Estero Development Report

Volume 3, Number 9

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.

February Opportunities for Citizen Participation

In Protecting Estero's Quality of Life

Date	Time	Event	Location
Monday, February 2nd	9:30 a.m.	Board of County Commissioners Allocation of $4 million of Coconut Point Road Impact Fees to Speed-up Construction of Three Oaks Parkway.	County Commission Chambers, 2^nd Floor, 2120 Main Street, Ft Myers
Tuesday, February 3rd	6:00 p.m.	Roadway Landscape Advisory Committee Meeting	County Community Development Building, Conf. Room 3A, 1500 Monroe St., Ft Myers
Thursday & Friday, February 5^th & 6^th		"Florida Forever" Review of the Boomer Property Application for State Purchase	Tallahassee
Monday, February 9^th	2 p.m.	Estero Civic Association-- Speaker County Comm. Bob Janes	Grandezza Clubhouse
Monday, February 9^th	5 p.m.	Board of County Commissioners Coconut Point Development Agreement First Hearing	County Commission Chambers, 2^nd Floor, 2120 Main Street, Ft Myers
Monday, February 9th	6 p.m.	Estero Community Planning Panel Meeting Hearing On the Proposed General Motors Dealership at the Corkscrew Commerce Center on the southwest corner of Corkscrew and I- 75	Marsh Landing Clubhouse
Tuesday, February 10th	6:00 p.m.	Estero Fire Rescue District Board Meeting	Estero United Methodist Church -- Founder's Hall
Wednesday, February 11th	9 a.m.	Hearing Examiner Hearing to rezone "The Reserve At Estero" project (Toll Bros.)	County Community Development Building, 2^nd Floor Conf. Room, 1500 Monroe St., Ft Myers
Wednesday, February 11th	5 p.m.	Estero Design Review Committee review of Embassy Suites and the proposed Wal-Mart on the northwest corner of US 41 and Coconut Road.	The Perry Room of The Estero Country Club at The Vines
Friday, February 13th	2 p.m.	ECCO Council of Community Leaders Meeting	Marsh Landing Clubhouse
Saturday, February 14^th	10 a.m. to 7 p.m.	"Celebrate Estero" Festival sponsored by the Estero Chamber of Commerce	Miromar Outlets Mall
Thursday, February 26^th	10 a. m.	Historic Gum Tree Sign Dedication sponsored by The Estero Historical Society & Select Real Estate	The Gum Tree Site: the north side of Corkscrew Road @ Cypress Park Circle Drive
Thursday, February 26^th	5:30 p.m.	Estero Chamber Business After Hours	The Plaza at Bonita Bay

Index

Page	Subject
1	Calendar
2	Proposed Second Wal-Mart in Estero--Coconut Wal-Mart
3	Koreshan Wal-Mart Progress Report
4	Village With A Vision Program
4	Sandy Land Alignment Study
5	Three Oaks Parkway South Funding
6	Residential Growth in Estero -- 2000 through 2003
7	Coconut Point Progress Report
8	North Point DRI Progress Report
8	Estero Design Review Committee

Proposed Second Wal-Mart in Estero

Wal-Mart has requested the Estero Design Review Committee (EDRC) to schedule a hearing for a second Wal-Mart superstore in Estero at the next meeting of the EDRC at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, February 11^th at the Estero Country Club in The Vines.

The second Proposed Superstore would be located on the northwest corner of US 41 and Coconut Road, only 3.7 miles from Wal-Mart's first proposed store at US 41 and Koreshan Boulevard.

The 1998 zoning on this 46 acre property permits such a store to be built without the need for any zoning changes. Thus Wal-Mart is able to bypass the Estero Community Planning Panel, which conducts local public meetings on all zoning matters.

Since the Board of County Commissioners has not yet approved our draft US 41 Overlay changes to the Lee County Land Development Code, the appearance standards that apply to all Corkscrew Road projects do not apply to this location. The Estero "Big Box Standards" also have not yet been approved by the BOCC and therefore are not enforceable on this project.

On the other hand, "Concurrency Certificates" are issued in conjunction with Development Orders. Concurrency Certificates are issued by the County only after the road network adjacent to the project is deemed by County DOT staff to be adequate for the existing and expected traffic. Given the enormous amount of commercial development that has been approved for this area, it is possible that the County could find the area's road network -- primarily US 41 and Coconut Road -- to be insufficient after this store is opened until Sandy Lane and Three Oaks Parkway are completed.

This store would be located immediately adjacent to homes in Marsh Landing and in Coconut Shores. Consequently, it is likely to raise many of the same issues that we have been wrestling with over the last year regarding the proposed Koreshan Boulevard store and its neighboring community, The Vines. Lee County has two policies that are designed to protect residents from the negative impact of new adjacent commercial development. They are:

• Policy 6.1.4 which states in part: "Commercial development will be approved only when compatible with adjacent existing and proposed land uses…" , and
• Policy 5.1.5 which states in part: "Protect existing and future residential areas from any encroachment of uses that are potentially destructive to the character and integrity of the residential environment…"

Since residential development around this property has expanded greatly since it was zoned in 1998 the County may want to review the requirements of the existing zoning that attempt to implement these policies before approving the Development Order for the project.

Wal-Mart has not yet submitted any project information to the EDRC but has indicated that they are not planning to use the same architectural design for that building as has been negotiated for the Koreshan store. This is unfortunate because all of the properties around the site have committed to a Mediterranean design. They include the existing Brooks Commerce Center, the Walden Center, the new Cole Taylor building in Coconut Square, the plans for all of Coconut Point extending from the Sanibel Steakhouse to Williams Road and the proposed dental office building in Coconut Square.

In addition Wal-Mart has not scheduled meetings with the residents of Marsh Landing and Coconut Shores before scheduling the community-wide (EDRC) hearing unlike the Koreshan store procedure where Wal-Mart met first with the residents of The Vines. Hopefully, Wal-Mart will postpone the EDRC meeting until March and schedule meetings with the residents of Marsh Landing and Coconut Shores prior to that meeting.

Koreshan Wal-Mart Progress Report --- during January Lee County zoning staff found Wal-Mart's zoning application to be complete enough to set a date for a public hearing by a County Hearing Examiner on April 1, 2004. If approved by the County Wal-Mart would 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.

The Need to Widen US 41

County transportation staff have indicated to Wal-Mart that the store cannot receive a development order (DO) nor begin construction until the segment of US 41 adjacent to the store has been programmed and budgeted for 6-laning within three years of the issuance of that DO. At present this segment of US 41 is not programmed until state fiscal year 2008-09 which begins in October 2008. As a consequence Wal-Mart has offered to pay the interest on a County low interest loan to Florida DOT that would permit the programming of this segment to be accelerated by two years to fiscal 2006-07. Although the County would very much like to accelerate construction of this road segment such a commitment cannot legally be tied to the zoning. Consequently the proposal has not been accepted by the County and may not be resolved until the zoning process has been completed, probably in May, June or July.

Forthcoming Zoning Discussions

Meanwhile the Wal-Mart Committee of the Estero Council of Community Leaders (ECCL) has met with County zoning staff to learn about the latest changes in the development plan and to discuss its concerns. Wal-Mart has offered to provide the committee with a briefing on its zoning request and its Development Order application, now that both have been filed with the county. This meeting is expected to be scheduled for early February. After that meeting the Council of Community leaders will review all the outstanding issues and prepare for a negotiating session with Wal-Mart. After that meeting the ECCL will decide how they will testify at the Hearing Examiner's hearing on April 1^st and later before the Board of County Commissioners.

Wal-Mart has also been meeting with the leaders of The Vines regarding a possible private south access road to that community from Koreshan Boulevard. Such a road would permit Vines residents to go south on US 41 without having to use the dangerous existing US 41 intersection.

Village with a Vision --- Once again this winter and spring the Estero Council of Community Leaders is sponsoring its “Village With a Vision” educational program for residents throughout Estero. The program includes a 20 minute Power Point presentation and a 40 minute panel discussion. The program traces the history of Estero from 1500 AD to the present and explains what the community is doing to manage its dynamic growth. It also shows how our community will look in a couple of years when our commercial corridors are completed.

Last year Jim Ramsburg and his panel of “Estero All-Stars” presented this program to over 1000 Estero residents. ‘Village With a Vision” presentations can be scheduled from now through April. If your community, neighborhood organization, church group or service organization have not yet participated in this free program and want to know what is going on in Estero, call Jim at 949-0362 or email him at jpramsburg@hotmail.com.

Sandy Lane Alignment Study --- During January two additional Sandy Lane Alignment Study presentations were conducted by Lee County DOT and its consultant, Kris Cella. This concludes the public input phase of the Alignment Study. Now the consultant will complete their research and prepare their recommendations. Once complete the recommendations will be presented to a public workshop for discussion prior to being finalized and presented to the Bonita City Council and the BOCC for their modification or approval.

The Northern Alignment

The first meeting was held in San Carlos Park and focused upon the alternative routes between Corkscrew Road and the connection to Oriole Road, an existing road in San Carlos Park. Over 150 people attended and the testimony was dominated by San Carlos Park residents who were opposed to connecting Sandy Lane to Oriole Road because they believe it would increase current speeding and stop sign violations.

Prior to that meeting about 60 residents on north Estero communities met to discuss three alternative routes for Sandy Lane between Corkscrew Road and Koreshan Boulevard. Andy Getch of Lee DOT attended the meeting to observe the discussion. This group reached consensus on the following three positions:

1. This segment of Sandy Lane should be limited to no more than two lanes; and

2. The segment of Sandy Lane between Corkscrew Road and Broadway should:

a. First choice: be constructed on a new route along the eastern side of the railroad tracks lying just west of the existing Sandy Lane, or

b. Second Choice: extend the existing Sandy Lane around the west side of the Champion Tree; and

3. Sandy Lane should fly-over a road that would connect the eastern and western parts of the Cascades development on the route reserved for it by the Cascades zoning. Lee County DOT indicated that such a "flyover" would have to be paid for by the developer and/or the residents of the Cascades. A mid-February meeting has been scheduled between Levitt and Sons, the developer of the Cascades, and a group of Cascade residents to discuss the "flyover" proposal.

If these goals are not satisfied a majority of the group would probably oppose extension of the road north of Corkscrew Road.

The Southern Alignment

Later in January the City of Bonita and the County sponsored the final public hearing that concentrated upon the five alternative routes between the Coconut Point development and Old 41 in Bonita Springs and the "no-build" option for this segment. The meeting was dominated by concerns expressed by residents of the San Carlos Estates community that they would lose their homes and their neighborhood would once again be divided by the eastern routes proposed by the consultant.

Unfortunately the options presented by the consultant for this route do not appear to be the most feasible and safe. The two western routes would appear to connect with Old 41 too close to the existing Old 41/US 41 intersection and the eastern route unnecessarily divides the San Carlos Estates community and would displace far more homes than necessary. At the same time they did not consider a route that would cross the railroad tracts through the junk yard and hug the eastern boundary of the rail right-of-way through the Rinker property to a connection with Old 41 at or near Signal Road. Hopefully it is not too late for the County and City to consider this less disruptive route.

Now that the public hearings are complete it is time for the BOCC and the Bonita City Council and administration to begin discussions regarding joint planning, financing and construction of this important gap-filling road. By 2007, after Old 41 has been widened to four lanes, Bonita Springs and Estero will be served by a four lane Sandy Lane from Corkscrew Road to Pelican Colony Boulevard and a four lane Old 41 from US 41 to Terry Street. Unless Sandy Lane is extended from Pelican Colony Boulevard to Old 41 we will have a seven mile north-south corridor with a one mile gap in the middle.

Next Steps

Cella and Associates, the County's Alignment Study consultant, will use this public input to prepare their draft recommendations for the County. Sometime in February when these recommendations are complete, the County and its consultant will conduct a workshop for further public review before finalizing their report.

All Estero residents are encouraged to watch the newspapers for the time and place of the workshop and come prepared to support the recommendations that best satisfy our transportation needs.

Three Oaks Parkway South Funding --- On February 3^rd the BOCC is expected to approve a County DOT staff recommendation that would allocate $4,086,000 of the $6,270,000 paid by the developers of Coconut Point in road impact fees during December to construction of Three Oaks Parkway between Coconut Road and E. Terry Street in Bonita Springs. This money would become available for this project in October of this year. At present County DOT expects to begin construction of this segment in mid-2005 and to complete the road in early 2007. If permitting by the regional water district and the U.S. Corp of Engineers and right-of-way acquisition can be completed sooner then construction may begin closer to the beginning of the budgeted fiscal year, October 2004.

The balance of the payment, $2,184,000 has been paid by the County to the City of Bonita Springs for use in widening Old 41 from US 41 to Rosemary Drive.

Residential Growth in Estero -- 2000 through 2003 --- During the last four years over 7,000 new housing units have been permitted in Estero. The total building value of these units exceeds $1.1 billion exclusive of the related land value.

Year	Number of Units Permitted
2000	2,088
2001	2,104
2002	1,500
2003	1,425
Total	7,117

As the table shows the number of units permitted has declined during the last two years compared to Estero's peak growth years of 2000 and 2001. The primary cause of the decline is the rapid build out of Pelican Sound and The Brooks.

Pelican Sound's peak permitting period was 2000 with about 650 housing units. The project's permitting declined to about 250 in 2001 and less than 50 in 2002.

Meanwhile The Brooks peaked in 2001 with about 900 housing units permitted. Both 2000 and 2002 were very strong years for The Brooks with over 600 units permitted in each year. Last year units permitted in The Brooks fell to less than 300 units.

Year	Number of Units Permitted
2000	686
2001	906
2002	637
2003	272
Total	2,501

Thus the dramatic expansion of The Brooks in 2001 offset the sharp decline in Pelican Sound permits. While the decline in Brooks permitting during 2002 and 2003 fully accounted for Estero's overall permitting decline.

New Areas of Growth in 2003

During 2003 two new developments, The Cascades and Villagio, each permitted over 250 housing units in their first year of marketing. Both of these projects will be major contributors to Estero's growth during the next few years.

Two second year projects, Colonial Oaks and the Hyatt Timeshares, added about 100 units during 2003. Colonial Oaks permitted all its 100 housing units in just two years. Other recently initiated residential communities, The Rookery and Grandezza, continued as substantial sources of residential growth during 2003.

Next month we will report on our housing unit permitting projections for 2004-2008. In addition to all the residential communities that will continue to develop during 2004, three major residential communities will complete site preparation and begin building new housing units. They are Bella Lago, a Toll brothers project, with zoning for over 400 units; Bella Terra, a U. S. Homes project, with zoning for 1,824 housing units and a Coconut Point housing development with about 450 units. The developers of The Meadows of Pelican Sound, a 250 units, project, recently filed for a development order in order to prepare their site for development soon. In addition two smaller projects are just getting underway: Estero Palms with 32 units and Estero River Estates with 94 units.

Finally during 2003 two new housing developments were zoned but are not expected to begin substantial construction during 2004. They are Longwood Villas with zoning for over 200 housing units and Marbella Estates with about 200 units.

Coconut Point Progress Report --- Late in December the developers of Coconut Point paid the County $6.1 million, the first of two payments that the developer is required to pay the County to improve the road system that will support the development. The County, in turn, paid the City of Bonita Springs $2.3 million to help the City to pay for the widening of Old 41 between US 41 and Rosemary Drive. In December of this year the developers are required to pay the County an additional $8.6 million, the final installment in road fees.

On January 27^th The Simon Group announced some of the tenants that will occupy the first phase of Coconut Point's retail center. This phase will consist of 40 to 50 stores containing 600,000 square feet of retail space surrounding a 15 acre lake. This is Simon's "Community Center" with a scheduled opening date of October 2005. Some of the larger stores in the Community Center will be Best Buy, T J Maxx, Sports Authority, DSW, Petsmart and Ross Dress for Less. The balance of the Community Center will be occupied by smaller stores and restaurants

The "Town Center", that will appear to be an old town main street fronted by a variety of buildings all of Mediterranean design, will open in September the following year (2006). The Town Center will consist of about 100 stores containing about 620,000 square feet of retail. The announced anchors in this phase are an 180,000 square foot Dillard's and a 93,000 square foot Muvico twenty screen theatre. In addition the Town Center is expected to include a major book store, a hotel, 80 to 90 smaller stores and several restaurants.

The 2004 Schedule

BOCC approval of the Development Agreement is expected in February. This is the document that details how the developer and the county will meet their public responsibilities for roads, housing and environmental impacts.

Zoning for Coconut Point requires the developers to prepare appearance standards for the entire 483 acre site that must be approved by the County. The developers will present the appearance standards to the Estero Council of Community Leaders during February. The Council will appoint a Committee to review the standards and to work with the developers and County staff to ensure that they are consistent with the appearance standards established by the community for other commercial projects during the last several years.

Site preparation for both the Community Center and Town Center is scheduled to begin in about 6 months (June/July). Construction of the Community Center is scheduled to begin in about 8 months (September) with Town Center construction expected to begin one year from now, in January 2005.

Construction of Sandy Lane from Corkscrew Road to Pelican Colony Boulevard is scheduled to begin later this year, about September, 2004.

North Point DRI Progress Report --- This 102 acre project located on the east side of US 41 between Williams Road and the Corkscrew Village Shopping Center has been found "sufficient" by the Regional Planning Council. This means that Lee County can now begin the zoning process for this major Estero project, our third largest after Coconut Point and the Miromar Discount Mall. If approved as requested it will contain 550,000 square feet of retail space, 120,000 square feet of office, a 150 room hotel and 150 housing units. The project is being developed by many of the Coconut Point owners.

The development combines 9 parcels of land with 6 owners into a unified project that uses many Estero Plan and Main Street Overlay principals and is designed to compliment the Coconut Point Town Center immediately to the south. Thus almost 3 miles on the east side of US 41 in Estero will have a consistent, attractive architectural and landscaping appearance.

Also during January a Lee County Hearing Examiner heard testimony on the developer's request for an amendment to the Lee County Comprehensive Plan that would allow this type of project on the site.

Estero Design Review Committee (EDRC) --- On January 14^th the EDRC reviewed in great detail the following two new commercial projects:

· Stilwell Solar, a small office type building located just north of the Estero Fire Station on the east side of US 41 between Broadway and Corkscrew Roads, and

· Elit USA Gas and Convenience Store to be located within the Estero Interstate Commerce Park on the northwest corner of I-75 and Corkscrew Road west of where Tires Plus is being constructed and south of the proposed Embassy Suites Hotel.

The EDRC made the following suggestions regarding the Stilwell Solar project:

• The architectural style not Mediterranean but an Industrial/Contemporary Style. This is in not consistent with the Corkscrew Road overlay or the proposed US 41 overlay that has not yet been approved by the BOCC.
• The entry arch feature on the front of the building could be deeper to provide greater impact.
• Re-design the arch to allow for a barrel tile roof or some other solution to maintain consistent roof material.
• Upgrade tree sizes to 45 gallon, 14 - 16 feet in height with a minimum 6 foot spread.
• Add some taller palms the hide the upper blank walls on the front of the building.
• Use the space between the building and drain field for additional palms.
• The plan does not meet county requirements for native shrubs
• Buffer the outside storage unit and dumpster with plants as well as a decorative wall/fence.
• Use wall-illuminating lights under the eaves.
• Paint the overhead door so that it matches the building.
• Suggested the possibility of redesigning the building-corner tower area so that does not conflict with arched entry style.
• If a monument sign is added then surround the base with landscaping.

The EDRC made the following suggestions regarding the Elit USA project:

· The gas station site plan was determined to meet the setback requirements in the zoning resolution which precedes the Estero Land Development Code requirements for gas station/convenience stores. However, the landscape, architecture, lighting etc. requirements of the Code are applicable to the project.

· Eliminate the red building accents in exchange for a more neutral color.

· Change the roof to barrel tile from the proposed standing seam metal.

· The glass/wall ratio are not as interpreted and thus should be redesigned.

· Windows on north elevation should be smaller than shown on plan.

· Remove the applied columns on building and substitute similar effect via scoring, texture and coloration.

· The applicant agrees to submit new sign package for the project.

· Add a 5 foot wide strip of green area between building and parking lot as required by Chapter 34-1042.

· Remove the parking spaces in landscape buffer at south end of site facing Corkscrew Road.

· The required commercial building perimeter landscaping does not meet the requirements of the LDC (50% of required area must be in the front of building).

· The Type “D” buffer on south end of site must be 20 feet wide, not 15 feet as shown on the plan.

· Recommended additional pedestrian linkages and pedestrian/open space amenities such as a bike rack, outdoor seating, etc.

· Recommended increased density of trees in green space at south end of building.

· Urged that canopy and buffer trees be upgraded to 45 Gallon, 14-16 foot height with a minimum 6 foot spread.

· The dumpster must be buffered by plants.

Finally the architects for Embassy Suites, also located in the Estero Interstate Commerce Park, presented a greatly improved landscape plan for that project. After reviewing that plan the EDRC voted to send a letter to Lee County authorizing the County to begin processing the Development Order application for the project with the understanding that the developer will submit to further review of the architecture and landscaping by the EDRC.