Estero Development Report

Volume 9, Number 4

Edited by the Estero Council of Community Leaders (ECCL)

October Opportunities for Citizen Participation In Protecting Estero's Quality of Life

Date	Time	Event	Location
Tuesday, October 13th	9:30 a.m.	First Estero Fire Rescue District Meeting to Fill the Vacancy Created by the Resignation of Commissioner Barbara Akins. For further information see http://esterofire.org/	Estero Fire Rescue Headquarters… Three Oaks Parkway south of Corkscrew
Wednesday, October 14th	5 p.m.	Estero Design Review Committee meeting. See the full agenda at http://esterofl.org/edrc/agenda.asp.	Estero Community Park
Friday, October 16th	9 a.m.	Lee County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) Meeting…For the agenda see http://www.mpo-swfl.org/agendas.shtml	Bonita Springs City Hall. South side of Bonita Beach Road just east of US 41
Friday, October 16th	1 p.m.	Estero Council of Community Leaders (ECCL) Meeting…for the agenda see… http://esterofl.org/eccl/agenda.asp	Estero Community Park
Monday, October 19th	6 p.m.	Estero Community Planning Panel meeting.  See the full agenda at http://esterofl.org/ecpp/ecpp_meetings.htm	Estero Community Park
Wednesday, October 28th	9 a.m.	Final BOCC Hearing on the DR/GR Comprehensive Plan Amendments	Board Chambers, 2nd Floor, 2110 Main Street in downtown Ft. Myers

Index

Page	Subject
1	Calendar
1	Estero Community Website
2	October Another Big Month for the DR/GR Comprehensive Plan
2	South Lee County Hospital Committee Update
4	Proposed Changes in the Estero Parkway Wal-Mart Zoning
5	Estero Fire District Limits 2010 Budget and Tax Rate Increase
5	Resource Conservation Holdings (RCH) Mine Hearings Continue
7	South Lee County Watershed Plan Progress Report
9	Estero’s Housing Permits Continue Slow Pace
10	Permitted Commercial Building Values Remain Very Slow

Estero Community Website

The community groups sponsoring the site are:

• Estero Community Planning Panel (ECPP)
• Estero Civic Association (ECA)
• Estero Design Review Committee (EDRC)
• Estero Council of Community Leaders (ECCL)
• Greater Estero Cultural Arts Council (Arts Estero)

October Another Big Month For the DR/GR Comprehensive Plan

On September 24^th the Lee County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC0 heard a presentation by staff followed by public testimony concerning major proposed changes in the Comprehensive Plan for the 83,000 acre Density Reduction/Groundwater Resource (DR/GR) area just east of I-75 in Estero. Over a dozen representatives of Estero civic and community associations and region-wide environmental and growth management groups testified in support of the staff recommendations. A copy of this coalition’s joint statement may be viewed at http://esterofl.org/new/DRGR%20Joint%20Position%20Statement%20for%20BCC%20Transmittal%209-17-09%20Full%20Version.pdf.

Prior to the meeting the County indicated that final action would not be taken at this meeting; that a DR/GR water model workshop for the Commissioners would be held on October 26^th and another Board meeting would be scheduled for October 28^th for a final decision about transmitting a Comprehensive Plan change to the State Department of Community Affairs (DCA). The public is encouraged to attend and testify in support of the staff recommendations because there is still substantial opposition from some land-owners and mining interests. 

Background

On May 20^th Lee County released the “Proposed Lee Plan Amendments for Southeast Lee County…Planning for the Density Reduction/ Groundwater Resource Area (DR/GR)” and posted it on their website at http://www3.leegov.com/dcd/CommunityPlans/SELC_DRGR/CPA2008-06/Proposed-Lee-Plan-Amendments-for-Southeast-Lee-County_May2009.pdf. This 72 page document details Dover Kohl & Partners, the County DR/GR planning consultants, recommendations for updating the County’s Comprehensive Plan for the DR/GR. This extensive document, if approved by the BOCC and the Florida Department of Community Affairs (DCA), would provide the legal framework for concentrating mining in the Alico Road industrial corridor; DR/GR locations where residential development should be clustered; locations where agriculture should be encouraged and where and how the natural resources and ecology of the DR/GR should be preserved. Since then there have been numerous reports and staff analyses that have provided further in-depth support for this new plan for the DR/GR area. They can be found at the following website… http://www3.leegov.com/dcd/ComprehensivePlanning/SeLeeCounty.htm

South Lee County Hospital Committee Update

Earlier this year the prospects for a 24/7 Free-standing Emergency Department in the Bonita Community Health Center (BCHC) looked very bright (see “Background” below). We were told that throughout the summer Lee Memorial and NCH, the co-owners of this facility, would discuss how this commitment could be implemented while retaining the existing shared ownership arrangement.

Unfortunately in late August our Hospital Committee learned that Lee Memorial and NCH had decided that their first priority had to be to work on making BCHC profitable and that the Emergency facility had to be placed on the “back burner”. Upon learning of this decision the leaders of the Hospital Committee decided to send a letter to the Chairmen of the two systems seeking a meeting with the BCHC Board to learn first hand what the intentions of the Board are regarding the south Lee County community being served by a 24/7 Freestanding ER in the BCHC.

That September 24^th letter states in part the following:

“We understand that NCH and Lee Memorial have decided to continue your joint ownership and operation of the Bonita Community Health Center and that the inclusion of a Freestanding Emergency Department as proposed by Lee Memorial has been indefinitely delayed. As you must appreciate we are exceptionally disappointed by this news.

Nonetheless, our commitment to obtaining a 24/7 Freestanding ER for south Lee County that will ultimately lead to a medical surgical hospital in South Lee County, remains as resolute as ever. Therefore, we respectfully request an opportunity to meet with the full Bonita Community Health Center Board as soon as possible so that we can fully understand your position on this important matter.”

To date the Committee has not received a response from the BCHC nor either hospital system.

In fulfillment of the South Lee County Hospital Committee, which consist of about 40 volunteers many with strong health care backgrounds, plans to demonstrate its  commitment to obtaining a 24/7 Freestanding ER for the area by developing a community awareness and support program to be implemented during the upcoming “season”. HH

Background

On March 19^th the Lee Memorial Health System (LMHS) Board of Directors approved two motions in order to implement their commitment to provide Free-standing Emergency Services to south Lee County. They are:

1. “Administration is directed to extend an offer to the Naples Community Health System to purchase the NCHS share in the Bonita Community Health Center Joint Venture for the sum of one dollar. If the offer is accepted, LMHS will assume 100% of the bond obligations on this facility”. This transaction would add $28.5 million of bond debt obligation to their balance sheet.

2. “Administration is directed to include up to $4 million in capital in the FY’10 capital budget for the purpose of developing a Free-standing Emergency Room in the Bonita/Estero market and is authorized to spend not more than $500,000 in FY2009 to allow legal, planning, design, and architecture work to proceed immediately.” The analysis provided to the Board by Lee Memorial staff shows that the system would experience an estimated “net incremental gain” of about $2 million in the first year and $2.6 million in the fifth year.

LMHS’s project summary for this facility further state:

• “Absent any unknown regulatory delay, it would be reasonable to target opening of this facility by January 2011”, 
• “Although Bonita Community Health Center would be the preferred location for the free-standing emergency room, LMHS has identified two other possible sites that are centrally located in the Bonita/Estero area. All of these locations are compatible with the target opening date”, and
• “Negotiations are currently underway with NCHS toward this goal and LMHS leaders are optimistic that a satisfactory resolution will be achieved. Regardless of the outcome of this negotiation, however, the free-standing emergency room would not be delayed.”

Proposed Changes in the Estero Parkway Wal-Mart Zoning

On September 11^th the ECCL sponsored a workshop on the existing zoning for the Estero Parkway/US 41 Wal-mart store in order to inform the thousands of Estero residents who now live along Estero Parkway but were not in the community during 2003-04 when the site was zoned. About 60 Estero residents from these communities, the Vines, Breckenridge and other Estero communities attended. In addition to the ECCL, Skip Block, the County Community Development staffer assigned to the case, Neal Noethlich, Chair of the Estero Community Planning Panel (ECPP) at that time of the zoning and Chris Smith who represented the Vines when the property was zoned were available to discuss the plans and answer residents’ questions. Subsequent to the meeting the Boards of The Vines and Breckenridge, the two communities closest to the store site and most involved in 2003 and 2004, voted to resist changes in the existing zoning.

To learn about the history of this major Estero zoning negotiation see http://www.esterofl.org/eccl/EDR/estero_development_report_October_2004.htm#Estero_Parkway_Wal-Mart_Progress_Report_ and http://www.esterofl.org/Issues/wal-mart_estero_pkwy.htm

During August

On August 26^th several representatives of Wal-Mart met with members of the Estero Community Planning Panel (ECPP), the Estero Council of Community Leaders and residents of The Vines and Breckenridge to discuss their proposed plans for rezoning their property on the northeast corner of US 41 and Estero Parkway. The major elements in their proposal would:

• Reduce the size of the Wal-Mart store by about 40,000 square feet
• Add three outlots along US 41 for stores that would offset the reduced size of the Wal-Mart store,
• Substitute a new standard Wal-Mart design for their store for the existing “Estero” unique design that was negotiated by the community over a period of two years in 2003 and 2004, and
• Amend the “super-concurrency” provision in the existing zoning that requires construction of the store to begin only after the widening of US 41 in this area has been finally approved and funded.

To date Wal-mart has not followed up on this meeting.

Estero Fire District Limits, 2010 Budget and Tax Rate Increase

On September 14^th the Estero Fire District Board voted to approve a $2.00 tax millage rate for the 2009-10 fiscal year beginning October 1^st. This is about a 15% reduction from the $2.347 millage rate that could have been adopted and is an increase of only 5% over last year’s rate of $1.9037. The increase was necessary in order to maintain the present level of service in spite of a reduction in the District’s property tax base of 22% from the prior year. In order for this budget and rate to be achieved the District has not filled five vacant administrative positions, made cuts in a large number of line items and has negotiated an agreement with the firefighters union to reopen their existing contract in order to reduce some of the automatic increases required by that contract.

Many community members and representatives of the Brooks Concerned Citizens and the ECCL testified in support of a rate no higher than $2.00. We congratulate Chief Scott Vanderbrook, Board President Dick Schweers and the other members of the Fire District Board for their support of the cost cutting measures and the responsible budget and tax rate they have adopted in these trying times.

At the meeting Commissioner Barbara Akins resigned from the Board inasmuch as she and her husband are moving to Texas. The Board is seeking applicants to fill this vacancy and plans to screen and choose a temporary replacement at its meeting on Tuesday, October 13^th at the Fire District Administration building on Three Oaks Parkway beginning at 5 p.m.  Whomever is chosen will be subject to election in 2010. The public is invited to attend and comment.

Resource Conservation Holdings (RCH) Mine Hearings Continue

At the end of September the RCH mine hearing had completed twelve days. In addition to this testimony the Hearing Examiner has schedule six more hearing days during October before adjourning to write his report for the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC). This will make the case the longest in Lee County history and one of the most expensive for the community to contest.

The Hearing has been prolonged by the applicant proposing first a “grout curtain” and later a “hydraulic barrier” to manage offsite ground-water impacts. This resulted in much of the early testimony and cross examination to become irrelevant and for the County and the Lee County Port Authority to study a new, previously locally untried proposal, to present their findings and to cross-examine the applicant’s hydro-geologist about this new proposal.

The County has spent about five days rebutting the applicant’s case and is still not finished. Once the County is finished the Hearing Examiner will take further testimony from all three hydro-geologists. After all of this the Hearing will be concluded with rebuttal on the part of the applicant, the County and the community’s attorney, Tom Hart.

To date about 50 Estero and east Estero residents have testified in opposition to the RCH mine. The Hearing Examiner has recently terminated all opportunities for the public to testify.

Funding Community Representation

Over the years the residents of east Corkscrew Road have successfully defeated two new mines along Corkscrew Road. In the process they have raised and spent about $200,000 to preserve their and our quality of life. As a result of their efforts those of us who live further west have been spared several thousand round trip truck trips per day on west Corkscrew Road and north or south on I-75, US 41 and Three Oaks Parkway.

Our attorney on this case, Tom Hart, estimates that the total cost for the case will be at least $36,000. If everyone affected by this mine and its trucks makes a small contribution this is very affordable. Please support your community and protect the value of your home by making a contribution to this effort. Make your check out to:

Thomas B. Hart Trust Account…RCH Mine

And mail it to:

1625 Hendry Street, Suite 301
Ft. Myers, Florida 33901

Background

A recent court decision has ordered Lee County to schedule a public hearing to consider rezoning and mining permits for the proposed Resource Conservation Holdings Mine. The request is to rezone 1,365 acres on Corkscrew Road to mine lime rock to a depth of 110 feet with blasting.  Because of the court order, the application must be reviewed under the old mining rules rather than the more stringent Chapter 12 rules adopted by the County last September.

The site is located on Corkscrew Road east of Flint Pen Strand and is immediately adjacent to the Southwest Florida International Airport Mitigation Park, the South Florida Water Management District Corkscrew mitigation bank, and an established rural residential cluster on Burgundy Farms Road. The recent County initiated DR/GR planning study identified the project site as environmentally sensitive and categorized it as a Priority 1 and Priority 2 Restoration area. The site is outside of the Primary and Secondary Preferred Mining Area as identified by the Dover Kohl and the DR/GR Steering Committee.

If this latest attempt to industrialize Corkscrew Road is approved, the decision would:

·         establish a new development pattern and set a precedent for seven other rock mine applications pending on Corkscrew Road

·         result in permanent adverse impacts to hydrology, surface water flow, and natural systems function of wetland and aquatic resources of regional importance

·         adversely impact endangered and threatened species including the Florida Panther and Woodstork

·         result in unacceptable impacts to community character and public safety by potentially adding as many as 2,000 dump truck trips per day to Corkscrew Road

Lee County staff recommended that this rezoning application be DENIED.

In a parallel but separate action, the County has begun a legal challenge of the proposed mine’s consumptive water use permit on grounds that it would adversely affect the recent Corkscrew municipal well field expansion. This wellfield, along with the others in the DR/GR, supplies about 80% of all the water consumed in Lee County. Several wells installed as part of that expansion last year are immediately adjacent to the RCH Mine project site.

Ownership of the RCH Mine project includes Ascot Development which is also developing Midtown Estero, as well as Youngquist Brothers Excavating which operates an active rock mine on Alico Road.

South Lee County Watershed Plan Progress Report

During September the South Florida Water Management (SFWMD) District decided that it would split the South Lee County Watershed Study Update into two parts. One part would complete the existing study, under the direction of SFWMD and Lee County, as amended by analysis of new information provided by the DR/GR water model and from other sources. The second part, conducted with the City of Bonita Springs and the Water District, would focus on Bonita Springs flooding issues and possible relief provided by directing some water south into northern Collier County.

This proposal was discussed on September 25^th by the City of Bonita Springs and the leaders of Estero who meet with the City Council and the Mayor several times per year to discuss regional issues. The Estero contingent encouraged SFWMD management of a single study for the entire watershed, believing such an approach would yield better results and be less wasteful of taxpayer funds. Some of the Bonita representatives were concerned that a single study might delay water planning work that the City needs to start soon.

The Water District, the County and likely the City of Bonita Springs have been reviewing the scope of work for the continuation of the existing South Lee Watershed study but it has not been made public. We look forward to reviewing that proposal. Efforts are underway by the leaders of the ECCL and the Brooks Concerned Citizens to arrange a meeting with the leadership of the Water District to discuss this matter.

Meanwhile the six-laning of I-75 proceeds closer to completion without installation of any of the five culverts that the Water District has been encouraging FDOT to install at their expense just east of the Brooks. The District’s permit to FDOT for widening I-75 contains a condition requiring the study results to form the basis for installation of any of these culverts at this location. Until this condition is met through completion of the study the culverts cannot be installed

Background

On April 22, 2009, the South Florida Water Management District ("SFWMD") hosted a public meeting to report on the progress of the update of the South Lee County Watershed Plan. This is the study to determine if five additional culverts need to be constructed under I-75 where Half Way Creek ("HWC") enters into the Brooks at Copperleaf.

At a prior meeting in March, the engineering study team indicated that Halfway Creek (HWC) could not accept additional water without flooding in communities along HWC. In this April 22 meeting, the engineering team outlined the corrective actions which would be required to direct more water into HWC. The report was silent, however, on how many, if any, additional culverts could or should be constructed under I-75. In questions after the formal presentation, the engineer in charge of the study said that up to two or three culverts could be constructed under I-75 (not five) to accept up to 630 cubic feet per second (cfs) during flood conditions, but they could be opened only after the recommended corrective actions were completed.

The Director of SFWMD who is responsible for the issuance of permits in our area, confirmed that SFWMD would require that any culverts that were constructed would be "blocked" (with bricks or concrete plugs) until the corrective actions were completed.

An important point was made at the meeting. The model runs indicated that even if the corrective actions were completed and all five culverts were constructed, it would have virtually NO impact on reducing flood water levels in the Bonita Springs communities that have historically flooded (and flooded again during Tropical Storm Fay in August, 2008). Because of the substantial cost of implementing the recommended corrective actions, with no benefit to Bonita Springs flooding, legitimate concerns have been raised about the cost justification of constructing any culverts under I-75 at this time.

A summary of the April 22^nd recommended corrective actions are listed below:

• Clean out the overgrown vegetation in the HWC flowway West of Via Coconut Pointe Road to US1 and also to the West of US1. An alternative West of US 41 would be to dig a trench just to the South of Fountain Lakes, but this alternative could have environmental disadvantages for Estero Bay.
• Raise the wooden walkway on the West side of US 41 which goes over HWC next to the US 41 culverts.
• Connect the "water amenity" lake to the South of Rapallo to the main HWC channel to improve the flow between Via Coconut Pointe Rd. and Via Villagio Road which connects Rapallo to the mall.
• Increase the flow in the ditch which runs along the East side of 3 Oaks Parkway between the gates at Williams Rd and the Estero River South Branch ("ER SB"). This would involve substantial cost and time. It would require removing the "V notch weir" near the North end of the ditch, increasing the capacity of the gates at Williams Rd, and increasing the capacity of the ditch itself. At present the V notch weir permits the ditch to act as a settling reservoir for polluted storm water from 3 Oaks Parkway. However, the weir also prevents the ditch from acting as an escape for flood waters rising in HWC, which was its original design role. Therefore, if the V notch weir is removed to re-establish its flood control role, a new replacement settling reservoir will need to be constructed, probably in the median on 3 Oaks Parkway.
• Other recommended actions were to clean out overgrown vegetation in the south branch of the Estero River (ER SB) and increase the capacity of the Sanctuary Bridge in Corkscrew Woodlands and the Country Creek Lane bridge in The Villages of Country Creek by raising those bridges.
• Annual inspection and maintenance programs were recommended for all the areas where clean outs are required.
• A North South channel was recommended to be dredged on the East side of I-75 to permit better flow to HWC and the ER SB. Several large culverts under I-75 already exist north of HWC. These culverts are under utilized during flood conditions. This new channel would require a control structure to assure that dry season water in the Edison Farms wetlands would not be impacted.
• On the Estero River North Branch, it was recommended that the bridge at River Ford Road should be replaced.

Although there is capacity to send more flood water down Spring Creek (which is under utilized), this was deemed too expensive and could involve purchasing additional land or homes, so no action on this improvement was recommended in the report. Only limited benefit from increasing flow down Spring Creek was projected by the model, but it did provide more improvement than increased flow down HWC or the ER SB.

The possibility of building a large reservoir to the east of I-75, involving an elevated berm from Corkscrew to Bonita Beach Road, was rejected as too expensive and not practical due to the probable major "leakage" below the berm in the porous limestone in this area. However, If this project could be made to work, it is the only action which could dramatically reduce the flooding in the Bonita Beach Rd communities of Bonita Springs.

One other possibility to help the Bonita Springs flood areas was the possibility of directing flood water further to the South to drain to the Cocohatchie River. Even 200 cfs to 300 cfs in that direction would help. It would not eliminate the flooding but could reduce the duration of a flood by up to 63 hours, based upon model simulation runs. The southern "border condition" for the model was Bonita Beach Road, so the engineers determined that they would need more information and an expanded scope of investigation to determine if the residents along the route to the Cocohatchie could accept that additional water, or more, without themselves being flooded. This could be a follow up study.

Estero’s Housing Permits Continue Slow Pace

During August 14 single family homes and 4 duplex units with a building value of $4.5 million were permitted in Estero. This slowdown in construction of new homes should continue to help reduce the inventory of unsold new homes constructed in Estero during 2005 when 2,833 units were permitted.

Housing units permitted during the first eight months of 2009 are slightly less than 2008 and far lower than all other years during the 10 years that the County has tracked Estero permits. The number of housing units permitted in Estero remains at rock bottom. The County permit information used in this report may be found at http://www.lee-county.com/dcd/Reports/EsteroReports.htm

The following table shows how the first eight months of 2009 compares with the same period of the prior nine years:

Not only are the 2009 total housing units far below all prior years, they equal only 10% of the quantity during 2002, the season immediately following the tragedy of 9/11/2001.  

On the other hand the average building value, excluding the land beneath it, continues to increase, up substantially from all prior years and over 2.5 times (153% above) the average in 2000. Some of this increase is due to the increase in the single family share of the permitted units.

Permitted Commercial Building Values Remain Very Slow 

The first eight months of Estero building permits of all types continued at a very slow pace. The value of commercial buildings permitted in Estero during these eight months totaled $7.9 million.

Year	Year to Date	Annual Total
2000	$73,093,826	$77,250,835
2001	26,322,473	44,116,526
2002	16,986,322	23,135,139
2003	14,032,515	23,234,725
2004	16,385,992	60,859,820
2005	51,712,399	111,037,977
2006	163,043,204	184,709.240
2007	144,142,654	157,614,045
2008	36,229,679	39,261,677
2009	7,924,236	?

As the far right column in the above table indicates Estero’s commercial development started to expand rapidly in 2004 and peaked in 2006 with a total of $184.7 million. (All figures are exclusive of the underlying land). Nonetheless, 2007 was still Estero’s second highest commercial development year, far ahead of the third place year, 2005, with $111 million. Commercial development in Estero has almost come to a complete halt this year, down 78% from last year (2008).

From January through August the major projects that contributed to the 2009 year to date total are:

            $2,500,000 in the Coconut Point Town Center;

            $1,200,000 for improvements to the Lee County Corkscrew Road Wellfield

            $1,033,950 for Miromar Outlets expansion

            $800,000 for a new bank in the Coconut Trace Center

            $619,000 for Villages of Country Creek Water Storage System

            $104,800 for Estero Park Commons

REMINDER: The building values understate the cost of each residence or commercial building because it excludes the value of the underlying land.  

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