July 2001 Estero Development Report

Volume 1, Number 3
Issued July 2001

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 July 2001

Estero Building Permit Activity

During the first half of 2001 building permits were issued authorizing a total of 1,190 additional housing units to be constructed in Estero, up 22 percent as compared to the same period last year.

Chart of Estero Housing Units Permitted

The building permit "building" value for those 1,190 permitted housing units totaled about $180 million, up 39% from one year ago. The land used for these new housing units will have increased as well when the land was platted for this use. This increase is due primarily to two factors: an increase in the proportion of single family homes from 40% to almost 44% and a 10% increase in the average "building" value of those single family homes from $193,500 to $212,900.

Chart of Esetero building value

Estero's $180 million of "building" value of permitted housing units equals 30% of the total for all of unincorporated Lee County ($598 million) during the first half of 2001. Despite the fact that the commercial development of Estero is just getting underway, Estero totaled 27% of total "building" value in unincorporated Lee County during this period.

Building Value of permitted housing units

Estero Fire Rescue Tax Rate

On July 17th The Estero Fire Rescue Board voted to set the tentative tax rate for the district for the 2001-02 budget year at $1.79 per thousand, the same as the prior year. In contrast this month the Bonita Springs Fire District set their tentative tax rate at $1.98 per thousand, up from $1.68 per thousand one year earlier and the San Carlos Fire District set their tentative tax rate at $2.60 per thousand up from $2.25 per thousand one year ago.

Eatero Area Tax Rates

Estero Community Plan Progress

In a continuation from their meeting of June 25th, The Local Planning Agency (LPA) voted on July 23rd to recommend to the Lee County Board of County Commissioners that the all parts of the proposed Estero Community Plan be transmitted to the Florida State Department of Community Affairs (DCA) for review. This is a major step in our effort to craft and achieve final approval of a Community Plan for Estero. Lee County Planning staff will next submit the Plan probably in August to the Board for their approval to transmit to the DCA.

Three major provisions supported by ECCO that will increase opportunities for effective citizen participation were supported by the LPA at this meeting. They are:

a community organization registration system designed to improve timely notice to such groups of pending zoning decisions;

the establishment of a document clearing house in Estero where individuals and groups may review county information on pending zoning applications; and

an additional step in the rezoning process that would require developers to conduct a public workshop within the community prior to the official County public hearing held in downtown Ft. Myers.

Although the journey is not over and there still are items to attend to, we have come a long way. All who have participated in the process and all the citizens of Estero should take pride in the final product. Next, we must get on with Phase Two of our effort, the crafting of Land Development Code (LDC) revisions, which is going to be a big job, as well. This will require researching and drafting statutory provisions establishing new standards for landscaping, signage, lighting, buffering, set-backs etc. for commercial projects in Estero.

Simon Suncoast Mall

(On 41 in front of The Brooks)

Last month we reported "Estero's most important land use decision ever --the rezoning of this 500 acre site--will be made during the next several months. While the Mall would be a welcome addition to the community when compared with most alternatives, we do have great concern about the added burden it would place on Estero's road network. Therefore, approval of the Mall must be contingent upon developing a satisfactory solution to our traffic concerns." Study of the recently released Lee County Traffic Analysis of the project and our discussions with the Regional Planning Council DRI review staff have only reinforced our concerns and the belief that several road improvements must precede the opening of the Mall.

Fortunately the County Traffic Analysis strongly supports our concerns when it states "It would appear that with the project, many road segments in the surrounding roadway network will not operate at acceptable 'levels of service' (LOS) unless improvements are made to I-75, U.S. 41, Metro Parkway, Three Oaks Parkway and Sandy Lane." Lee County's "adopted" acceptable level of service is "E" which, for all roads but I-75, requires that traffic move at a rate of 13 miles per hour during the peak p.m. hour, including the time spent waiting at stoplights. Thus for key segments of these roads (excluding I-75) we can expect traffic to be moving at less than 13 miles per hour during peak afternoon hours once the Mall is open for business unless improvements not now scheduled for the next three years are in operation prior to the opening.

The County Traffic Analysis found fourteen (14) roadway segments to be "significantly impacted" by Mall traffic (more than 5% of peak LOS maximum service volume caused by the project) including Coconut Road from Three Oaks Parkway to Spring Creek Road; Corkscrew Road from 41 to Wildcat Run; River Ranch Road from Williams Road to Corkscrew Road; Three Oaks Parkway from Coconut Road to Daniels Parkway; 41 from Immokalee Road to Daniels Parkway and Williams Road from River Ranch Road to 41.

Most importantly, the County Traffic Analysis found five (5) roadway segments and twenty (20) intersections that were both "significantly impacted" and projected to be "adversely impacted". The roadway segments and intersections within Estero that fall to both these levels and are most in need of traffic relief include: Coconut Road and its intersection with 41; 41 and its intersections with Corkscrew, Williams, Koreshan and Coconut; Corkscrew and its intersections with I-75 ramps, Ben Hill Griffin Parkway, River Ranch Road, Three Oaks Parkway and 41; and I-75 and its intersection with Corkscrew.

The County Traffic Analysis does not estimate how these problems would be affected by the six laning of 41; the widening of I-75; the extension of Three Oaks Parkway into Bonita Springs; the extension of Sandy Lane from Williams Road to Corkscrew Road; the "flyover" of Koreshan Road from Three Oaks Parkway to Ben Hill Griffin nor the extension of Sandy Lane south from the project to Old 41. ECCO feels that some or all of these projects that must be completed prior to the opening of the Mall if we are to avoid the consequence so vividly depicted by the County Traffic Analysis.

The following quotations selected from the County Traffic Analysis that best demonstrate how busy Estero's roadways are going to be in a few years due to the high rate of growth in the area and the Mall:

"The analysis with the Three Oaks Extension resulted in …(the model)… assigning approximately 37,000 average annual daily trips (AADT) in total volume to Coconut Road within the Brooks. Of the total volume on Coconut Road, approximately 12,000 AADT would use Coconut Road to go to the Simon Suncoast project….Coconut Road is adversely impacted in the weekday P.M. hour. …the volume drops approximately in half when Three Oaks Parkway is extended into Bonita Springs."

"The analysis of Sandy Lane resulted in a reduction in project volume along U. S. 41. (The Model) assigned approximately 10,000 AADT in total volume to Sandy Lane and reduced volumes on U. S. 41 by up to 5,000 and Three Oaks Parkway by 2,000 AADT."
"The analysis with the Three Oaks Extension resulted in (the model) assigning approximately 37,000 AADT in total volume to Three Oaks Parkway within the Brooks….Three Oaks Parkway is within ten percent of maximum service volume but is not adversely impacted in the weekday P. M. peak hour."

"The 2000 Lee County Traffic Count Report indicates an existing AADT of 31,600 on U. S. 41 north of Old 41….Based upon (the model) analysis with the project (with Three Oaks Parkway extension completed to Coconut Road), U. S. 41 north of Coconut Road would have an AADT of 43,000 and south of Coconut Road would have an AADT of 66,000. Both segments are estimated to operate a Level of Service "F" with the project in the weekday P. M. peak hour."

"The 2000 Lee County Traffic Count Report indicates an existing AADT of 3,100 on Williams Road and 3,000 on River Ranch Road….Based upon (the model) analysis with the project (with Three Oaks Parkway Extension completed to Coconut Road), Williams Road would have an AADT of 11,500 and River Ranch Road would have an AADT of 10,200….Of the total volume assigned by(the model), approximately 75 percent or about 7,500 AADT would use Williams Road and River Ranch Road to go to the Simon Suncoast project. Completion of the eastern extension of Williams Road by The Brooks will likely offset increases of traffic volumes on River Ranch Road. Completion of a northern extension of Sandy Lane will likely decrease Simon Suncoast volume on both Williams Road and River Ranch Road."

As previously reported the next step in the Mall's review process is the meeting of the Regional Planning Council (RPC) on August 16, 2001. In anticipation of that meeting the Simon Corporation, Lee County staff and the RPC staff met on July 20th to discuss the County Traffic Analysis and the County Comprehensive Plan amendment also needed for the Simon Suncoast project to proceed. Lee County Transportation staff agreed to modify their traffic analysis to include the extension of Williams Road from River Ranch Road to Three Oaks Parkway and to expand Sandy Lane throughout the length of the project from two to four lanes. These changes should reduce the traffic impact on 41 and possibly some other roads that are significantly and adversely impacted by the project, thus reducing the County's estimate of the DRI road improvement fees that the developer must pay or spend on surrounding roads. The parties are scheduled to meet again on August 3rd. The late date of this meeting may not permit all the traffic issues to be sufficiently resolved in time for the August 16th RPC meeting.

At present the County and the developer disagree about the procedures for amending the County Comprehensive Plan. The Lee Plan needs to be amended to change the development site from its current "Rural" classification to the "Urban" or "Suburban" category. The County contends this amendment must be fully executed, including review by the State Department of Community Development, before the County can schedule a Public Hearing on the zoning request. As of our deadline, July 31, 2001, the Simon Suncoast project is not expected to be considered by the RPC at their meeting on August 16, 2001.

Estero Greens Auto Mall Plans

(On the west side of 41 in front of Fountain Lakes) --- when the circuit court validated the property owner's authority to sell the property to one or more auto dealerships over the objections of the Lee County Board of County Commissioners, it apparently made the property the object of great interest to auto dealers seeking sites in the area. A total of four auto dealers have submitted plans to the county for development on this site, one for a 10 acre dealership and three others for less than 5 acre dealerships on this 24 plus acre site. Newspaper reports indicate that the development order for one 10 acre auto dealership has been approved by the county thus permitting this project to go forward at any time. Lee County has met with the owner and his representatives several times seeking to determine if there is an alternative, more appropriate use that would be as economically attractive to the property owner. We are told these discussions have not yet resulted in a feasible proposal due to the very high value of the property when used for auto dealerships. The County has suggested that the next logical step in the process would be for the owner to meet with neighborhood representatives to discuss all possibilities for the site.

Three Oaks Parkway Extension & Landscaping

The Notice to Proceed for the segment of Three Oaks Parkway from Corkscrew to Williams has been issued for an August 6th start. The contract with Better Roads Inc. calls for a seven month completion date, thus the road should open for use in about March 2002. The development order authorizing a water and sewer line to be constructed along this route has also recently been approved. In addition Lee County DOT has budgeted $165,000 in fiscal year 2001-02 to pay for "core" landscaping (major trees and turf) in the medians of this four lane divided roadway. This money is subject to approval by the Board of County Commissioners between now and the beginning of the fiscal year on October 1st. Once this money is appropriated ECCO will work with the property owners along the route to explore the possibility of enhancing this landscaping package and fund the maintenance of those changes.

Corkscrew Road Median Landscaping

Installing "core" landscaping, major trees and sod, in the median of Corkscrew Road between Sandy Lane and just west of I-75 is expected to be completed by year end. The current landscape design exceeds the county's approved budget of $250 thousand by about $120,000. Thus the county must create a new landscape design that will satisfy the budget requirements and minimize the loss of trees when the roadway is later widened to six lanes while improving the attractiveness of the design. Thereafter the project will go out for bids, the contractor will be selected and installation will begin. Meanwhile, existing water restrictions may be lifted thus enhancing the viability of the plantings.

County 2001-02 Transportation
Capital Improvement Program (CIP)

Although Estero is a major source of increased tax revenue for Lee County and has significant traffic congestion problems, the area fares poorly in the County's 2001-02 capital improvement program for transportation. Of the $32,500,000 included in the 2001-02 Transportation CIP for specific projects, only $165,000, or one-half of one percent is budgeted for projects located in Estero--the "core" landscaping of the new Three Oaks Parkway segment. A second project that will benefit Estero, but is largely outside our boundaries, is the widening of Three Oaks Parkway from Alico Road to Corkscrew. This project is budgeted for $990,000 during the upcoming fiscal year. In addition the community may benefit from county plans to spend $6.472 million for the following countywide categorical programs: bicycle/pedestrian facilities; environmental mitigation; project planning and predesign; road resurfacing/rebuild program; roadway beautification; roadway landscaping and traffic signal/intersection improvements. Larger allocations to Estero for roadway beautification and landscaping are needed if we are to complete the excellent network that is underway in the Brooks and will soon begin along Ben Hill Griffin and Koreshan Parkways. However, the expenditures on categorical roadway programs will do little to solve Estero's basic road capacity problems.

Lee County Planning for Route 951

Lee County has hired The Florida Conflict Resolution Consortium to determine if a satisfactory resolution to the issues surrounding the proposed Route 951 north from the Collier County line to at least Alico Road can be achieved through a conflict resolution process. The Consortium is meeting with many community and other groups and will soon report to the county its conclusions about the likelihood that this process will be able to develop a consensus, at which time the County will decide if it wants to pursue the process.

Pelican Sound Sales

News reports indicate that unit sales at Pelican Sound recently passed the 1,000 unit mark. This WCI golf and river club community is planned for a total of 1,299 housing units. Marketing of the community began in November 1997.

Grandeeza Development Progress
(formerly "Grande Oak")

Although marketing of this planned 811-unit golf community began only eleven months ago 105 units are either under construction or completed. The community is located northeast of the intersection of Corkscrew Road and Ben Hill Griffin Parkway.