ESTERO COMMUNITY PLANNING PANEL

Minutes of Public Meeting #134 – December 19, 2011

Estero Community Park, Estero, Florida

Panel Members Present:  Jack Lienesch, Chairman, Estero Community Association; Neal Noethlich, Emeritus Chairman; Ned Dewhirst, Estero Development Community; Jeff Maas, Estero Chamber of Commerce; John Goodrich, ECCL; Erik Dickens, ECCL; Paul Roberts, Southland Group; Judy Beach, Recording Secretary, ECCL; and Bev MacNellis, Treasurer.  Absent: Greg Toth, Founding Member.

Also present, Kathie Ebaugh, Division of Planning, Lee County Department of Community Development; Daniel DeLisi, DeLisi Fitzgerald, Inc.

Public Notice:  Beach reported that the meeting notice was posted at the South County Regional Library, Realty World of Estero, the BB&T and Fifth Third Banks and the ECPP website.

Approval of Minutes:   Goodrich: Motion to waive the reading of the minutes of the November 22nd meeting and accept them as written.  Dickens: Seconded.   Accepted unanimously.

Treasurer’s Report:  Treasurer MacNellis reported a balance of $2,157.67.  Goodrich: Motion to accept the report.  Dewhirst: Seconded.   Accepted unanimously.

PRESENTATIONS

Hans Wilson, Hans Wilson & Associates, Inc., Marine and Environmental Consultants, made a presentation requesting a Special Exception zoning change for Sunny Grove Mobile Home Park detailing the proposed improvements and updating of the existing docking facility.  After discussion, the Panel had no objection and supported the project.

ECPP

Update on LDC Signage Improvements.  Planning panel members Lienesch, Goodrich, Dewhirst, Roberts and Noethlich attended a meeting with Lee County Zoning, Planning and Code Committee members today regarding revising certain portions of the LDC signage language in Estero’s Chapter 33.  Various Land Development Code Committees will meet in a sequence starting in February to initiate the process of getting these changes approved.  Most are simple updates to clarify our codes and fix problems that have developed in interpretation; one requires a review of monument signs by our community prior to releasing a building permit and will require a change in the county process for sign approval unique to Estero.  Estimated time for approvals assuming all goes smoothly will be approximately May 2012.

Community Plan Update Project   After two public meetings this fall, the panel agreed that they would not advertise or solicit bids for consultants for this project, which will be partially funded by County funds.  Instead we will use a direct grant approach based on our knowledge of the requirements and local talent available. 

The selection of DeLisi Fitzgerald, Inc as the lead planner and project manager was announced.  DeLisi will submit a proposed contract.   He will also be added to the ECPP agenda each meeting.

DeLisi indicated he wanted to include Land Architects, Inc. (Bill Prysi) and McHarris Planning and Design (Joe McHarris) as subcontractors for this effort, focusing on the LDC Chapter 33 updates.  Prysi and McHarris are members of the EDRC.  DeLisi also proposed to include the skills of another planner, Jeff Rapson, principal of Orlando-based Court Street Partners LLC, for the Goal 19 update.  Rapson has worked on Estero projects in the past and comes highly recommended.  Rapson was interviewed by telephone by several panel members prior to the panel’s agreement for this selection.

The panel feels this combination of local talent with some outside “big picture” expertise can provide an optimum solution to our needs at a reasonable cost.  Additionally, the panel specifically concurs with DeLisi that Prysi and McHarris are the local firms we want for this project.

Funding Estero’s Portion of Lee County LDC   Lienesch to contact Don Eslick regarding status of Claire Hauenstein’s progress on grant applications.  Some communities pledged funds during the Village with a Vision presentations at their communities. We need to establish a procedure for the budget draws from those committed funds from these communities going forward.

Member Issue

After two years of service, Erik Dickens announced his resignation from the ECPP due to business travel.  He is one of the two members representing ECCL on the panel.  Lienesch will contact Don Eslick regarding a replacement panel member.

OTHER ITEMS:

WCI Pelican Landing DRI rezone status: Due to a request to push the build out date, many zoning signs were posted in Pelican Landing creating confusion for residents as to what was going on.  Attorney Neale Montgomery and Barry Ernst from WCI were present to answer any of the panel’s questions. This is a normal process and no issues were noted.

Chase Bank Lighting.  Now in compliance…up lights on the facades have been disconnected.

Storage Space for ECPP, EDRC and ECCL files:  Extra Space Storage has been approached for a charity unit for Estero.  A suggestion was made to request the largest space available because there are past, current and future documents for all three of these committees.  Lienesch will continue his dialog with Dave Vivancos of ESS to determine the best way forward.

Announcements:

Friday, January 13, 2012 ECCL’s 100th Meeting Anniversary

After the meeting, coffee and cake will be served at the historical home in the Estero Community Park to celebrate.

Sunday, March 4, 2012 Annual  ECCL “All Play and No Work” Event

Angelino’s Restaurant will be the venue again. This year we are requesting a donation $20 which includes wine and appetizers – no raffles. Estero’s Village Visionary Award is presented at this meeting each year.  Reservations/tickets: Bev MacNellis, (239) 498-0678.

ADJOURNMENT

Goodrich: Motion to adjourn meeting. Roberts: Seconded. Accepted unanimously.

Panel was adjourned at 8:00 p.m.

NEXT REGULAR MEETING: 

Monday, January 23, 2012, 6 p.m., Estero Community Park. NOTE: One week later due to MLK holiday on January 16, 2012.