.

Wal-Mart by The Vines--- On March 3^rd representatives of Wal-Mart Corporation made a presentation to a large group of Vines residents at The Vines Golf and Country Club. At the meeting Wal-Mart indicated that they had not purchased the 33 acre parcel immediately to the south on the northwest corner of Koreshan Boulevard and US 41 but had a contract to purchase that property from Keystone Communities. Wal-Mart is proposing to build a 208,000 square foot super center (including a grocery store) on that site along with 17,000 square foot on two outlots along Koreshan Boulevard for a total of 225,000 square feet. Present zoning on the property permits as much as 300,000 square feet of retail space and 20,000 of office space.

The proposed building would not be the usual Wal-Mart design but would use "Costal Mediterranean" architecture. In addition the proposal would orient the front of the building toward the west so that the loading areas would not be immediately adjacent to The Vines; would include internal loading docks; substantial setbacks and buffering along the northern perimeter of the property; lower lighting standards in the parking lots closer to The Vines in order to minimize the project's impact on The Vines. Finally, the proposal included an access road south from The Vines through the Wal-Mart parking lot in order to provide Vines residents with an alternate exit to south US 4, rather than the unlighted exit at the entrance to The Vines.

The residents of The Vines expressed numerous concerns about the project at the meeting including the following:

· the impact that the traffic generated by the store would have on their ability to exit from The Vines southbound on US 41;

· the increased traffic that might be attracted to their entrance by the access road proposed by the developer;

· the 24 hour per day, seven day per week operation of the store and the noise and other pollution that this would cause their community;

· increased crime resulting from the 24 hour per day operation of the store in such close proximity;

· noise from delivery trucks entering and leaving the property at all hours of the night;

· the impact that such a store would have on property values in The Vines;

· parking of trucks on the premises to provide seasonal storage;

· Wal-Mart's reputation for not keeping their parking lots clean, thus having lots of trash blowing around and for permitting recreational vehicles to park overnight in their parking lots.

Wal-Mart's representatives have indicated that they will soon be seeking to make a presentation on the proposed project to the entire Estero community under the auspices of the ECPP. After receiving this community input Wal-Mart will decide how to proceed with the project.

T-Mobile: This cellular communications company is seeking county approval of a proposal to add a cellular antenna bay at the 200-foot level of the existing 230-foot FDOT communications tower located in the southeast quadrant of I-75 and Corkscrew Road.

When T-Mobile made their presentation to the ECPP on this matter they were asked to landscape the ground surrounding the site. The company agreed to do so as long as the Florida Department of Transportation, the property owner, would approve the landscaping and provide the maintenance.

Last year Lee County proposed and the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) approved a grant for landscaping the intersection of I-75 and Corkscrew Road, where the tower is located. Thus FDOT and Lee DOT were contacted and have agreed to explore incorporating the landscaping around the tower into that project. If this arrangement is not feasible the county has agreed that the zoning for T-mobile will be conditioned upon T-mobile providing the Estero community with an equal amount of plant material for use elsewhere on Estero's roads.

Estero Pointe--- On March 5^th representatives of ECCO and several representatives of Marsh Landing presented testimony before the Hearing Examiner assigned to this 11.3 acre commercial project located immediately between Marsh Landing and US 41. The objections raised by all the Estero representatives concerned proposed uses for the site, especially automobile service stations; car washes; convenience food and beverage stores and fast food restaurants.

The testimony noted the provisions of the Land Development Code that require compatibility of commercial projects with their residential neighbors and the need to protect these residents from problems created by adjacent commercial users. These concerns had been raised with the developer's representatives earlier, but to no avail. Should the Hearing Examiner not respond to the testimony of the Estero representatives and residents, those that testified are now eligible to speak to the BOCC when they hold their hearing on the matter and decide how the property should be zoned.

Riverplace of Estero--- A team of state officials planned to come to Estero for a site visit in mid-March as the second step in approving "Florida Forever" funding for acquisition of this important historical property. Several months ago State decision-makers had authorized staff to obtain an appraisal of the property. The trip was abruptly cancelled when the College of Life Foundation informed the State that they were not willing sellers at this time. Florida Forever is authorized to purchase property for preservation only from willing sellers.

About the same time the College of Life asked for and received an extension on their long standing zoning request for the property until November 2003.

The Brooks-- For the third straight year The Brooks was ranked in "The Top 20 Best Selling Master Planned Communities in the United States" with 2002 sales of 836 units, up 10% from 2001. Two of the four Brooks communities, Spring Run and Copperleaf, are now sold out and have been turned over to the community. Lighthouse Bay is now in its final phases and should be turned over to the residents later this year. Sales in this 3,500 unit community will undoubtedly decline this year and beyond because the community only has sites for less than 1,000 additional units.

Road Improvement Progress

US 41 Six Laning from Corkscrew Road to San Carlos Boulevard --- FDOT has screened three engineering firms and will soon be selecting the firm that will design this last segment of US 41 to be widened between Ft. Myers and Naples. A committee consisting of leaders from all the communities along this route is now being formed. The committee will work with the State's consultant to ensure that the concerns of all the property-owners along the road are effectively addressed.

The road design is expected to be completed early in 2005. However the long range budget for the next phase -- the right-of-way acquisition phase--does no provide funding for this phase until July 2006, 18 months later. Funding for widening this road is not in the state's existing 5 year plan which ends in 2008. Thus under current plans this segment of US41 will not be completed before 2010, five years after all the other segments have been completed. The Estero community cannot tolerate the gridlock that this bottleneck would create for a 5 year period.

Thus ECCO has asked both the County and the State to find ways to accelerate funding for the right of way phase. In turn, Lee County DOT has asked ECCO to seek short-term private financing to help bridge the 18 month gap from early 2005 to mid-2006. Both Mike Rippe, Regional Director of FDOT, and Dave Loveland, Lee County DOT Planning Director, have agreed to participate in a meeting with local community leaders and developers to discuss how this problem can be overcome.

In the meantime ECCO and other community organizations are writing Dick Walsh, Chairman of the Metropolitan Planning Organization, the entity that sets priorities for major road improvements in Lee County, to urge them to support accelerating the right-of-way and construction phases of this project.

Three Oaks Parkway--- Lee County DOT is proceeding with discussions with the US Corp of Engineers regarding county financing of a new Corp project reviewer position whose responsibility would be to review only county road projects. Meanwhile Lee DOT continues to work with Federal EPA to develop a comprehensive mitigation strategy that would greatly reduce the time necessary to satisfy EPA concerns in the permitting process.

There are still decisions that must be made before Lee DOT can apply for US Corp permits on our two remaining segments of Three Oaks-- from Alico Road to Corkscrew and from Coconut south to Terry Street in Bonita Springs. ECCO will be working with the County, the Corp of Engineers and others to find ways to speed up this process.

In October Lee DOT prepared an analysis of Three Oaks showing the expected completion dates for each segment. That analysis predicts that the Alico to Corkscrew segment will be completed about June 2006 and the Coconut to Terry segment will be completed about March 2007, 9 months and 18 months respectively after the first 800,000 square feet of the Coconut Point Town Center regional shopping center is expected to be open for business. That's why we need to keep working on this project.

Sandy Lane--- On March 11^th the BOCC approved a contract with Cella & Associates to perform the alignment study for this road between San Carlos Park on the north and Old 41 in Bonita Springs at the southern end. Lee DOT will soon be providing us with a schedule for the work and opportunities for community input.

Roadway Median Landscaping Progress

University Overlay Roadway Landscaping from Alico Road to Corkscrew Road and west on Corkscrew to I-75-- This roadway will be the most intense, ornate and colorful in Estero except for the sections running through The Brooks. Construction on the irrigation and power supply for the project began in early March near the entrance to FGCU. Landscape installation will proceed south from that point to the intersection with I-75. Planting of the landscape has now started with the balance of the Estero segment being installed during the next 10 weeks. The entire project is expected to be completed by the middle of July.

Corkscrew Road Midway Landscaping from US 41 to I-75 -- On April 2^nd the County Roadway Landscape Advisory Committee (RLAC) will discuss with County staff what additional plantings, if any, will be added to this roadway segment. ECCO and the Estero Chamber of Commerce have asked the County to increase the depth of the existing plantings and to add trees in some of the gaps between tree groupings along the length of the road. This decision is important for Estero and other Lee county unincorporated communities because it will define what the county means by "intensified roadway landscaping", a concept that was developed out of our successful effort to increase funding for roadway landscaping last year. Specifically what is installed on Corkscrew will greatly influence what is planted on Three Oaks between Williams Road and Corkscrew and on Koreshan Boulevard between Three Oaks and US 41.

Koreshan Boulevard from US 41 to Three Oaks Boulevard--- the County has hired Johnson Engineering to design the landscaping for the medians of this road segment. These plans are expected to be completed about the end of August, whereupon the project will be bid. Installation of the landscaping on this road is expected to start early in 2004. Roadway landscaping on Koreshan is possible at this time because the major property owners and developers along this rapidly developing road have agreed to pay the cost of maintenance for the first year after it is installed. All the development along this road has planted very attractive trees and shrubbery on the berms fronting their properties that will beautifully compliment the roadway landscaping when it is installed.

US 41 from Corkscrew Road to the north end of Old 41-- The county has contracted with Wilson Miller Engineering to design the roadway landscaping for this road segment. The conceptual design drawings are expected to be delivered to the County this week. They will be presented to the RLAC at either their April or May meetings. The final plans for landscaping this road segment are expected to be completed about October 1^st this year. The plans will be implemented as the widening of the road is completed in late 2004 or early 2005.