1. CALL TO ORDER, INTRODUCTIONS, REVIEW OF AGENDA
The meeting of the Lee County Smart Growth Advisory Committee was opened by Co-Chairman Mr. Dennis Gilkey at 6:05 p.m., in the First Floor Meeting Room of the Lee County Administration Building. The following Committee Members were in attendance:
Ms. Jeannie Dozier
Mr. Jack Eikenberg
Mr. Lee Ford
Mr. Rob Fowler
Mr. Dennis Gilkey
Mr. Bill Hammond
Mr. Rudy Marion
Mr. Arnold Rosenthal
Mr. Steve Smith
The following Committee members were excused absent:
Mr. Don Eslick
Mr. Bob Janes
Mr. Steve Maxwell (represented by Kathy Malone)
Mr. Don Stilwell
The following Committee members were absent:
Ms. Kate English
Mr. Tim Kenny
2. ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS
A. MINUTES OF OCTOBER 15, 2003.
Accept and approve the Minutes as amended by discussion of the members.
Mr. Brian Griffin moved to adopt the Minutes with a correction to Page 3, (bottom of the page), Item 5 A; change the word “pool” to “poor”, seconded by Mr. Jack Eikenberg, called and carried.
Mr. Ralph Bove, with the consulting firm of DRMP, made the presentation. He noted that his firm is under contract to the Lee County Board of County Commissioners to study proposed improvements involving the extension of CR 951 from Immokalee Road in Collier County to Alico Road in Lee County. He distributed an overview of the project and also a series of maps. The Project Development and Environmental (PD&E) Study is a process commonly used by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). Both the Lee and Collier County Boards of County Commissioners have joined with FDOT in partnership on this project study. Mr. Bove introduced Mr. Don Berry (Lee County Department of Transportation), as the Project Manager. A question and answer period followed the presentation.
3. ACTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS SECTION
A. REVIEW COMPOSITE FINALIZED RECOMMENDATIONS (distributed)
Mr. Wayne Daltry opened discussion on this topic. A new “Composite Finalized Recommendations of the Smart Growth Committee” and a sheet entitled “Elegant Few” were distributed. Mr. Daltry reviewed the Elegant Few “A” List, which includes projects that are currently underway:
1. Mitigation Plan/Green Flowways – Mitigation Plan is being assembled by the Regional Planning Council and will go before the MPO this week; Green Flowways, is being worked on by County Staff
2. Greyfields (sorta), workforce housing/multiuse sites – Mr. Daltry will write this topic up during December
3. Brownfields – there are 300 known sites in Fort Myers alone
4. Lehigh Assessment – a contract has been let to update the population forecast in a build-out timeline; this will be done by Mr. Paul Van Buskirk and Mr. Carleton Ryffel; Lee County Planning Department is proposing a series of evaluation reports for possible future Comp Plan amendments.
5. Platted Lands – is being worked on by a joint Task Force of the Urban Land Institute, the American Planning Association, the Regional Planning Council of Lee County, Cape Coral, Charlotte County and Collier County. He pointed out how the Task Force is working on legislation for redevelopment, without the use of blight; even though the Legislature defined substandard lots as blighted, the lots in Lehigh are not substandard – there are just too many of them. Over 17,000 lots in Lehigh have not had taxes paid on them.
6. Transportation concurrency – Lee County under agreement with the State dropped the concurrency program three years ago; they now want to go back on that system. This item will be included in the EAR recommendation
7. Human Services Council – the Council has been launched; we have high hopes for them
8. Groundwater Resources update – 1st Step to DRGR update (mining) – this is underway; by next September the DR component will be complete along with the mining study
9. Caloosahatchee River and Estuary (Board approved 9 point policy) – the Board has been active on this
During discussion on the “A” List, Mr. Arnold Rosenthal again requested a glossary of “Growth Management Terms”. In response to Committee inquiry, legal opinions were rendered by Assistant County Attorney Tim Jones.
Mr. Daltry noted that only Ms. Ellen Lindblad and Mr. Dennis Gilkey had turned in their Elegant Few; therefore, they are the only ones on the list. Co-Chairman Gilkey reviewed those items on the list and the Committee added others as the discussion progressed. The list now reads:
Land Use
1. (Buildout) A. 1-4
2. (Infill) B 1-3
3. (Greenways) A 1-3
4. (Platted Lands) A 1, 3
Following a short break, discussion continued. The Committee participated in an in-depth discussion on the need for more hurricane shelters. It was agreed to add it to Transportation as follows:
Transportation
1. (Hurricane preparedness) C 1
10. (Congestion) B. 1
11. (Congestion) C. 1
Water and Environment
12. (Water quality) A. 5
12. (Water quality) D 6, 7
12. (Water quality) E 1-6
14. (Environmental quality) A 1-3
14 (Environmental quality) B 1-4
14 (Environmental quality) H 1-6
14 (Environmental quality) F 1 should read: “Require outside vegetation incineration to have air curtain incinerators, properly designed”.
Community Character
16. (Renumbered 16, Education) A 1-3
20 (Community Based Planning) C 3 to be linked with Land Use 5
Ms. Jeannie Dozier, Chairman, Lee County School Board, distributed literature detailing the School Board’s legislative platform. Following her explanation, Mr. Jack Eikenberg moved to eliminate 16, A, 2 concerning smaller schools, seconded by Mr. Brian Griffin, called and carried. Co-chairman Gilkey reiterated that the Elegant Few List contains the following 15 categories:
Infill issues
Greenways
Hurricane shelters
Hurricane evacuation
Roadway deficit funding
Storm Water Utilities
Flowways plans and funding
Caloosahatchee flow issues
Environmental monitoring enforcement
Carrying capacity
Mining Lakebelt issues
School funding
Community Planning
Mr. Brian Griffin moved to approve the above listed Elegant Few List, seconded by Mr. Jack Eikenberg, called and carried.
4. OTHER BUSINESS
A. PRELIMINARY OUTREACH STRATEGY:
1. Develop a Speaking Engagement List
2. Review Recommendations with each Community Planning Organization. (A staff report will need to be developed for each community, describing potential impact of recommendations.)
3. Meet with each appropriate County advisory body and staff. (A Committee chairman will be needed for these; staff will work with appropriate committee staffer on meeting date and agenda. The primary purpose will be to discuss potential impact of recommendations with each committee.)
4. Meet with appropriate non-county public agency. (A Committee chairman or a County Policy Board member – or both – will be needed for these.
Mr. Daltry briefly reviewed each of the above items.
B. STATUS REPORTS – AS RELEVANT (ALL)
5. PUBLIC COMMENT
6. SET NEXT MEETING DATE AND ADJOURN.
The next meeting is scheduled for December 17, 2003, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Lee County Administration Building, 1st Floor Meeting Room.
Mr. Arnold Rosenthal moved to cancel the meeting in December, seconded by Mr. Brian Griffin, called and carried. The next scheduled meeting will be for January 21, 2004, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Lee County Administration Building, 1st Floor Meeting Room.
Mr. Brian Griffin moved to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Ms. Jeannie Dozier, called and carried. The meeting was adjourned at 8:15 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Shirley E. Rost