Estero Development Report
Volume
6, Number 1
Issued May 2006
Edited by ECCL--the Estero Council of Community
Leaders
For More Information about Estero go to
www.esterofl.org
This Report is available on the Estero Community website at
www.esterofl.org
Estero Development Activities during May 2006
June Opportunities for Citizen Participation In Protecting Estero's Quality of Life
|
Wednesday, June 14th |
5 p.m. |
Estero
Design Review Committee review of
See the
full agenda at
http://esterofl.org/edrc/agenda.asp. |
The
Clubhouse at Rapallo |
|
Thursday, June 15th |
1 p.m. |
Tollway
Authority Meeting (to widen I-75 to 10 lanes) |
City of
Bonita Springs Council Chambers |
|
Friday, June 16th |
2 p.m. |
Estero
Council of Community Leaders Meeting on a wide variety of
community issues …
Open to
the public, see the agenda at
http://esterofl.org/eccl/minutes/ |
The
Clubhouse at Rapallo |
|
Friday, June 16th |
9:30
a.m. |
Joint
Lee Collier Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) Meeting |
|
|
Tuesday, June 20th |
9 a.m. |
Estero
Fire Rescue District Board Meeting |
Estero
Fire Rescue Red Base Annex, 8681 County Road |
|
Thursday, June 22nd |
8 a.m. |
The
Horizon Council Workforce Housing Symposium |
Barbara
B Mann Performing Arts Center, 8099 College Parkway, Fort
Myers |
To learn more about Estero and its growth management efforts view
the website of:
- Estero Community Planning Panel (ECPP)
- Estero Civic Association (ECA)
- Estero Design Review Committee (EDRC), and
- Estero Council of Community Leaders (ECCL)
www.esterofl.org
The site is still in formation.…Your suggestions for improvement
are most welcome.
The Estero Community has frequently been praised for its growth
management efforts on properties located west of I-75. Now is the
time for those planning efforts to be broaden to include the other
half of Estero located east of I-75.
The boundaries of the Estero community are defined by the outer
limits of the
Estero Fire Rescue district and the Community Planning area. The
entire community is really not very large, a total of about 46
square miles. In general I-75 divides the community into two fairly
homogeneous and quite different areas.
The 19 square miles west of I-75 is fast becoming an intensively
developed urban area with many beautiful residential communities and
what is likely to become Southwest Florida’s premier shopping area.
On the other hand, 20 of the 27 square miles east of I-75 is
rural land zoned by Lee County as part of a Density
Reduction/Groundwater Resource (DRGR) area. This 96,000 acre (150
square miles) area received this zoning designation in 1990 through
a negotiated settlement with the State of Florida necessary to gain
State approval of the County’s planning and growth management
process. As the area’s name implies the purpose of the zoning
category is twofold:
• To reduce the overall density of development in the county, and
• To protect the area from intense development because the area
contains extensive wetlands and floways that are crucial to the
future water supply of the region.
Density Reduction
The need for density reduction stems from the pre-platted
community development escapades of the 1950’s when the developers of
both Cape Coral and Lehigh Acres sold hundreds of thousands of small
down payment, quarter acre retirement lots to persons around the
world. A recent study performed for Lee County by Van Buskirk,
Ryffel and Associates, Inc. summarizes the situation as follows:
“In 1994, Lee County had 237,818 vacant platted lots, the highest
of all counties in the State of Florida. As a result, Lee County
contains two of the largest lot-sales communities in the nation
(Lehigh Acres and the City of Cape Coral).”
This study estimates that the build-out population of these two
communities alone to be 716,000. To put this in perspective, the
estimated population of Lee County as of April 2005 is 549,000 with
only about 170,000 of that currently being residents of Cape Coral
and Lehigh. Thus the build-out of Cape Coral and Lehigh alone would
add 546,000 new Lee County residents.
The current estimate of Lee County’s population when all the
residentially zoned housing units are complete and occupied is over
1.6 million residents, an increase of about 1,050,000 above today’s
population. Over half of that increase is predicted to be in Cape
Coral and Lehigh Acres.
DRGR Zoning
The Density Reduction Groundwater Resource
(DRGR) land use category permits residential development with
densities no greater than one unit per 10 acres, commercial public
utilities, recreation (including a limited number of golf courses),
agriculture and mining.
Water Resource Protection
In 2004 Lee County commissioned Greg Rawls to conduct a study “to
develop a sound, scientifically-based platform from which to base
future land use decisions, in particular those decisions related to
the DRGR land use classification, as well as mining activities.” The
Rawl Report became available in June 2005 and has been undergoing
peer review since that time. There have been many earlier
groundwater resource studies of this area. Thus Rawl was asked to
update and analyze these documents and provide “updated technical
documentation to reassess the recharge, fluctuation a d flow regime,
and production capability of Lee County’s groundwater and surface
water resources.”
Regarding mining Rawl was asked to “update or determine the
following: location of mineral resources, evaluation of the current
capacity of approved mining activities, evaluation of the future
need for mining material, and the effects of mining activities on
water resources and the water budget.”
Regarding water resources Rawl concluded:
• “Regional net recharge (water added to groundwater) to the
water table within the County is most significant in the southeast
portions of the County. High recharge is also prevalent along the
southern portions of the tidal Caloosahatchee, as well as East of
Bonita Springs.
• Major declines in the levels of the Sandstone and Mid-Hawthorn
aquifers have occurred in the last 10 to 15 year.”
These conclusions lend support for continuing significant
restrictions on development in the Estero portion of the DRGR.
On September 17, 2005 Lee County included the following statement
in a letter to the State Department of Community Development as part
of the ongoing Plan Review process being conducted by the State:
“The southeastern portion of he DRGR is under significant
development pressure. Upon completion of the peer review, the Board
will examine management alternatives that maintain the groundwater
resources, and these may lead to policy recommendations or land use
changes as part of the EAR (Evaluation and Appraisal Review) based
amendments.”
Other Considerations and Information Needs
The Estero portion of the DRGR contains large wetland areas
associated with a floway that connects the Corkscrew Swamp Preserve
to the Halfway Creek and Estero River floways that slowly transports
rainwater from the interior under I-75 and through The Brooks,
Coconut Point and between Marsh Landing and Fountain Lakes into
Estero Bay. During and after heavy storms some of this water is
diverted north into the Estero River through the Villages of Country
Creek and through old Estero on its way to Estero Bay. Any
substantial development east of I-75 in the present DRGR area may
cause future flooding problems in some or all of these communities.
In addition the Estero DRGR area provides habitat to many animal
and bird species, several of which are protected by Federal law and
County Codes.
These issues should be thoroughly studied before the County
should consider any DRGR policy changes.
Estero’s Growth Control Focus
Throughout the last five years Estero’s growth control efforts
have concentrated almost exclusively on development, primarily
commercial development, in the 19 square miles of the community that
lie west of I-75. This was appropriate because during that period
Estero’s west side:
• Added 8,700 housing units
• Increased in population by almost 11,000 full time residents and
17,000 total residents
• Became zoned for about 8.5 million square feet of commercial
space.
By 2010 all of the west side will be zoned and most of it will be
built out. Thus the Community’s planning focus should shift to the
east side with special emphasis upon the 20 square miles of Estero
that is included in the DRGR. Lee County has recently made funds
available for communities like Estero to update their community
plan. The rapidly increasing development pressure on the Estero
portion of the DRGR should cause the Estero Community Planning Panel
to move ahead quickly on a Community Plan amendment that would add
the 20 square miles of the Estero DRGR to the Community Plan.
On May 18th the
Southwest Florida Expressway Authority Board met for the first time
to get organized and to begin to chart plans for widening I-75 from
six to 10 lanes. In its first action it chose Bill Barton, the
retired founder of the Wilson Miller engineering firm as Chairman
and Kitty Green of the Bonita Bay Group as Vice-chairperson.
At present the Authority has no staff and no funding. Volunteer
staff is now being provided by the transportation staffs of Lee and
Collier Counties.
The Board directed the County staffs to provide them with an
aggressive operations budget at their next meeting on June 15th that
would allow them and their staff to proceed quickly to determine if
the additional four lanes could be constructed as part of the I-75
six laning project planned to begin next spring and to be completed
in 2010. Funding for this budget would likely be provided by loans
from both of the Counties and from supportive Southwest Florida
businesses. The loans would be repaid from the proceeds of bonds
sold to finance planning and construction of the I-75 tollway
project.
There was considerable discussion about the tollway being
financed through a joint public-private venture such as has been
accomplished in other states in recent years.
For further information on this approach see the Reason Foundation
website at
http://www.reason.org/policystudiesbysubject.shtml#transportation.
On May 19th the Lee
County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) spent another two
hours discussing how they would fulfill the seven conditions
included in its approval of the Interchange Justification Report
(IJR) for the Coconut I-75 Interchange and the $10 million of
Federal money set aside for it by the Congress last year. At its
April meeting the MPO directed its staff to prepare a report
detailing how these conditions would be met including a schedule for
implementation of the IJR.
The staff report presented to the MPO emphasized that an
Efficient Transportation Decision Making (ETDM) procedure would be
completed for the project during the period that the IJR was being
performed. The ETDM procedure permits all eligible county, state and
federal agencies to comment upon a brief description of the project
under consideration. After considerable discussion a majority of the
MPO rejected the idea that this procedure would satisfy the
condition that an environmental study be completed simultaneously
with the IJR. There was considerable discussion about the County
performing the other studies necessary for all decision-makers to
fully understand the environmental conditions of the adjacent
Density Reduction Groundwater Resource (DRGR) area.
Since Mayor Carla Johnston, the Mayor of Sanibel, and the maker of
the IJR approval motion in March was not present, the MPO adopted a
motion, on a 6 to 4 vote, to schedule the issue for further
discussion at the next MPO meeting attended by Mayor Johnston. In
the meantime Lee County would consider a motion to participate in
the ETDM process, a decision they have not previously considered.
In order
for the residents of Southwest Florida to have a
third north-south
arterial corridor extending from Naples to Ft Myers three projects
need to be completed. They are (from south to north):
• The segment of Imperial Street from Bonita Beach Road to East
Terry Street,
• The segment of Three Oaks Parkway from East Terry Street to just
south of Coconut Road in The Brooks, and
• The segment of Three Oaks Parkway from Corkscrew Road to Alico
Road.
Imperial from Bonita Beach to East Terry Street
This segment involves construction of a new four lane road that
crosses over the Imperial River. It was recently bid with the
winning bids being about $6 million over budget. The City of Bonita
Springs recently voted to provide the additional funding. The County
is now in the process of finalizing the contract with Posen
Construction, the Michigan firm that won the contract. Once that
step is completed, construction of the roadway can begin. Completion
is expected in late 2007 or January 2008.
Three Oaks Parkway from East Terry Street to the Brooks
This four mile segment is also new construction of a four lane
highway. On May 8th construction was begun with the groundbreaking
three days later, on the 11th. This segment is also being
constructed by Posen Construction, the Michigan firm that is new to
our market, and claims that it has an excellent record of finishing
its projects on time. The segment is planned to be opened for use in
January 2008.
Three Oaks Parkway from Corkscrew Road to Alico Road
This long segment will be widened from two to four lanes. The
design, permitting and right-of-way have been completed. The
construction contract was recently advertised, thus starting the
bidding period. The bids will be opened within the next 30 days. At
that time the County will be able to determine if it has budgeted
enough money for the project. With the rising cost of construction
materials, most bids have come in over budget. If sufficient funding
is available the County indicates that construction should begin in
late summer.
On May 26th the developers
of Paradise Shoppes, their engineers and a representative of the
surrounding communities met with Lee County Transportation (LDOT)
staff regarding design approval of improvements to the
Williams Road
western approach to its intersection with US 41.
The primary change that the County requested was to extend the
westbound entrance lane into Paradise Shoppes behind the Walgreen's
store that is now under construction further east toward (but not
entirely to) US41. This modification, which the developers accepted,
will allow motorists an earlier opportunity to enter the
Walgreens
lane, thereby reducing the chances of a "stacking" effect due to
other motorists waiting to turn left (south) into the entrance road
to Albertson's, etc.
In addition the parties agreed to some minor suggestions from
LDOT regarding directional "stripping" and the location and
curvature of the diagonal painted lines.
The following is the agreed timeline for submittals, reviews and
construction:
- Revised plans submitted to LDOT by June 2, 2006
- LDOT review complete by June 30th, 2006
- Revised plan submitted to Florida DOT for approval of the tie-in
to US-41 and
for resignalizing the intersection by June 9th
- Such a FDOT review could require 2 to 3 months thus would not be
complete
until mid-September. It was suggested that the community might help
to
accelerate this process.
- Begin to obtain the 15 foot right-of-way dedication along the
south side of
Williams Road from West Bay Club upon receiving the LDOT permit by
June
30th.
- The expected date for Walgreen’s opening is late August or early
September.
- The intersection improvement construction is planned for the last
quarter of 2006.
Background
On August 24, 2005 community leaders from the
ECCL,
Fountain Lakes
and West Bay Club met with County transportation staff members and
the developers of Paradise Shoppes to discuss concerns raised by the
County regarding the design of the Williams Road access point
to/from Paradise Shoppes. The county suggested several changes to
the configuration, all of which were accepted by Paradise and the
community. They also suggested that Paradise study the possibility
of extending the entrance lane to Paradise further west to the
entrance of the Estero Life Center.
As a result of the meeting Paradise’s engineers began preparing
engineering plans for the intersection, so that the improvements can
be implemented and Paradise can obtain County approval of
Development Orders for their first projects, including a
Walgreen’s
drugstore on the northwest corner of US 41 and Williams Road.
At present the eastbound left turn lane on the west side of the
Williams Road/US 41 intersection provides space for only 4 vehicles.
Oftentimes there are so many vehicles waiting to turn north on US 41
that vehicles seeking to enter the Albertsons/Coconut Point Ford
entrance road are blocked by these vehicles, thus backing up all
westbound Williams Road traffic. In addition, one east bound vehicle
blocks all east bound right-turn vehicles from turning south on US
41.
For nearly two years an ECCL committee with representatives from
West Bay Club, Pelican Sound and Fountain Lakes have been working
with the developers of Paradise Shoppes and West Bay Club and county
staff to find a solution to these growing traffic problems.
On November 29, 2004 the BOCC voted to require, as a condition of
the Paradise Shoppes rezoning, that the project's Williams Road exit
shall not include a left turn exit until the Williams Road
intersection with US 41 has been improved satisfactorily.
Subsequently the ECCL Committee, County staff and the two developers
met to develop intersection improvements that would alleviate these
problems and satisfy County standards.
As a result of this effort the developers of Paradise Shoppes have
committed to finance the phase one improvement (described below) at
an estimated cost of about $500,000. In addition the developers of
West Bay have committed to contributing 15 foot of land adjacent to
their sales center in order for another lane to be added to the
south side of the intersection and to work with the community and
the County to relocate the south access road to the west end of
their property all at a cost of about $150,000. The leaders of
Fountain Lakes have agreed to this relocation.
The relocation of the Albertson's entrance will take considerable
time because some wetlands are in the path of the new entrance and
will require South Florida Water District and Federal EPA approval.
As a result the intersection improvements are planned to be
implemented in two phases. Phase one would add three new lanes to
the intersection east of the existing Albertsons entrance road. The
five lanes in this area would consist of:
• One west bound lane
• Two east bound left turn lanes
• One east bound through lane, and
• One east bound right turn lane.
In addition Williams Road's signalization would add a left turn
sequence.
The second phase would relocate the Albertsons entrance to the rear
of the West Bay property; extend the eastbound right turn lane;
extend the eastbound left turn lanes and move the Albertson's left
turn lane to the west of the Paradise Shoppes access road.
Landscaping the median midway between
US 41 and
Three Oaks Parkway had been held up pending completion of the model
homes in The Reserve at Estero so that the temporary sales office
could be closed and removed. During May Toll Brothers closed the
sales office, removed it from the property and closed the median cut
by its entrance and filled in the median. Lee County has now been
notified and will soon be starting the final phase of the median
landscaping program under the existing contact.
The County is
finalizing its search for water sources for the irrigation of the
median landscaping for this project. They plan to begin installation
in late summer with expected completion by the end of the year.
During April a total of 79
housing units were permitted in Estero
with a building value of $22.4 million. April is the third month of
four during 2006 with fewer than 100 housing units permitted. In
March 404 housing units were permitted, more than January, February
and April combined.
The following table shows how the first third of 2006 compares
with the same period during the prior six years:
|
Year
|
Total Four Months Housing
Units
|
Building Value of Units
|
Average Building Value Per
Unit
|
Percentage of Single Family
Units
|
|
2000 |
733 |
$95,634,278 |
$133,470 |
36.3 |
|
2001 |
743 |
$114,381,268 |
$153,945 |
43.2 |
|
2002 |
453 |
$79,305,463 |
$175,067 |
54.6 |
|
2003 |
694 |
$100,480,796 |
$144,785 |
34.3 |
|
2004 |
506 |
$101,842,275 |
$201,269 |
73.1 |
|
2005 |
1061 |
$207,175,802 |
$195,265 |
43.4 |
|
2006 |
648 |
$143,344,385 |
$221,210 |
18.8 |
As the above table shows, the first third of 2006 ranks fifth in
number of permitted housing units but second in total building value
during this seven year period. The 2006 average building value is
considerably higher than any other year in spite of it’s small
percentage (18.8%) of single family homes.
The value of commercial buildings permitted in Estero during the
first third of 2006 totaled $70.7 million. The 2006 total is $2
million higher than the same period in 2000, when the Hyatt was
permitted, and more than 5 times the other first third commercial
permit building values in all other years. The major projects that
contributed to the 2006 total are:
• $47.9 million in the Coconut Point Town Center;
• $9.7 million in Phase 5 of the
Miromar Outlets Center
• $950 thousand for the Walgreens Drug Store in
Paradise Shoppes
(northwest corner of US 41 and Williams Road)
• $1.06 million for the Lee County Utilities facility on the south
side of Corkscrew Road east of I-75; and
• $1.4 million for the Barkis Car Wash south of the
Corkscrew
Village Shopping Center on US 41.
REMINDER: The building values understate the cost of each
residence or commercial building because it excludes the value of
the underlying land.
Background
The Estero Design Review Committee (EDRC) was created in October
2002 by the Estero Community Planning Panel in order to implement
some of the Estero-specific provisions of the Lee County Land
Development Code. The EDRC sponsors monthly community meetings that
combine professional review and public comment regarding development
projects at the Development Order Stage, when specific plans are
available for development projects. The Land Development Code
requires all developers of projects located in Estero to conduct a
community meeting in the community prior to filing an application
for a Development Order.
These reviews include the project's architecture, landscaping,
site plan, buffering, signage and a wide variety of other elements.
The EDRC is currently composed of eight professionals in the fields
of Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Engineering and Planning
and two lay people with development experience. A report summarizing
the concerns and recommendations of the EDRC and the public is
forwarded in conjunction with the Developer's Development Order
application to the Lee County Development Services Department.
On May 10th the EDRC reviewed the following three projects for
the second time:
• Mirasol at Coconut Point
• Steak n Shake at
Paradise Shops
• Bank of
America at Paradise Shops
For details on these reviews see the EDRC minutes for this
meeting on the EDRC website at
http://esterofl.org/ecpp/ecpp_issues.php
.
In addition the Committee reviewed the following new projects:
The Lee
County School District is seeking design approval in order to double
the size of the existing bus
transportation facility at Estero High
School to accommodate 200 buses and 275 cars plus a maintenance
facility and bus wash. The facility is located on the northwest
corner of the high school property. The Committee asked the School
District to add an 8 foot wall along the west and south sides of the
facility, thus shielding the buses from views from the school’s
athletic fields and the new under construction
Estero
Community Park.
Jim Wallace, the developer of
Rapallo, is seeking to develop the 30 acre site on the southeast
corner of Williams and US 41. His plan for this property is to build
292 to 304 multi-family residential units, 28 shops and restaurants
within 80,000 square feet of retail and 462 to 480 seats in a 18,600
square foot performing arts theater. Plans for the project include
many innovative features including an outdoor amphitheater,
courtyards, terraces, arbor gardens, within-building parking,
live-work units, “real mixed use” within individual buildings. The
developer is committed to paying $4.8 million and contributing the
land for the performing arts theater. Because the project will
require some rezoning of the North Village of Coconut Point, Wallace
also presented the project to the ECPP during May.
On May 24th the developers of
Camargo
Trust 10 presented their project to a Lee County Hearing Examiner
for review. This nearly 11 acre project is located just north of
Pelican Sound Boulevard along the west side of US 41. The zoning
requested by the developers would result in either of the following
projects:
• 100,000 square feet of commercial development and 27
multi-family housing units, all located on 8 parcels, or
• 125,000 square feet of commercial development located on 7
parcels.
This development is the last area within the 83 acre Camargo
Trust property to be zoned. Earlier sections of this property that
have received zoning approval are:
• The Estero Life Care facility on Williams Road;
• The Meadows of Estero, a 256 unit multi-family development now
under construction at the rear of the property;
• Paradise Shoppes, a retail development extending from Williams to
Pelican Sound Boulevard along US 41 where the Walgreens store is now
being constructed.
The only contentious issue raised at the Hearing is the concern
of the Hearing Examiner that the total amount of retail development
on the full 83 acres would exceed the amount that was approved by
the BOCC when the property was originally zoned in the late 1990’s.
The applicant’s attorney argued that the changes that have occurred
in the intervening years warrant that increase. In particular the
property was all owned by one party at that time, whereas today
there are several independent owners. The County code allows more
retail use when adjacent parcels separated by a road are owned by
different parties than when they are in common ownership.
For more information on this development see our community
website at
http://esterofl.org/eccl/EDR/estero_development_report_September_2005.htm#Camargo_North_10_Acres_
On May 11th the attorney for the
contact owners of the Weeks Fish Camp property told the bankruptcy
judge that they may be close to a joint venture development
agreement with RCMP Enterprises. On the other hand the attorney for
First Integrity Bank, the lenders on the project, asked the Judge to
order the developer to at least pay interest on the outstanding $11
million loan. The Judge set another hearing for June 8th.
Background
On April 3rd the foreclosure sale of this property was cancelled
by the Lee County Circuit Judge handling the case after the owners
filed for reorganization under the provisions of Chapter 11 of the
Federal Bankruptcy law. Thus the case will be transferred to the
U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida.
This property is located just north of the Coconut Point Hyatt at
the west end of Coconut Road. It has long been used for commercial
fishing and providing public access boat storage and launching.
On February 14th the BOCC asked County staff to explore the
possibility of the County purchasing the former Weeks Fish Camp
property. In March County staff recommended against acquisition by
the County because of the high price and the limitations placed upon
naval use of the site by Federal regulatory agencies. Staff
indicated to representatives of several communities around the site
that they would consider recommending to the BOCC County
participation with a private developer of the site in order to
maintain some public boat access to Estero Bay from the property.
Presently Lee County has fifteen public boat ramps.
