Draft Minutes
September 15, 2004
I. CALL ALL TO ORDER, INTRODUCTIONS, REVIEW OF AGENDA
Bill Hammond opened the meeting of the Lee
County Smart Growth Advisory Committee at 6:04 p.m., in the First Floor
Meeting Room of the Lee County Administration Building.
The following Committee
Members were in attendance:
Mr. Jack Eikenberg
Mr. Arnold Rosenthal
Ms. Ellen Lindblad
Mr. Bill Hammond
Mr. O. Lee Ford
Ms. Jill Tyrer
The following staff
was in attendance:
Mr. Don Stilwell,
County Manager
Mr. Bob Janes,
Commissioner District 1
Wayne Daltry,
Director Smart Growth
Tim Jones, County
Attorney
Patricia McIntyre,
Recording Secretary
The following
Committee members were excused absent:
Ms.
Jeannie Dozier
Mr. Steve Smith
Mr. Tim Kenney
Mr. Don Eslick
Mr. Rob Fowler
Mr. Dennis Gilkey
Mr. Brian Griffin
Mr. Rudy Marian
Mr. Steve Maxwell
It was determined
that the criteria for a quorum was not met. The meeting would continue,
but no issues will be voted upon.
II.
ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS
A. MINUTES
OF June 16th, 2004 will be reviewed for acceptance at the
October 20th, 2004 meeting.
III.
PRESENTATIONS:
None Planned
A.
Review of Schools as Community Activity Centers
Wayne Daltry presented a
follow-up on the Schools as Community Centers issues. Kathy Babcock
was unable to obtain the information requested regarding School
activities due to the recent weather issues.
The School Board was requested to
examine what community activities take place, including those after 3
p.m. Types of Activities are:
·
Before/After School
Programs
·
Holiday Camps
·
Head Start Program
·
Summer Breakfast/Lunch
Programs
·
Title I Migrant Program
·
Youth Sports Leagues
·
Governmental Agencies
·
Community Events
·
Hurricane Shelters
·
Religious Organizations
·
Shared Facilities with
County & Cities
·
YMCA Partnerships
County GIS, Amy Hoyt, has
provided a map of the locations of School buildings and County owned
buildings (displayed). The map’s purpose is to help identify potential
village centers. Other information shown includes churches and other
public agency buildings.
IV.
ACTION
SECTION
A.
Concept
Paper, Smart Growth
The
Lee County Evaluation and Appraisal Report was forwarded to the DCA
about 3 weeks ago. Smart Growth Recommendations address such issues as
mixed-use, affordable housing and creation of jobs. Wayne said
the mixed-use development is a piece of the village center idea.
The volumes of Lee County Development
Code are being reviewed to identify the impediments in the current
county land regulations that work against mixed-use. There are some
unintended consequences of “exclusionary” regulations.
Arnold Rosenthal said affordable
housing is available in Lee County; however, the people living in
affordable housing leave their homes every morning and drive to their
high-paying job in Collier County thus creating a transportation
problem. How do we keep people working in this county? Mr. Daltry
said the other side of that issue is to promote affordable housing in
the areas where people are working and making the most money. There is
nothing wrong with talking to our “neighbors” about our expectations of
improved transportation alliances.
Ellen Lindblad asked for good
examples of successful mixed-use communities. Mr. Daltry said
old Time Square, and Downtown Fort Myers are examples. The apartment
complex behind the Edison Mall is another. Mr. Hammond said the
Pacific North West has a lot of good examples of mixed-use communities.
There, they maintain the small hometown atmosphere, walking distance
regional complexes and beautiful commons parks.
The existence of gated communities was
discussed.
Problems were
identified as:
·
Traffic flow – one way in
and/or out creating traffic problems;
·
Exclusivity – you have to
leave to do anything;
·
Connectivity – you don’t
have the feeling of belonging to the neighborhood;
·
False sense of security.
Other issues were
identified as:
·
If gated communities have
pools and other amenities, why do they need to financially support
community parks;
·
Revenues from gated
communities support the surrounding areas.
Mr. Rosenthal asked why the
existence of gated communities was a problem. Mr. Daltry said
when the management system of a gated community fails, the community
falls apart. He also said when so many gated communities are around;
they lose their exclusivity or special appeal.
Don Stilwell said the fact that
gated communities are carrying Lee County, through higher tax returns,
needs to be noted.
Ellen Lindblad said the biggest
problem with gated communities is the transportation and roadway network
that is going to fail. This prohibits the areas from having a viable
community park system and community center. Ms. Lindblad
also said it is a health issue as far as emergency vehicles having quick
access to all areas.
V.
OTHER
BUSINESS
A.
Subcommittee Update: Fire Consolidation Subcommittee
The documents from the meeting were
previously mailed out. Wayne said Fire & Rescue Services have
morphed into incident management. Issues to consider are:
·
Understanding water
systems;
·
Code Enforcement;
·
Lack of clear interface
between urban and rural areas.
Mr. Daltry
said what came out of the meeting is there is no clear countywide
statement of what would constitute a core level service for fire. We do
have one on rescue – ambulances.
Mr. Daltry said he has been asked
to conduct an assessment of hurricane effects and recovery. (what we
did right – what we did wrong – and what recommendations are there for
those issues). This will be addressed at a later meeting.
B.
Progress
Report:
Mr. Daltry
referred to the projects and issues current standings: (what has been
happening with the Recommendations)
·
Lehigh Acres Study
·
Groundwater Resources
Study
·
Babcock Ranch
·
Caloosahatchee River
Management
·
Affordable Housing
·
Lee Master Mitigation Plan
·
EAR
·
Stormwater Management
·
Sludge
·
Transportation Concurrency
Management
·
Brownfield
·
Mixed-use communities
Mr. Eikenberg asked if there was a time frame issued by the Board
of County Commissioners on the Smart Growth Recommendations. Mr.
Daltry said this was a 2-year program that finished in 18 months.
The Smart Growth Committee is now an “audit on progress”.
C.
Member
Issues:
Bill Hammond asked if there were any member issues to bring to the
table:
·
Arnold Rosenthal
said the infield blasting issue still needs to be handled.
·
Bill Hammond said
surface water management issues also need to be addressed.
Mr. Daltry said a workshop was scheduled for October 8th
on that particular issue. It has been rescheduled to another date in
November.
·
Arnold Rosenthal
said land purchased in DRGR, annexed into Bonita Springs and then
approved to build 6 units per acre instead of 1 unit per 10-acre area,
is a problem. Commissioner Janes said this issue is being
looked into.
VI.
PUBLIC
COMMENT
Mr. Dan Moser said during the recent hurricanes, EMS, Lee Tran and
Good Wheels were providing services that were exemplary.
VII.
SET NEXT
MEETING DATE
A.
October 20th, 2004 at 6:00 p.m. at the Lee County
Administration Building, First Floor Conference Room, 2115 Second
Street, Ft. Myers, FL.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:45 p.m.
Respectfully
submitted,
Patricia A.
McIntyre
