Estero Development Report

Volume 6, Number 10
Edited by ECCL--the Estero Council of Community Leaders
 
This Report is available on the Estero Fire Rescue website at www.esterofire.org
and the Estero Community website at www.esterofl.org

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

Date	Time	Event	Location
Monday, February 5th	2 p.m.	Estero Civic Association presentation by the D’Jamoos Group about their proposed Estero On The River development and community discussion on the proposal. Estero on the River is an 85 acre development on the northeast corner of US 41 and Corkscrew Road. See the full agenda at	Estero Community Park, located on the south side of Corkscrew Road midway between Sandy Lane and River Ranch
Monday, February 12th	6 p.m.	Estero Community Planning Panel meeting. The agenda includes presentations of the following developments: Lee County Division of Natural Resources Dredging Project and transport of the material to a location on Williams Road just east of US 41; See the full agenda at:: http://esterofl.org/ecpp/ecpp_meetings.htm	Estero Community Park, located on the south side of Corkscrew Road midway between Sandy Lane and River Ranch
Tuesday, February 13th	5 p.m.	Estero Fire Rescue District Workshop on 5 year Budget Plan…Open to the Public	Estero Community Park, located on the south side of Corkscrew Road midway between Sandy Lane and River Ranch
Tuesday, February 13th	6 p.m.	Estero Fire Rescue District Board Meeting. For further information about the District see http://esterofire.org/	Estero Community Park, located on the south side of Corkscrew Road midway between Sandy Lane and River Ranch
Wednesday, February 14th	5 p.m.	Estero Design Review Committee review of the following projects: See the full agenda at http://esterofl.org/edrc/agenda.asp.	Estero Community Park, located on the south side of Corkscrew Road midway between Sandy Lane and River Ranch
Wednesday, February 15th	9:00 a.m.	Hearing Examiner hearing on the Miromar Square CPD application to amend the Stoneybrook DRI to add retail and office space and rezone some of the land included therein.	Hearing Room, 2nd floor, Lee County Community Development building, 1500 Monroe Street in downtown Ft. Myers
Thursday, February 15th	1:30 p.m.	Southwest Florida Expressway Authority Meeting to hear reports on adding four lanes to I-75. For further information about the Authority see http://www.lee-county.com/publicworks/Expressway.htm	Bonita Springs City Hall, Council room.
Friday, February 16th	9 a.m.	Lee County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) Meeting. For further information about the MPO see http://www.mpo-swfl.org/	Southwest Florida Regional Planning Commission building, 1926 Victoria Street in downtown Ft. Myers
Friday, February 16th	1 p.m.	Estero Council of Community Leaders Monthly Meeting…Open to the Public…for the full agenda see http://esterofl.org/eccl/minutes/	Estero Community Park, located on the south side of Corkscrew Road midway between Sandy Lane and River Ranch
Saturday, February 17th	8:30 a.m.	“Breakfast at Dillard’s” Fashion Show catered by Panera Bread for the benefit of the Estero Community Improvement Foundation’s (ECIF) High School Landscaping project. For further information about the ECIF see http://esterofl.org/eccl/ecif/estero-community-improvement-foundation.htm	Dillard’s at the Coconut Point Town Center
Monday, February 19th	2 p.m.	Estero Civic Association (ECA)  Meeting with a presentation by Scotty Wood on the Recently Approved Property & Casualty Insurance Reform. For further information about the ECA see http://esterofl.org/eca/index.asp	Estero Community Park, located on the south side of Corkscrew Road midway between Sandy Lane and River Ranch
Wednesday, February 28th	10 a.m.	Greater Estero Cultural Arts Council Meeting. The public is invited to attend. For further information about Arts Estero see http://esterofl.org/gecac/index.asp	Estero Community Park, located on the south side of Corkscrew Road midway between Sandy Lane and River Ranch

Index

Estero Community Website

Last month about 200 persons visited this site each day to learn about Estero.
One year ago in January the traffic was only about 25% as great.
 
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)
 
www.esterofl.org
 
The site is still in formation.…
Your suggestions for improvement are most welcome.
________________________________________________________________

Fashion Show for the Estero Community Improvement Foundation High School Landscaping Project

On Saturday, February 17th the Estero Community Improvement Foundation (ECIF) will sponsor a Fashion Show & Breakfast at Dillard's Coconut Point store with the proceeds benefiting the ECIF's campaign to landscape the roadside perimeter around Estero High School.

The Fashion Show and Breakfast begins at 8:30 am; will be produced by Dillard's with the breakfast buffet catered by Panera Bread.  It promises to be an outstanding and entertaining event.

Tickets for the Fashion Show & Breakfast are $25 each.  All proceeds will go to the ECIF. For further information see http://esterofl.org/new/.

Attendance is limited to 300 and a fast sell out is expected because Dillard's is providing major advertising support when ticket sales open to the general public at Dillard's and Colonial Bank next week.  If you or your spouse wishes to attend we recommend an advance ticket purchase before next week.

Dillard's is fast becoming a leading corporate citizen of Estero.  The recent host/hostess program during the Coconut Point store's grand opening, in which ECCL members, spouses and friends participated, generated $1,875 for the ECIF Landscaping Project.  The ECIF thanks all who volunteered for this event.
 
We would also like to thank Kite Development, the developers of Estero Town Commons, located on the southeast corner of Three Oaks and Corkscrew, who recently donated $2,500 for this project.

January Store Openings

During January several major stores opened for business in Estero. They are:
 
The 168,000 square foot Lowe’s store opened for business in the Estero Town Commons development on the southeast corner of Three Oaks and Corkscrew Road.

The five story, 94 room Hampton Inn opened in the Corkscrew Commerce Center, located on the southwest corner of the intersection of I-75 and Corkscrew Road

The following stores opened for business in Coconut Point during January:

White House/Black Market
Clarks
Victoria’s Secret
Guess
Bath and Body Works
Asian Chao
Johnny Rockets
Auntie Anne’s
J. Crew
Gymboree
GNC
Icing by Claire’s

Coconut Point will hold their Grand Opening the weekend of February 16th and 17th.

Future Development Plans at Coconut Point

Simon Development Group and Oakbrook Properties, the developers of Coconut Point, made presentations on their future development plans at the Estero Design Review Committee meeting on January 10th. Simon is the developer of the Town Center that extends from Coconut Road north to the Halfway Creek flow way, located about midway between Coconut and Williams Roads. Oakbrook Properties is the developer of the North Village, which extends from Halfway Creek north to Williams Road, and the South Village, which extends from Coconut Road south to the Cozze restaurant, formerly the Sanibel Steakhouse. For further information on Coconut Point see http://www.coconutpointretail.com/.

Coconut Point Town Center

the western edge of this development along US 41 consists of several sizeable outlots each of which will be occupied by one or more tenants or purchasers. The following firms are committed to locating in this area:
 
·         CNL Bank
·         TGI Friday’s restaurant
·         Diamond District
·         Wachovia Bank
·         Verizon Communications
·         Walter E. Smythe furniture
·         Florida Gulf Bank
 
In addition discussions are underway with a major hotel developer and another furniture store. As reported earlier the large parcel of land in the northeast corner of the Town Center will house a Target Superstore.

North Village

The 30 acre site at the corner of Williams and US 41 will soon seek rezoning in order to be developed as the Art District at Rapallo. This project will consist of office, residential, some live/work units, a number of art galleries and similar stores along with a theater for traveling live theatrical performances.

South Village

The Mirasol multifamily residential development, located at the rear of the property south of Coconut Road and east of Via Coconut Point, will be starting vertical development within the next week or so. Site work and underground utility work has been underway for several months. For further information on Mirasol see http://www.mirasolatcoconutpoint.com/.
 
The property just south of the Bonita Community Health Center will be developed by DOPCO as a 25,000 square foot retail center called the Shoppes of Coconut Point. DOPCO was present at the January EDRC meeting to present their plans for the center. The EDRC recommended that the developer add more landscaping along US 41.

Estero’s 2006 Housing Permitting Slows Significantly

Housing units permitted in Estero during 2006 were the lowest in the 7 years that the County’s system has tracked Estero’s permits. Interestingly the average number of housing units during 2005 and 2006 is nearly equal to the average for 2000 and 2001, Estero’s highest prior years. In other words the speculation of 2005 has been offset by the slowdown of 2006.  The County permitting information used in this report may be found at http://www.lee-county.com/dcd/Reports/EsteroReports.htm.   
 
The following table shows how 2006 compares with the same period during the prior six years:

In spite of the decline in the number of housing units permitted, the average building value, excluding the land beneath it, was 18% higher than in any prior year and almost double the average price in 2000, in spite of having the smallest percentage (39.0%) of single family homes. As a consequence 2006 still produced the third highest annual increase in total residential building value.

2006 Commercial Building Value Sets New Record 

The value of commercial buildings permitted in Estero during 2006 totaled $184.7 million. The next highest commercial permits total, $111 million, was in 2005, the first year that Coconut Point was underway and the International Design Center was permitted.
 
The major projects that contributed to the 2006 total are:
 
·         About $86 million in the Coconut Point Town Center;
·         $47.5 million for the Lowe’s store in the Estero Town Commons
·         over $11.7 million in Phase 5 of the Miromar Outlets Center
·         nearly $3.5 million for office buildings in Estero Park Commons
·         $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; 
·         $1.4 million for the Barkis Car Wash south of the Corkscrew Village Shopping Center on US 41, and
·         $2.3 million for several Empire Builders office buildings in the Galleria project.
 
REMINDER: The building values understate the cost of each residence or commercial building because it excludes the value of the underlying land.

Residential Development in Estero…Past and Prologue

In 1997 Estero was a sleepy little village midway between Ft. Myers and Naples. It had a long and interesting history and about 4,600 households. Then the small, unincorporated Lee County community’s residential growth began as FGCU, the Southwest Florida Regional Airport and Miromar Outlets anchored the area and as fewer large parcels of land close to the Gulf were available for residential development south of Estero the flow of residential reached Estero.

Estero Housing Trends from 2000 to 2005…

In 1998 about 550 housing units were permitted in Estero and the following year that number doubled to 1,150 new housing units. The following table shows how that trend has continued beginning with another doubling of the housing unit permit rate in 2000.

Most of Estero’s residential growth has occurred in large, well planned residential communities initiated by some of the country’s and region’s largest and best developers and home builders…Bonita Bay Group, WCI, U S Homes, Levitt & Sons, Toll Brothers, Colonial now Meritage Homes…to name a few. These developers were able to purchase large parcels of land that allowed them to develop many housing units in a short period of time under very favorable market conditions. Throughout this period only about 20 housing units in Estero were permitted by individual homeowners outside of these planned developments. Those homes are in Old Estero and in the eastern rural areas of the community.

Residential Growth During 2000—2002

Almost three-fourths of the 5,700 units permitted in 2000, 2001 and 2002 were in just three communities…The Brooks, Stoneybrook and Pelican Sound. At that time The Brooks was ranked among the 15 fastest growing residential communities in the U.S. as Bonita Bay permitted over 2,200 housing units in the Brooks during those three years. During the same period Stoneybrook and Pelican Sound each permitted over 900 housing units. Most of the housing permitted and built between 2000 and 2002 was in the southern half of Estero, south of Corkscrew Road.   
 
The build out of these communities and the slowdown caused by 9-11-2001 slowed Estero’s residential development somewhat for a couple of years, but shortly thereafter other major developments and some smaller ones, mostly north of Corkscrew Road, started to take up the slack.

Residential Growth During 2003—2006…

In 2003 five large residential communities replaced The Brooks, Stoneybrook and Pelican Sound as Estero’s residential growth leaders. Together they permitted over 3,850 housing units in the four years from 2003 to 2006. They are Grandezza with about 1,050 units permitted, Bella Terra with about 1,150 units, The Cascades with nearly 700 units, Villagio with over 500 units and Rapallo with about 540 units. Only Bella Terra, whose zoning allows another 650 units, will continue to build many additional housing units in 2007 and beyond.
 
In addition ten other communities permitted over 200 housing units during the 2003-06 period. They are: The Estero portion of The Colony in Pelican Landing; Rookery Point; Bella Lago; The Reserve of Estero; West Bay Club; Coastal Village; Meadows of Estero; the Residences at Coconut Point; Copper Oaks and Osprey Cove. Together they permitted over 2,700 housing units during this four year period.  As a group these communities could add another 1,450 housing units to Estero’s total housing stock if they fully use their zoning authorization.
 
Finally eleven smaller communities permitted another 1,500 housing units during this four year period. Nine of these eleven communities are nearly sold out.
 
Thus, thirty-seven residential communities, big and small, have contributed to the nearly 13,000 new housing units permitted in Estero during the last seven years. Twenty four of the thirty seven communities are nearly sold out, while the other thirteen will continue to build during the next few years.
 
During this four year period Estero’s housing growth shifted north and east. The areas of highest concentration in the 2003-06 period were along Estero Parkway, Three Oaks Parkway and Corkscrew Road east of I-75.

The Next Five Years, 2007 Through 2011…

Sixteen of the thirty seven residential communities that permitted housing units in Estero since 2000 are still under development and are zoned for about 2,100 more housing units that are likely to be permitted during the next five years and another 450 units after 2011.
 
In addition, there are five communities with zoning for another 1,400 housing units that have not started to develop their land. These developers are likely to seek permits for at least 1,200 housing units between now and 2011.
 
Finally, there are twelve more residential communities that are seeking some residential zoning. If their applications are approved by the Board of County Commissioners as requested, they would be authorized to build another 3,500 housing units. It is estimated that they could add another 2,300 housing units to Estero’s total by 2011. 
 
The following table summarizes the likely number of housing units to be permitted in Estero during the next five years:

While 5,600 additional housing units are substantial, it is far less than the recent rate of nearly 13,000 in about seven years.
 
Estero will never again see housing development at the rate we experienced in 2005. We estimate that 2007 will be another slow year for permitting new housing units because of the large supply of existing housing units now on the market, including many speculator owned homes. Thereafter the market is likely to greatly improve and our estimates may prove to be conservative.
 
The good news is that once the twelve proposed communities are zoned and developed there are no more large tracts of land available for housing development in Estero as long as the County continues the present zoning for the Density Reduction Groundwater Recharge (DRGR) area of one home per 10 acres. Most of the land around the existing and planned residential communities along Corkscrew Road east of I-75 is either in the DRGR or is owned by some public agency for conservation.
 
In conclusion, Estero will have changed from a sleepy little village of 4,600 households in 2000 to a fully developed community with 22,850 households in a little over a decade. Thus the community’s challenge continues to be to expand our infrastructure so that it catches up to our residential and commercial growth. If we do not build the roads, schools, parks and hospitals needed to keep up with all this growth, our quality of life will suffer dramatically.

Estero/City of Bonita Springs Coordination

The Bonita Springs City Council and the eight member delegation of Estero leaders met for their third three hour work shop on Thursday, January 11th at the Bonita Springs City Hall. The participants heard progress reports from the community liaisons and discussed how best to proceed with each of the issues.

Attracting a Hospital to Serve South Lee County…

The group agreed with the subcommittee’s recommendation to postpone the development of the hospital solicitation letter and supporting documents until after a meeting with Kevin Newingham, Lee Memorial’s principal strategic planning official scheduled for January 19, 2007. Lee Memorial owns about 30 acres in Coconut Point behind the Bonita Community Health Center. The subcommittee was asked to consider involving a Lee Memorial Board member in the discussions and to verify the cause of the long timeline that was suggested by Lee Memorial’s south Lee hospital needs assessment.
 
The Mayor of Bonita Springs indicated that the City may soon be the location of a family healthcare services unit with federal funding that will serve low income patients. This facility could improve the financial feasibility of operating a hospital in the area.

Sandy Lane (in Estero the road is now called Via Coconut Point)…

The City members indicated that they would not receive the traffic analysis they had commissioned to assess the impact of an extension of Sandy Lane upon the City’s road network south of the Sandy Lane extension until June or July, 2007. Thus the City could not participate in an effort to persuade the County to finance some or all of the cost of the design of Sandy Lane prior to receiving and finding that the segment would not negatively impact the City. They asserted that Bonita Beach Road improvements were a much higher priority for the residents of the City. They were also concerned that increased County funding for Sandy Lane could negatively impact other City road projects that are jointly funded by the two governments.
 
The Estero representatives proposed that Lee County be asked to fund the design phase now in order to reduce the overall cost of right-of-way and construction. They emphasized that getting Sandy Lane completed was their highest priority.
 
The following conclusions emerged from the discussion:
·         Estero will press the County for early design, without the support of the City at this time.
·         The City will explore whether any third, private-sector parties will participate in funding,
·         The City will endeavor to take traffic counts along US41 during the next few months for later use.
·         ECCL will ask the County to do so as well. 

Planning the Future of the Density Reduction Groundwater Resource (DRGR) Area…

At the Oct 27 Workshop the following views of success regarding the DRGR were approved:

“Strike a balance between environmental concerns, development rights, and customary uses that is in the overall community’s interest, and avoid wholesale development of the DRGR and/or pollution and destruction of our resources.”

“Restore and preserve aquifers and flow ways through all the DRGR areas. The Benson/Pulling dehydration process should be funded by the County and City. Don’t deteriorate Spring Creek”.

“Avoid the Bonita Springs DRGR from becoming just a receiving area for the County”.

The major obstacles will be “political will”, “finding dollars for dehydration work”, and “developers (that) may fight what’s going on”.

Participants in the January 11th meeting approved the following additional goals:

• Time is not our friend. We need to pull the trigger and get things done.
• Neighboring properties need to be developed in a compatible manner.
• We should not let unplanned development precede comprehensive planning and drive infrastructure spending.
• Environmentally sensitive lands must be protected.
• The DRGR should be seen within its larger regional context, recognizing that environmental quality and water flows do not recognize jurisdictional or property boundaries.
• The County’s reactive efforts through 2006 are being replaced by a more proactive approach to the DR/GR.
• Interim decisions during 2007 and beyond, before a plan is put in place, should be based on long term goals, such as preserving known areas and features of environmental quality, water supply and quality.
• A balance of land conservation and development needs to be achieved, by understanding the resources and locating uses in accordance with good, professional planning.
• Affordable and workforce housing and green space acquisition should be accomplished as part of the desired balance.

The following ideas for achieving long term desired results were identified:

• Develop a consensus-based process for planning the DR/GR that is inclusive of City, Estero, other agencies and the private sector.
• Integrate all studies and assess the environmental and developmental constraints and attributes of the DR/GR through professional and scientific experts, producing an overlay system for planning purposes.
• Develop a plan that is both visionary and sound.
• Liaise with 1000 Friends of Florida, bringing their experience and talents to bear.
• Evaluate the question of mining. Identify the best locations for additional mines near the existing mining operations and provide incentives to induce news mines to locate there. Recognize that these mines help reduce the cost of local road base materials. The Bonita Springs City Council recently adopted a policy prohibiting any new mines within the Bonita DRGR area. After the mines have been exhausted, get them properly restored.
• Promote and implement Transfer of Development Rights (TDR), based on science and best management practices (BMP’s) by the County and other agencies.

The group concluded that the following actions should be undertaken:

• Estero will promote a new planning approach by Lee County and keep the City informed of its progress.
• The City will assist Estero in applying for grants that provide funds for evaluating resources, planning and management mechanisms.
• The City will explore a TDR program for DRGR properties within its boundaries forthwith, leading the way for its use throughout the DRGR.

Recent Joint Progress

Since the January 11th meeting some progress has been made on all three of these issues. The following section summarizes these efforts.
 
Attracting a Hospital to Serve South Lee County… On January 25th, City Councilman John Joyce and Sam Levy and Don Eslick of ECCL met with Kevin Newingham, Lee Memorial’s Strategic Planning officer, Mike Riley, Administrator for the Bonita Community Health Center, and Jack Eikenberg, a member of the hospital’s finance committee and a resident of Bonita Bay to discuss Lee Memorial’s two year old evaluation of south Lee County’s hospital needs.
 
Mr. Newingham made a detailed power point presentation to the group that summarized all the information and assumptions that were the basis of the analysis. The central focus of the discussion that followed was on the University Of Florida Bureau Of Economic and Business Research (BEBR) population estimates that were used by Lee Memorial.
 
The Bonita and Estero representatives presented Mr. Newingham and his colleagues with more specific, current information on Bonita and Estero population estimates and projections using the same methodology. The City’s Evaluation and Analysis Report (EAR) adopted by the City Council on September 20, 2006 shows the City’s population trends from 2000 through 2005 and projects the City’s population through 2014.
 
Because Estero is not a municipality BEBR does not estimate Estero’s population each year like it does all Florida municipalities and counties. Thus the estimates made by the ECCL using the BEBR procedures are new information to Lee Memorial. Mr. Newingham agreed to ask his staff to update their hospital needs projections using the information provided by the Bonita Springs and Estero representatives.
 
The Bonita and Estero representatives also suggested that Lee Memorial include some or all of San Carlos Park in their revised estimates, especially that portion that includes Florida Gulf Coast University and the rapidly growing Miromar Lakes development.
 
Mr. Newingham pointed out that the Development of Regional Impact (DRI) Zoning of Coconut Point prevents Lee Memorial from initiating a hospital amendment to that zoning until January 1, 2009. In addition he noted that the $275 million expansion of Gulf Coast Hospital (recently acquired by Lee Memorial) will not be completed until 2010. These factors prevent Lee Memorial from proceeding with a hospital on the Coconut Point site until 2010 or later, even if the demand for the facility is sufficient within the next few years.
 
Finally Lee Memorial has recently begun to update its vision for providing health care in Lee County through a program called “Community Visioning 2017”. This program, being assisted by a nationally recognized heath care expert, will develop a health needs assessment for the Hospital by August or September 2007. Bonita Springs and Estero may participate in that process through membership in its Steering Committee and by providing input through some of its Focus Groups.  
 
Sandy Lane (Via Coconut Point)… After the January 11th meeting the ECCL representatives discussed with Commissioner Ray Judah the need for Lee County to include some funding for the design of Sandy Lane from Coconut Point to Old 41 in the County’s 2007 update of its Transportation Capital Improvement Program (CIP) so that construction of this project is not to be pushed back another year. Commissioner Judah asked that the request be made in writing. The following letter was transmitted to Comm. Judah by the ECCL on January 20th:
 
“As we discussed the other day July will be too late for the County to consider adding a project to the 2007-2012 Transportation Capital Improvement Program. Consequently I am writing now on behalf of the Estero Council of Community Leaders to request that you ask County Transportation Staff to prepare a budget and CIP amendment resolution, to add up to $1 million in the 2007-08 fiscal year for the design of Via Coconut Point (aka Sandy Lane) between its southern terminus at Pelican Colony Road and Old 41 in the City of Bonita Springs using the approved route.
 
This request should be subject to the following two conditions:

• That the City of Bonita Springs supplement the County’s contribution to the cost of the design by an amount agreed to by the two parties prior to final adoption of the 2007-08 CIP, and
• That the County contribution toward the funding of this segment shall be in addition to and shall not reduce the County’s commitment to funding any future Bonita Beach road improvements.

In December of 2006 Florida Transportation Engineers updated the estimated costs of this road segment for the City of Bonita Springs. They estimated that the total cost of engineering the road would range from $3.18 million to $4.45 million. This request assumes that no more than $2 million of these amounts will be sufficient for the design of the segment. I am attaching a copy of the Florida Transportation Engineers study so that your Transportation Department can determine if the $2 million upper limit on this request is sufficient for this project.
 
It is imperative that the design phase be started as soon as possible because:
 
·                     The recent opening of the first phase of the Coconut Point Town Center in unincorporated Lee County and the development of the project in all its phases will dramatically increase traffic in this area over the next several years, and
 
·                     Given the demand for rezoning and development orders in this area, both in Estero and the City of Bonita Springs, road  construction design plans are essential for Community Development Staff to require structures to not be placed within the proposed alignment, thus reducing unnecessary compensation in the acquisition stage, and
 
·                     Amending Lee County’s highway prioritization will make regional improvements which will not just assist Bonita Springs and the Estero communities, but those visiting and utilizing this area. Removal of local traffic will unclog the U. S. 41 arterial road.
 
Finally, I would hope that the support that ECCL provided to the County Board when the recent Road Impact Fee increase was being decided would be given great consideration by the Board of County Commissioners when making this decision.
 
Thanks for all your help. Hopefully, with your direction and input, you can resolve the issue for the request to add the design of this roadway to the CIP program.”
 
The ECCL recently met with Steve Jansen, who heads the County’s traffic counting section, to obtain historical and current traffic information for the segment of US 41 between Old 41 and Coconut Road and to learn how it compares to other segments of US 41 that are relieved by Old 41 or Sandy Lane (Via Coconut Point).
 
The County’s recently published “2006 Traffic Count Report” indicates that the section of US 41 between Coconut Road and Old 41 (immediately west of the proposed Sandy Lane Extension) had Average Daily Traffic Volume (AADT) of 53,300 vehicles during 2006. In contract the comparable data for US 41:
·         between Bonita Beach Road and W. Terry Street was 42,400, or 10,900 less vehicles,
·         between Estero Parkway and San Carlos Boulevard was 43,300, or 10,000 less vehicles.
 
The County will be monitoring these and other Count Stations during February and March and will provide Estero and Bonita with this data in time the next meeting of the communities on April 13th.

Planning the Future of the Density Reduction Groundwater Resource (DRGR) Area… On January 12th the ECCL Environmental/DRGR Committee met with City Councilman John Joyce, County Commissioner Ray Judah, representatives of The Conservancy, the Audubon Society, the Wildlife Federation and Charles Pattison, Executive Director of 1000 Friends of Florida, to discuss growth management/land planning and environmental and water resource conservation approaches being successfully employed in other Florida locations. The meeting produced an extensive list of suggestions that the County and the City of Bonita Springs might use to more effectively plan for their DRGR territories.
 
On January 22nd 12th the ECCL Environmental/DRGR Committee met with representatives of The Conservancy, the Audubon Society, the Wildlife Federation, the Responsible Growth Management Coalition and Bill Spikowski, former Lee County Planning Director and well respected planning consultant, to discuss all the development threats to the DRGR, the ideas that were generated at the meeting with Charles Pattison and to begin to outline the scope of work that should be included in several DRGR related grant proposals that need to be submitted in March. This discussion was aided by Mr. Spikowski’s extensive knowledge about the DRGR from inception in the late 1980’s to the present.
 
The Committee will now begin to prepare the grant applications, and after consulting with the Board of County Commissioners and County staff file them prior to the March deadlines. In addition the applications will be shared with the City of Bonita Springs in the hope that the City Council will support them.

Estero Fire Rescue Report

During the month of January the following items were announced:

• The Long range Financial Plan public discussion has been rescheduled for 5 p.m on February 13th at the Estero Community Park
• The District’s 2006 Annual Report will be available to the public soon
• The District’s 2007 CPR schedule will soon be available at http://esterofire.org/
• Station #1, on US 41 just north of Corkscrew Road, will hold an Open House at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, February 21st …”Join Us for Food and Fun”
• A new 3,000 gallon tanker truck will be delivered to the district on February 5th
• Todd Coulter has been promoted to Division Chief for Emergency Medical Services (EMS) effective February 5th

State Road Project Progress

The following information was provided to the Estero Development Report by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT):

I-75 Six Laning…

The Florida Department of Transportation will open bids for the I-75 Design/Finance/Build (D/F/B)project on February 23rd and award the contract probably early in March.  The project will six-lane 35 miles of I-75 from the new Golden Gate interchange in Collier County to the SR 80 interchange in Lee County.
 
Major improvements to two interchanges, I-75/Immokalee and I-75/Daniels, are part of the project.  Work will start later this year and is estimated to finish at the end of 2010. The I-75 DFB project is very innovative and moves this vital capacity project ahead by several years.  The project will be built in a little more than three years, but the department is able to finance the cost of the job over five years.  Construction is estimated at $420 million and will be the largest letting in the state of Florida.

US 41 from Corkscrew to San Carlos Park…

The "Boomer" property, several acres of the developer's site (JED), and several acres of the Methodist church property remain viable pond site locations.  The pond is needed for water treatment as part of the project to six-lane US 41 from Corkscrew to San Carlos.  The Florida Department of Transportation is continuing discussions with the property owners regarding land needed for the pond. The US 41 project is funded for construction in the state's fiscal year 2010/2011, although the department and the County remain interested in opportunities to advance construction of this job.  

Insurance Reform Report

Scotty Wood, Chair of the Estero Council of Community Leaders (ECCL) Property Insurance Task Force prepared the following report:
 
The Florida legislature and Governor Crist listened to the residents and passed a bill that will help Floridians by reducing the present high cost of property insurance (estimates range from15 to 40%).
 
The ECCL’s 24 member Insurance Task Force developed a statement of 13 guiding principles for property insurance reform that we transmitted to both the  Florida House and Senate prior to their special session which convened on January 16th. Review of the new law that the Governor signed last week reveals that no less than 12 of the 13 guiding principles are embodied in the new law, in one way or another.

How our Guiding Principles Were Satisfied

Number 1: Requiring insurance companies to offer higher deductibles and/or reduced coverages and grant reasonable premium credits therefore is embodied in the new law. 
 
Number 3: Liberalization of regulations for condominium association self funding is another part of the new law. 
 
Numbers 4 & 5:  Encouraging consistent enforcement of new building codes and providing incentives for property owners to improve older structures' resistance to storms were also included.
 
Number 6:  Requiring that insurance companies have their senior management and chief actuary sign off on rate filings as being "reasonable and actuarially sound" are included in the law.
 
Number 7 & 8:  Providing incentives for insurers to increase their property insurance writings in Florida as well as incentives to foreign reinsurers to enter the state are also included in the law. 
 
Number 9:  The new law requires that insurers who write auto insurance in Florida and auto and property insurance in other states must begin to write property insurance in Florida.
 
Number 10: Our principles recommended that the licensing of Florida-only subsidiaries be curtailed, and the new law provides for this.
 
Number 11:  Allowing Citizens Insurance Company to become a competitive insurer as opposed to its current "insurer of last resort" role provides an important injection of competition into the Florida property insurance marketplace, and the new law does this.
 
Number 12: Our principles recommended an increase in state funding to Citizens and the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, and hundreds of millions of dollars have been appropriated for this purpose.
 
Finally, we recommended that Florida approach the US Congress to enact a Comprehensive National Catastrophe Insurance Plan. Last week,  following letters written by Governor Crist to the leaders of the US Congress, the Florida Congressional delegation met and affirmed its' intent to introduce this legislation in the current session of Congress.
 
This may sound like we are claiming responsibility for the new law. This is really not the case because our guiding principles were similar to recommendations from other consumer/resident groups across the state. The important thing is that the legislators and the Governor listened to the people, and enacted legislation "for the people". It's refreshing to see this. 
 
As with any significant new law, there will be trials and tribulations with its implementation, and some insurers may even choose to withdraw from the state, but in the long run, the legislature and the Governor "did the right thing".  The ECCL Insurance Task Force will monitor implementation of the new law and will not hesitate to get involved if circumstances warrant. Democracy lives

Arts Estero Report

Arts Estero, Coconut Point Mall Team Up…

An Evening on Fashion Drive, January 18 was the first cooperative venture between Coconut Point Mall and Arts Estero. Arts Estero:
·         three stations of entertainment acts along with the Art Gallery at the management office,
·         poured 700 glasses of wine and ran out quickly,
·         estimated more than 1,000 people were attracted to the mall because of the event,
·         Membership brochures went flying thanks to volunteers talking up membership benefits in the Greater Estero Cultural Arts Council, Inc. In policing the area after the event, volunteers found no evidence that membership brochures were discarded. 

Symphony Plays First Concert at Park…

On January 20th, the Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra (SWFSO) played at Estero Community Park. Crowd estimates ranged from 2,000 to 3,000. First-time glitches included:
 
·         Failure of recognition of the efforts of ECCL’s and Arts Estero’s role in bringing the concert to fruition;
·         Rehearsal time scheduled when the sun was in the players’ eyes;
·         Insufficient time for the audio technician to balance the system;
·         Lack of a promised VIP section.
 
All of these concerns will be addressed and corrected for the Sunday March 4 concert at 4:00 p.m. Not so incredibly, people came out of the proverbial woodwork and were thrilled with the prospect of the SWFSO playing at Estero Community Park. Commissioner Ray Judah said he would publicly thank the concert’s promoters and the contributors at the January 30 BOCC meeting.

Board Members Added…

Two new board members were added to the Greater Estero Cultural Arts Council, Inc. at the January meeting. Gary Queen of Shadowwood in the Brooks is an investment consultant with an MBA in finance and a BBA degree in management. David Casto of Spring Run in the Brooks is a professional fund raiser and served as the Executive Director of the United Way in New Jersey. Both gentlemen have the expertise to bring Arts Estero further into its development as a premier Arts organization in Southwest Florida.

Two-Day Festival Celebrates Coconut Mall and Arts Estero February 16 and 17…

Simon Property Group, in cooperation with Arts Estero, invites everyone to a two-day festival celebrating Coconut Point Town Center from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Friday, February 16 and Saturday, February 17. The Town Center will be transformed into a gigantic stage with a dozen entertainment stations. Musical acts and art exhibits will delight your senses as you stroll along Fashion Drive. This event is the largest ever undertaken by Arts Estero and will arguably be the biggest arts celebration to descend upon Estero.

Volunteer Workers Orientation Set for February 12…

Volunteer orientation for the February 16-17 event is at the clubhouse of the Villages at Country Creek, 7:00 p.m. Monday, February 12. The clubhouse entrance is on the north side of Corkscrew Road between Three Oaks Parkway and Via Coconut Point. At the orientation volunteers will be instructed where to report and at what time. We have three volunteer time slots for each entertainment station. The slots are 11:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m., and 3:00 p.m. All times are –ish: Eleven-ish, one-ish, three-ish. At orientation you will learn your exact time slot. Please be sure to include first and second choices. You may volunteer for either Friday or Saturday or both. Orientation is only days away! To volunteer, send a message with your name, phone number and e-mail address to artsestero@esterofl.org .

Library Outdoor Concert March 3…

The Cypress Lake High School Chamber Orchestra will play an outdoor concert of Celtic music Saturday March 3 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon at South County Regional Library located at 21100 Three Oaks Parkway, just north of Corkscrew Road in Estero. This free concert is underwritten by Friends of South County Regional Library, Inc. Under the direction of Mr. Michael Simpson, the chamber group consists of two violins, viola, cello and string bass.

SWFSO Encore March 4…

The Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra returns to Estero Community Park with a free concert at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday March 4. If January 20 was any indication, the support for a symphony orchestra in the Estero area is large and growing.

The next meeting will be February 28, 2007, the fourth Wednesday of the month, at Estero Community Park from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. Current and future members of Arts Estero are always welcome to attend.