Community Character Workshop Recommendations

August 20, 2003

The Community Character Issues from the Smart Growth Committee have been divided into 6 clusters.  Recommendations were developed which have been retranscribed into the issue format below.  A recommendation may have applicability to more than one issue. 

Each recommendation applies to at least one role of the Board of County Commissioners, either as a regional entity (“R”), de facto City Council (“Ci”), an Advocate (“A”), or the Forum for discussion (“F”), the latter role also applying by leading through example.

Each recommendation will require the County to use one or more of its functions, and these functions will preliminarily be shown as general government funding/taxation/budget (“B”), police power/planning/regulatory (“P”), enterprise activity/incentives/special taxing effort (“E”), or intergovernmental coordination (“I”), the latter function will indicate with whom the effort will need to be enacted.

I.  Education and Schools in the Community

         *    Recognizing and ensuring education and education facilities are part of the community social structure.

A.     Ensuring school funding overall, and priority funding for establishing or retrofitting schools that fit into the character of the community that they are in. 

1.    (“A”)The BoCC shall endorse the School Board’s through resolution to increase state funding to meet, at a minimum, national average standards and the upholding of our Florida State Constitutional Requirements.  (“I”)

2.  (“A”) Recommend smaller community schools, particularly for K-6,  to  make them an overall community asset. (“I”)

3. (“Ci”) Continue the joint use facilities co-location program.  (“P”, “E”)

B.      How do we get back to the neighborhood school concept, and ensuring that neighborhoods with school age children should have access to a quality education within their community, thus reducing school bus time and costs.

1 (“Ci”) The BoCC should encourage diversity within neighborhoods to create community schools and minimize busing.  (“P”)

2.  (“Ci”)  Reestablish requirements in Comp Plan to incentivize developments to provide school sites on or off-site.  Fast track permitting could be used as an incentive.  (“P”)

II.  Community Social Service Safety Net

         *    Establishing and maintaining our responsibility for the currently disadvantaged

A.     Establish a level of social service care geographic distribution and outreach, and core level of service for the community, along with core level of service for mental health and substance abuse.

1.      (“R”,”Ci”)  Restructure the community social services programs to a holistic approach to ensure maximum effectiveness of the services delivered to the community.  (“P”)

2.      (“R”) The BoCC should establish the Human Services Council (HSC) in the development of a strategic plan with guiding principles and funding to maximize service delivery effectiveness  (“P”, “B”, “E”)

3.       (‘R”) The BoCC shall review all the regulations/guidelines/funding that regulate the social services programs to stipulate coordination among the agencies that provide the service.  (“I”, “P”)

B.     Assess the practices that reduce crime potential, and whether Lee County promotes or impedes these practices.

1.      (“Ci”) Create a “youth corps” to employ and educate youth by working with agencies and assisting with conservation/maintenance/environmental programs. (“P”, “E”)

2.      (“Ci”,“A”)Establish structured summer/year-round recreation/educational programs through school/not-for-profit organizations. (“P”,”E”,”I”)

3.      (“Ci”) The BoCC should provide funds for more community based policing to also address adult/minors’ activities and behaviors. (“E”)

III.  Accommodating Diversity without Creating Exclusion

         *    Recognizing one approach or answer may not be appropriate for all persons or all situations.

A.     The distribution of affordable housing should be widespread, and not concentrated into few areas within the county, with the assistance, involvement, and commitment of public and private employers.

1.       (“A”)  The BoCC shall display a public attitude that encourages housing and reinforces diversity through county housing programs to increase integration, workforce housing, and economic development zones.  (“P”)

2.       (“Ci”)  Encourage development regulation that provides a better mix of housing so that high income/low income homes achieve a better mix to reduce crime and increase integration and service delivery.  (“P”)

3.       (“Ci”) To increase affordable/accessible Housing, the BoCC should explore through the plan review and permitting process a greater (30%) mix of workforce/affordable/accessible housing within approved developments.  (“P”)

4.       (“Ci”) Change the development regulations to ensure an increased mixed-use development pattern that requires integration of affordable housing.  Do not allow options for not providing this affordable housing on site.  (“P”)

IV.  Aging and Revitalization

         *    Recognizing that aging and deterioration must constantly be kept from creating decay within the community.

A.     Revitalization and redevelopment lag behind new development in priority and incentive provision.

1. (“Ci”)  The BoCC should incentivize private developers to revitalize the shopping centers and aging communities.  (“P”,”E”)

B.      Neighborhoods on the cusp – how do we keep them from going down, preserving the owner/renter mix?

1.  (“Ci”)  The BoCC should incentivize historic preservation of neighborhoods and structures.  (“P”,”E”)

C.     How to we stay even with or ahead of the aging infrastructure/buildings issue.

1.      (“A”) The BoCC needs to provide leadership to incentivize individuals to maintain and rehab existing neighborhoods and structures. (“P”,”E”)

D.     We need to provide incentives for redevelopment to be accomplished by new development.

1.       (“Ci”) The BoCC should promote and incentivize development in the existing urban areas and “hold the line” in limiting development in rural areas.  (“P”,”E”)

E.      How do we develop the geographic scale of management to meet the geographic level of the problem?

1.       (“Ci”) The BoCC should continue community planning efforts.  The community planning areas should be smaller geographically.  (“P”,”E”)

V.   Community Based Planning

         *    Promoting small scale approaches for small area issues

A.     Underused or absent neighborhood leadership to plan and maintain communities.

1. (“A”) The BoCC encourage and support civic associations through an ombudsman, similar to the way of the Horizon Council. (“P”)

B.      Public information systems and current policies do not encourage viable community development.

1. (“R”, “Ci”,“A”)  The BoCC should create a community livability (smart growth) index program countywide to target funds to areas of greatest need.  This program should relate to the community plans and development approval process.  (“P”)

C.     Establish a base of standards for any community plan in Lee County.

1. (“Ci”)  The BoCC should continue to encourage the preservation of archeological sites through the LDRs and encourage historical tourism, sense of place, and natural areas.  (“P”)

2. (“Ci”) The BoCC should review development regulations to increase interconnectivity of communities.  (“P”)

3. (“Ci”, “A”) The BoCC should establish a base of standards for any community plan in Lee County.  (“P”,”E”)

F.      What will it take to help Cape Coral and Lehigh Acres diversify?

1.  (“R”,”Ci”)  The BoCC should provide a program to address the county held tax certificates, for land banking, and for lot assemblage.  This activity would improve community development, water quality enhancement, etc.  (“P”,”E”)

VI.  The Community and Economy Interface

         *    Recognizing that function--the economy--and form–the community-- guide each other in development and change.)

A.     County and City economic and community development efforts should compliment and further each other’s plans according to agreed upon outcomes.

1. (“R”,”Ci”,”A”)  The BoCC should ensure that the county and city’s economic and community development efforts are coordinated with each other’s plans according to agreed upon outcomes.  (“P”,”B”,”E”,”I”)

B.      The TIF program should used and targeted for project certain, time certain, and dollar specific inputs and outcomes.

1. (“Ci”)  The BoCC should reexamine the CRA process and designation of areas.  The applications of funding mechanisms such as TIF should be reassessed.  The CRA areas should be much more targeted.  (“P”,”E”)