Estero Development ReportVolume 6, Number 4 September Opportunities for Citizen Participation In Protecting Estero's Quality of Life
IndexEstero Community WebsiteAbout 2,400 persons each month learn about Estero and its growth management efforts by viewing the website of: Estero Community Planning Panel (ECPP); www.esterofl.org The site is still in formation.…Your suggestions for improvement are most welcome. Estero Community Improvement Foundation (ECIF)“Spirit of the Gulf” Concert
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Project |
Location |
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Southeast corner of I-75 and Corkscrew |
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Wachovia Bank @ Miromar Shoppes |
Northwest Corner of Ben Hill Griffin and Corkscrew Road |
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Office Building @ Coconut Square |
Southwest corner of US 41 and Coconut Road |
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Bank of Florida @ Coconut Square |
Southwest corner of US 41 and Coconut Road |
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US 41 in front of Fountain Lakes |
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East side of US 41 between Broadway and Corkscrew |
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South side of Corkscrew west of the Park entrance |
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Four Single story Office Buildings @ Estero Park Commons |
South side of Corkscrew west of the Park entrance |
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2 Multistory Office Buildings @ Coconut Palms |
South side of Corkscrew east of the Park entrance |
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Northwest corner of I-75 and Corkscrew |
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Northwest corner of I-75 and Corkscrew |
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Northeast corner of Three Oaks Parkway and Corkscrew Road |
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Northeast corner of Three Oaks Parkway and Corkscrew Road |
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Church |
East side of Three Oaks between Estero Parkway and Corkscrew |
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The following stores at the Coconut Point Town Center:
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East side of US41 just north of Coconut Road |
At present 32 commercial buildings are under construction in Estero. When complete, later this year or early next year, they will house between 100 and 150 tenants.
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Project |
Location |
Status |
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Coconut Point Town Center buildings underway:
When complete the Town Center will contain about 140 stores. |
Northeast of US 41 -- Coconut Road intersection |
Lake and site work well underway |
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Phase Five @ the Miromar Outlets Mall |
Northeast corner of I-75 and Corkscrew Road |
Building Structures and Roofs complete; internal and external finishing underway |
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Southwest corner of I-75 and Corkscrew |
5 story building structure complete; interior and exterior finishes underway |
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Shell Station @ Estero Interstate Commerce Park |
Northwest corner of I-75 and Corkscrew Road |
Building complete; landscaping installed; final details being completed |
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Two small multi-tenant retail/office buildings (25,000 s.f.) @ Estero Town Commons |
Southeast Corner of Three Oaks and Corkscrew |
Site cleared and prepared; walls being erected |
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Lowe’s Home Improvement store @Estero Town Commons |
Southeast Corner of Three Oaks and Corkscrew |
Site cleared and prepared; underground utilities and footings complete; starting with walls |
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Empire Builders @ Galleria |
North side of Corkscrew just east of Sandy Lane |
Site cleared and graded; first of 5 buildings under way; floor poured; walls under construction; footings for second building are in place |
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Two story building @Estero Park Commons |
South side of Corkscrew Road between Sandy Lane and River Ranch Road |
Underground utilities and footings complete; walls being erected |
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East side of US 41 just south of the Corkscrew Village Shopping Center |
Site cleared and prepared; utilities and footings complete; walls being constructed |
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Northwest corner of Williams and US 41 |
Site cleared and prepared; structure completed; interior and exterior finishes underway |
Finally, there are seven major commercial developments that started to prepare their sites during 2006. Over the next few years these developers will sell or lease project sites for about 50 more commercial buildings. Each of these projects will be reviewed by the EDRC once their plans are completed.
Commercial Sites Being Prepared
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Project |
Location |
Status |
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Southeast Corner of Three Oaks and Corkscrew |
Entire site recently cleared and prepared with several large trees preserved |
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North side of Corkscrew just east of Sandy Lane |
Entire site recently cleared and prepared |
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Northwest corner of Williams and US 41 |
Entire site recently cleared and prepared |
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West side of US 41 just south of the Marsh Landing entrance |
Site clearing complete; site preparation and interior roadwork underway |
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Northwest corner of US 41 and Coconut Road |
Site clearing complete; site filling and preparation underway |
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Northwest corner of Estero Parkway and Three Oaks Parkway |
Site has been cleared and site preparation is underway |
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Southwest Corner of River Ranch and Corkscrew |
Cleared and Prepared |
Planning Eastern Estero as Part of the Density Reduction Groundwater Resource (DRGR) Area
On August 15th the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) listened to testimony from twelve representatives of the Estero Council of Community Leaders (ECCL), southwest Florida’s leading environmental organizations and residents of eastern Estero most impacted by the mining activities along Corkscrew Road. All of the testimony urged the BOCC to have county staff or a consultant consolidate and summarize the twenty or so existing studies of the DRGR so that all environmental, water supply and mining sensitive areas can be identified for preservation purposes and a comprehensive land use plan can be developed for this 150 square mile area, 22 of which are in Estero.
The DRGR is important to all the residents of southwest Florida because:
- It is a major source of our drinking water supply
- It is a floway that brings rainwater from the interior into Estero Bay in an environmentally effective way
- It is home to vast wetlands that provide habitat for many of Florida’s birds and animals
- It provides habitat for many listed wildlife species, some of which are threatened with extinction
- It was designated as a low density area in the late 1980’s by the County and the State because of the extensive high density areas already zoned for housing in Lee County, particularly in Cape Coral and Lehigh Acres
- Unplanned development of the area could threaten the Estero and Bonita Springs communities west of I-75 with flooding because our drainage systems were not designed to handle major increases in storm water runoff from the area.
- It’s zoning, allowing both mining and low density residential throughout the entire 150 square miles of the DRGR, is inherently incompatible.
Each of the speakers emphasized one or more of these issues. Subsequently the BOCC voted unanimously to direct County staff to hire a consultant to complete the comprehensive summary and map and report back to them in no more than 6 months. County Manager Don Stillwell agreed to develop a proposal responsive to the Board’s direction and present it to the Board for their approval within a month.
The following sections, containing the testimony of three of the presenters,
provide a succinct summary of some of the important issues that the DRGR area
presents to the residents and leaders of Lee County. Other testimony contains
some valuable ideas about recent impacts on our water supply; threatened
flooding problems in The Brooks; the incompatibility of adjacent mining and low
density residential uses; the need for land use planning to precede
transportation decisions; the inadequacy of current planning for existing mining
operations.
DRGR Position Statement
The undersigned organizations have long been concerned about the lack of planning to truly protect the natural resources within the Density Reduction/Groundwater Resource (DRGR) area. We believe that with the impending demand on DRGR land, a comprehensive study of the area must be undertaken immediately. Most information already exists and can easily be compiled and supplemented where gaps are identified. We ask that the Lee County Board of County Commissioners authorize staff to compile such data on the resources within the DRGR. Once completed, the data assessment will provide a foundation for a comprehensive study of potential policies for the DRGR, resulting in identification of appropriate lands for natural resource protection, residential, agricultural and mining uses.
Currently, permitted land uses within the DRGR allow agriculture, natural resource extraction and related facilities, conservation uses, publicly-owned facilities, private recreation facilities and residential uses at one unit per 10 acres. The intended purpose of designating the DRGR was to keep density lower within the more rural areas of Lee County, while protecting future drinking water supplies. However, many of these permitted uses are not compatible with each other, or with the natural resources that must be protected, as required by the Lee Plan. The result is an approximately 150-squre mile area where many different uses are approved in a project-by-project, piecemeal fashion, without any requirement to assess how such development fits into the overall protection of the lands and compatibility with adjacent uses.
Mining is the most impacting example of how a lack of specificity within the DRGR results in potential conflicts with natural resource protection and residential development. Currently, mining is allowed throughout the DRGR, without assessment of location appropriateness. In order to protect natural resource, residential and agricultural uses, a plan must be in place acknowledging that not all DRGR land is appropriate for mining, regardless of the presence of mineable materials. An updated database also needs to be developed that accurately maps mining resource reserves currently under permit and in-process and determines the specific portion of our mined materials exported to other counties.
However, lands appropriate for mining, or any other allowed use in the DRGR, cannot be determined without:
- Compilation of all relevant data available (i.e. the draft acquisition/restoration map for the Southwest Florida Feasibility Study).
- Acknowledgement of data gaps (i.e. study of mining impacts to adjacent surface and subsurface natural resources and land uses).
- Analysis of existing data and data that must be generated.
- Maps drawn that indicate areas appropriate for:
- Conservation/restoration,
- Residential,
- Agricultural,
- Mining.
- Determination of potential policies (including a Transfer of Development
Rights program) that could be put into place to direct incompatible land uses
away from:
- Critical water recharge areas,
- Wetlands,
- Natural floways,
- Listed species habitat,
- Lands needed for restoration.
- Coordination with the City of Bonita Springs on integration of DRGR policies.
- Creation of a comprehensive set of policies for future use and protection of the DRGR, potentially as Evaluation and Appraisal Report (EAR) based amendments.
The DRGR is succumbing to uses that create negative impacts for its residents, agricultural operations and the protection of natural resources. With at least one major development proposing substantial density increases in the DRGR, mining expansion plans likely to be proposed and a potential new interchange to be studied on the edge of the DRGR, action must be taken immediately. Much of the information necessary to map resources already exists. The Lee County Board of County Commissioners must take action now and direct staff to compile this information for resource assessment and future policy decisions. Proper planning is the only way to determine appropriate placement of uses and protection within the DRGR.
Audubon of Florida
Collier County Audubon Society
Conservancy of Southwest Florida
Corkscrew Rural Community
Estero Council of Community Leaders
Florida Wildlife Federation
National Wildlife Federation
Responsible Growth Management Coalition
Sanibel-Captiva Audubon Society
Testimony of Kevin Hill
Of the Corkscrew Rural Community
I’m here to ask for your help in stopping the expansion of mining into Corkscrew - one of the few remaining rural communities left in Lee County. Our community is entirely within an area the county has designated DRGR. The broad brush of this land use designation and its allowable uses has placed our community in the position of having to fight to preserve our rural character against heavy industrialization time and time again, and at our own expense. Because rural residents in the DRGR are low density by definition, our numbers put us at a disadvantage, and the miners exploit this.
Despite our objections to impacts associated with this heaviest of industrial uses, we recognize the importance of mining resources. And so, we request that the county pursue a smarter approach to planning for Lee County’s rock and fill needs.
1. We believe that in order to minimize impacts of future mining developments to natural resources and existing rural communities, new or expanded mine activity should be limited geographically to the already active, long-established, and heavily impacted mining corridor in the vicinity of Alico / Green Meadows.
- There are adequate mining resource reserves currently under permit to meet Lee County’s needs to 2050 and beyond.
- According to the draft GR/Mining Study, untapped limerock resources in this area are vast, and of high quality.
- There is established road infrastructure to accommodate heavy industrial truck traffic.
- Residential land uses in that corridor are very limited.
- Environmental impacts of mining are already manifest in that area, and delayed impacts will continue to manifest going forward. Those impacts should be localized rather than repeated all over the DRGR.
2. Because mining interests are strong advocates of protecting “valuable rock resources”, we believe that no permitted mine should be allowed to change zoning (to RPD, for example), until all usable rock and fill resources are exhausted.
3. Mine zoning and permit applications should plan for all future possibilities. Too many mines have established themselves as small “special exception” dirt mine operations and systematically intensified to full blown rock mines over time. They should be required to say what they mean from the beginning.
In order to plan appropriately for the future, Lee County needs to review all available data, update its mining database to include the quantity and quality of mine resources currently existing under permit, and deliver a comprehensive DRGR overlay that maps appropriate locations where mining will be permitted so that natural resources and existing residential land uses are protected and preserved.
Presentation to the County Commission on DRGR
By Mike Roeder
Good morning Madam Chairman and members of the Board of County Commissioners.
My name is Mike Roeder and our firm has several clients in the Corkscrew Road
Corridor. I believe that the proposed environmental study for the Coconut
interchange could be an opportunity for addressing some of the difficult plan
issues that have been facing the County and the DRGR in the past several years.
However, it is not a lack of information that is the main problem. You have a
good deal of information on the DRGR, and if you can compile all the maps and
data that have been created by the various studies and will be identified by
other speakers, you will realize there is already a wealth of information
regarding the DRGR that will tell you the nature of the land and what its
qualities are. The important unanswered question is what you do with this
information, more specifically, land use decisions resulting from that
information.
It is popularly understood that there are three primary land uses allowed in
the DRGR,
which are low density residential, agriculture and mining. However, there are
also two other land uses that are allowed in the DRGR, conservation uses and
private recreational facilities, which mainly refers to golf courses. If you
look in the Lee Plan, each one of these uses has goals, objectives and policies
that govern their conduct, but too often these policies are in conflict with
each other and do not provide you with clear guidance in particular instances.
It would be over-simplistic to say that the problem is too many policies and no
maps, because there are also maps in the Lee Plan, but these are also somewhat
lacking.
For example, for residential land uses, there is one goal, one objective and
eleven
policies, but no map other than the generalized county land use map and the
various community plans that have been adopted. For agriculture, there is one
goal, two objectives and nine policies, plus Map 20 which shows parcels over 100
acres in active agriculture that are located in the non-urban areas. However,
while this map purports to protect these agriculture areas from the negative
influences of other activities such as mining, it specifically does not preclude
the conversion of these agricultural lands to other uses. There is also Policy
9.1.7 which directed the county to explore a “Purchase of Development Rights”
(PDR) program by 1995 to preserve agriculture uses, but to my knowledge that has
never been initiated.
Under the conservation element, there are five goals, fifteen objectives and sixty policies which would pertain to the DRGR, but the only maps besides the Future Land Use Map are Map 3M which indicates the airport mitigation overlay, and Map 9 dealing with flood plains and Map 10 which is a generalized soils map for the entire county. You will undoubtedly have better conservation maps once the various studies that have been completed or are under way are compiled.
For private recreation facilities (golf courses), there is one goal, eight objectives and fifty-one policies spanning eleven pages in the Lee Plan. A great amount of time and effort was spent in preparing these policies, which includes Map 4 that designates where these private recreational facilities can be developed. Despite all this effort over seven years ago, not one of these golf courses has been constructed as of today.
In contrast, the section on mining in the Lee Plan (natural resource extraction) has one goal, two objectives and only six policies. While there is a Map 20 showing the areas that have been approved for mining, it is very much out of date and still refers to Harper Brothers, which has not been in the mining business for over ten years. Map 20 should be updated to reflect all the mining approvals that have occurred in the last fifteen years and should go further by identifying the areas where the county would encourage rock mining activities and their related processing in the future. This area should be centered on the Alico Road corridor where rock mines have traditionally been developed.
The County attorney may express a concern that such a restriction would raise
Bert
Harris issues, but I would recommend that mining not be totally prohibited
outside of this area, but that it be restricted to smaller and shallower fill
mines that might be developed as amenities for future residential developments.
This type of limited mining could be allowed outside of the designated rock
mining area without unduly restricting the rights of landowners or negatively
impacting residential and conservation land uses. This type of land use planning
is necessary if you are to have proper guidance for the only two land uses that
require rezoning in the DRGR, mining and private recreational facilities.
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