Estero Development Report
Volume 5, Number 10 Edited by ECCL--the Estero Council of Community Leaders March
Opportunities for Citizen Participation
Index
Estero Community WebsiteTo learn more about Estero and its growth management efforts view the new website of:
www.esterofl.org The site is still in formation.…Your suggestions for improvement are most welcome. It Looks Like A Lot More Than an InterchangeLast year, when it was discovered that $10 million had been earmarked within the Federal Transportation Authorization bill for a study of an I-75 Interchange at Coconut Road in Estero, why didn’t some Congressperson step forward to take credit for having added it to the bill? Even after six months have passed no member of the US House or Senate has yet taken responsibility for making this money available to the Southwest Florida region. Why? On the other hand both our Congressman Connie Mack and Congressman Don Young, Chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, have written the Lee County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) to advise that the $10 million cannot be used for I-75 or other planned improvements. Further, they contend that if the money is not accepted the region may suffer a reduction in future Federal Transportation funding. Why are they so adamant about the use of the funds, while refusing to tell us how and why the $10 million was earmarked for this unplanned project in the first place? Let’s review some recent events. At the September 23, 2005 meeting of the MPO a recommendation of the MPO’s Technical Advisory Committee, supported by testimony from both SWFTI, a private sector Transportation lobby group, and the City of Bonita Springs sought to amend the 2020 Transportation Plan to include a Coconut Road/I-75 Interchange to satisfy Federal requirements necessary for the $10 million to be appropriated by Congress. This motion was defeated by the MPO in order to prevent this unplanned project from competing with projects already in the financially constrained 2020 plan, because another $80 million would be required to complete an Interchange and its related projects. In addition, the MPO directed its staff to delete the Interchange and any related projects from the 2030 Plan scheduled to be reviewed and approved by the MPO in December. Finally, the MPO voted to write a letter to the Congressional delegation thanking them for their help and asking them to redirect the $10 million to help finance the widening of I-75. MPO Chairman Albion waited for two months, until December 21, 2005, before sending this letter? Why the long delay? At the November 18th meeting of the MPO’s Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), the City of Bonita Springs urged TAC to add the Coconut Road/I-75 Interchange projects to the proposed 2030 Transportation Plan. TAC agreed and the following projects were added to the proposed 2030 Plan: a four lane road connecting the Interchange from the west, the Interchange itself, a bridge over I-75, an extension of Coconut Road to the proposed CR 951 and an interchange at CR 951 and Coconut Road, all at a cost of about $100 million. Mysteriously, a note was added to the Coconut Road extension project that deleted a restriction that had been in the 2020 plan stating, “No access between I-75 and CR 951”. Who sought to make this change which is designed to open up the adjacent land on the east side of I-75 for development when it is well known that CR 951 has been planned as a very limited access road in order to prevent development in this environmentally sensitive and water rich area? Why did the State, County, MPO and Regional Planning staff members who make up this committee support such a major change in county development policy? Why was this change not noted for the MPO itself when they considered this issue at their December meeting? Who was representing the landowners at this meeting? What agreements have been made among the City of Bonita Springs, the County and/or the State and the landowners that would cause the staff of these public bodies to support development in this area? A review of the minutes of this meeting provides no answers to these questions. Fortunately the MPO rejected all the Coconut/I-75 Interchange projects and the language permitting development east of I-75 when it approved the 2030 Transportation Plan at its December meeting. Commissioner John Albion wrote an opinion piece that was published by both the Naples Daily News and the News Press inferring that the MPO’s rejection of the $10 million for the Coconut/I-75 Interchange would somehow deny FGCU the funds it needs to create a Transportation Management Center that will use “Intelligent Transportation Systemssensors in the road and other noninvasive gadgetry (to) collect information and send it to the Management Transportation Center.” The Federal authorization for the $10 million included in the federal authorization act, H.R. 3---366, number 462, says under its Project Description, “Coconut Rd. interchange I-75/Lee County” This language would appear to limit the use of the $10 million to the Coconut Road Interchange, the studies necessary to justify it, plan it, design it, etc. It says nothing about construction of a Transportation Management Center or the other uses about which Commissioner Albion speaks. When asked if the September and December votes of the MPO would deny funding to FGCU for a Transportation Management Center, the staff of the MPO responded that these MPO votes had done nothing to deny FGCU funding for such a center. Where is the funding for the FGCU Transportation Management Center coming from? What private agreements have been made between FGCU and the Congressmen regarding the use of the $10 million? On February 7th Dr. William C. Merwin, President of FGCU, published a Guest Commentary in the Bonita Daily News that states, “The FGCU transportation management center that would be built at the Coconut Road interchange”. What does Commissioner Albion know about the funding for the Management Transportation Center that has not been told to the public? Why hasn’t this information been made public during the six months that this issue has been publicly debated? To my knowledge this is the first public disclosure of this part of the “private” plan for the interchange. This disclosure helps to answer the question as to why the University has supported the interchange so strongly from the beginning. But it raises several important questions that the members of the MPO should know before addressing this question once again as advocated by Commissioner Albion and President Merwin. Where at the Coconut/I-75 Interchange will the Transportation Management Center be located? Will it be located on the east side of I-75 in environmentally sensitive land? Is the Transportation Center going to be the lever by which development east of I-75 is opened in spite of all the efforts of the County to designate it as a Density Reduction Groundwater Recharge Area and use of large amounts of tax money (2020 Funds) to acquire land in order to protect our future water supply? How big a structure are we talking about? How is the Center to be financed? Is there an agreement with the Congressmen that the Federal government will fund this facility? Is there an agreement that the landowners will contribute land and funding to the University for development of the Center? What other incentives have been offered by the landowners to the
University, the County, the State and the City of Bonita Springs in
exchange for opening up this land for rezoning and intensive
development? For me the Interchange is not the issue, it the deceptive use of the $10 million carrot and the interchange proposal to open up the environmentally sensitive land east of I-75 between Bonita Beach Road and Corkscrew Road for intensive development. January Estero Housing Permits Lowest in Five YearsDuring January Estero's housing development continued but at a much slower pace. A total of 75 housing units were permitted during the month. This is not too surprising inasmuch as 909 housing units were permitted in Estero during the last four months of 2005. Estero’s many housing developers can only build units so fast. The following table shows how January 2006 compares with the same period during the prior six years:
As the above table shows the January 2006 average building value ranks second during the seven year period in spite of the small percentage (26.7%) of units that are single family homes. The value of commercial buildings permitted in Estero during
January totaled $13.4 million. Three major projects contributed to
that total: $9.1 million in the Coconut Point Town Center; $950
thousand for the Walgreens Drug Store in Paradise Shoppes (northwest
corner of US 41 and Williams Road) and $1.4 million for the Barkis
Car Wash south of the Corkscrew Village Shopping Center on US 41. REMINDER: The residential building value understates the cost of each residence because it excludes the value of the underlying land. County Exploring Purchase of Weeks Fish Camp PropertyOn February 14th the BOCC asked staff to explore the possibility of the County purchasing the former Weeks Fish Camp property. 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. In December 2003 it was purchased by the 131 Group and Weeks Landing LLC for the following proposed uses: 150 residential units; 35,000 square feet of retail space and 300 dry boat slips for public use. The developers hoped to achieve these densities by Transferring Development Rights (TDR) from some of their other properties to this property. However the developers failed to make any payments on their $8.72 million mortgage on the property since March 2005. As a result the lender, First Integrity Bank of Minnesota, filed a lawsuit seeking a ruling that the developer is in default on its mortgage. A Foreclosure Hearing was held on February 6th at which time the judge gave the developer 60 days to sell the property or otherwise pay off the loan. Newspaper reports indicate that the D’Jamoos Group has been negotiating to either partner with the developer or to buy the property. The County’s interest is in preserving as much public water access as possible for Lee County boaters and visitors (now in very short supply). In recent years there have been few opportunities to preserve or expand it. Presently Lee County has fifteen public boat ramps. A recent survey of Estero community leaders from the surrounding communities indicates that there is considerable public support for County purchase of the property. Thus a meeting has been scheduled between representatives of these communities and the County staff responsible for investigating this possibility. Major Commercial Project ProgressCoconut PointOn February 8th the Simon Development Group presented a preliminary package of site amenities and lighting to the EDRC. They included one pylon sign in spite of the fact that the Estero section of the County Land Development Code (LDC) prohibits such signs. This sign may have been authorized by the zoning on the property prior to the sign prohibition being adopted by the County. In addition Simon proposed the use of banners in the Town Center. Banners are also prohibited by the Estero section of the LDC. Coconut Point may be exempted from these provisions if the appearance standards approved by the community and the County include them. The EDRC was also concerned that none of the lighting at Coconut Point spilled into neighboring communities. Simon agreed to provide further information to the EDRC in order to satisfy this concern. The Committee also noted that the buffer landscaping along US 41 does not appear to meet code and is quite different than the US 41 buffer landscaping around the rest of Coconut Point. The Simon Development Group announced eight new tenants during February bring the total to over 80 tenants. The new tenants are:
Simon also announced that the Grand Opening of the Town Center has been scheduled for November 10th and that the Muvico Theater is scheduled to open for business on December 18th. According to press reports nineteen buildings are now under construction in the project. North PointWhen the North Point Development of Regional Impact (DRI) was approved in 2004 it was expected to be Estero's third largest commercial development after Coconut Point and the Miromar Mall and International Design Center. North Point is located on 102 acres on the northeast corner of Williams Road and US 41. Oakbrook Properties, the developers of North Point created the development by purchasing nine parcels of land from six different owners and financed the effort to gain approval of the DRI and zoning by the Regional Planning Commission and the County. The rezoning of the property authorized the owners to develop 550,000 square feet of retail, 120,000 square feet of office, 150 residential units and a 150 room hotel. The project had the support of the community and the ECPP because the consolidation of the property permits a well planned development rather than a group of strip malls along the US 41 side of the property. On February 6th Oakbrook sold the property to an entity created jointly by The Lutgert Companies and the Barron Collier Companies, two major Naples developers. The new owners plan to seek County and Regional Planning Commission approval for a plan that will greatly reduce the amount of retail development on the site and replace it with additional housing units. Specifically they seek to:
They have told members of the ECPP that the proposed changes will reduce the traffic generated by the site by 30 percent. In addition the “big box” site at the northern end of the site, backing up to the Corkscrew Village Shopping Center, will be used for housing. Lutgert and Collier are well known for high end commercial and residential projects that they have built either separately or jointly. Some of their past projects include:
The developers’ estimate that the rezoning/DRI process will take about eight months to be followed by site preparation about two years from now. Estero Town CommonsIn October 2003 the 33 acre parcel on the southeast corner of Three Oaks Parkway and Corkscrew Road was rezoned with two large multi-tenant parcels along the roadways and a large “big box” parcel in the rear. At that time the project was called “Estero Town Center” but the name was changed to “Estero Town Commons” at the request of the EDRC when the developer, Kite Development, presented the first phase of the project to them on March 9, 2005. During 2005 the EDRC approved two small multi-tenant buildings along Three Oaks Parkway and a 160,000 sf Lowe’s store. On February 8th the EDRC reviewed designs for five outlots along Corkscrew Road for the second time. The design of these projects is governed by both the Estero Town Commons Appearance Standards and the Corkscrew Main Street Overlay District requirements. Since their earlier presentation the developer has made the following changes:
The Committee discussed the developer’s plans for pedestrian access between the Lowe’s parcel and each outlot. The applicant agreed to add a partial sidewalk between these projects. The EDRC expressed an opinion that the architecture of the
buildings on the five outlots were not as high quality as that of
the Lowe’s building. The Committee felt, as a group of buildings,
they were bland and boring, too repetitious…that the buildings need
to be diverse and have individual character. After discussion the
applicant agreed to expand the color palette and to review the
building’s architecture in order to add some changes to provide the
diversity the Committee is seeking. For further information see the
Estero Town Commons section of the EDRC website at
http://esterofl.org/Issues/estero_town_commons.htm . Estero Park CommonsDuring February the developers of Estero Park Commons announced that Opus Corporation, a large Minnesota based real estate developer, will soon be opening a regional office in this Corkscrew Road development. About 75 to 80% of Estero Park Common’s seven buildings are now leased or occupied. Opus’s first project in southwest Florida is The Shoppes of Gulf Coast to be located on the northwest corner of Alico Road and Ben Hill Griffin. Residential Project ProgressCypress Shadows RPDOn February 20th the BOCC approved zoning for the Cypress Shadows development, a 770 unit golf community located on 350 acres along the south side of Corkscrew Road west of Bella Terra and east of Wildcat Run. When fully constructed Cypress Shadows will contain 100 single family homes and 670 multi-family units. The property is located in a very environmentally sensitive area. Consequently the County and the South Florida Water Management District required the developer to permanently set aside 139.5 acres on-site and to purchase 160 acres that will become publicly owned land (just south of Wildcat Run) for perpetual preservation. The Water Management District had reviewed and approved the site plan prior to BOCC consideration and approval. The BOCC added a condition to the zoning that would prohibit any light intrusion onto preserve land. During the last two years the Cypress Shadows developers had made three presentations to the ECPP. At the most recent hearing in August 2005 the developer told the Panel that they:
West Bay Club – Orchid Bay NorthOn February 8th the EDRC reviewed plans for the Orchid Bay North residential towers at the West Bay Club, located at the west end of Williams Road in Estero. This project will consist of two towers, located on 9.5 acres about one-half mile north of the Jasmine Bay towers that are now under construction. Sixty percent of the tract for the buildings will be reserved for open space. Each of the buildings will be 20 stories high and include 116 units including 8 penthouses. In addition each building will have a live-in manager and guest suites. The Estero Bay side of each tower will be heavily landscaped in order to create a tranquil place for building residents and guests. The buildings will be served by a three level garage with one level below grade and will be constructed with flood resistant materials. The project will not require any blasting. The buildings will be painted with three colors – green/gray, honeydew yellow and a white crown. Committee advised Applicant to be cautious when choosing the shades of green. Once Orchid Bay North is underway four of the five West Bay Club towers will be under construction. BackgroundDuring 2004 in cooperation with the ECCL an informal West Bay homeowners group negotiated with the developers of West Bay for several months to resolve concerns raised by the developer’s desire to restore three high rise towers to the zoning of the property. The parties reached an agreement just prior to the Hearing Examiner's Hearing on January 19, 2005. As a result of the homeowner's efforts and the West Bay developer's willingness to negotiate, the following changes were agreed to and presented to the Hearing Examiner as agreed zoning conditions:
In addition the West Bay developers agreed to several changes sought by the homeowners group that would not be appropriate for a zoning resolution. On March 21, 2005 the BOCC approved the rezoning of West Bay Club including the conditions cited above. Residents from Fountain Lakes, Pelican Sound, West Bay Club, ECPP and the ECCL testified in support of the rezoning and the developer’s willingness to help finance a solution for the existing traffic safety problems at the intersection of Williams Road and US 41. The BOCC participated actively in this discussion and expressed their concern but took no action since the traffic problem is not increased by the rezoning since West Bay Club was originally zoned for a larger number of units, and thus would create more traffic, than are now authorized. Estero PalmsTaylor Woodrow, a major housing developer, has purchased the
Estero Palms development. Estero Palms is a 32 unit single family
residential community located on Block Lane just west of River Ranch
Road. During February the developer launched a major advertising
campaign for the development. Estero Fire Rescue UpdateEstero Fire Rescue responded to a record 2,951 emergency calls
during 2005, 259 more responses than the previous year, or an
increase of 9.6%. Thus far during 2006, however, the district has
seen a drop in call volume from the previous year. The first two
months of 2005 generated 592 responses, while the first two months
of this year have generated 555 responses; down 6.25%. As the
population of Estero continues to grow, it is unknown why the call
volume would be declining, but it is a welcome surprise to the
district. Estero Fire Rescue reached a milestone last fall with the opening of the Coconut Point Fire Station on Sweetwater Ranch Boulevard, across from Fountain Lakes. It was determined in the late 1990s that four new, strategically located fire stations would be required to provide appropriate protection to all the residents and businesses of the district, which was just beginning to experience tremendous growth. While the growth has been even more explosive than anticipated, the completion of the Coconut Point Fire Station, the acquisition of a new ladder truck last summer, and the hiring and training of many new firefighters puts Estero Fire Rescue in position to provide a high level of service for the next several years! |
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