MINUTES
SMART GROWTH
December 19, 2007 Minutes
Time and Place:
Wednesday,
December 19, 2007 from 6-8
p.m., 1st Floor, Lee County Administration Building at 2115
Second Street, Fort Myers, Florida.
1.
Call to Order, Introductions,
Review of Agenda
Chairman Bill Hammond called the meeting
of the Lee County Smart Growth Advisory Committee to order at 6:06 p.m.
The
following committee members in attendance:
Dr. Margaret Banyan
Ms. Liz Paul
Mr. Ron Hamel
Ms. Whitney Gray
Mr. Neal Noethlich
Ms. Margaret Fineberg
Ms. Carie Call
Dr. Bill Hammond-Chairman
The following
committee members excused absence:
Ms. Jill Tyrer
Mr. Mike Mullins
Mr. Brian Griffin, Co-Chairman
Mr. Lee Ford
Ms. Ellen Lindblad
Mr. Damon Romanello
Mr. Steven Teuber
Commissioner Tammy Hall
The following staff
in attendance:
Wayne Daltry, Director of Smart Growth
Tim Jones, County Attorney
Lucy Crook, Recording Secretary
Mr. Daltry said Agenda Item 3.C is
postponed because Dan Moser is sick. There were no objections or
additions to the agenda.
2.
Administrative Matters
A. Minutes of October 17th, 2007.
Action Needed: Accept and Approve the minutes as amended by
discussion of the members.
MOTION: Chairman Hammond called the vote to
accept the October 17, 2007 draft minutes. Ms. Call moved to accept the
draft minutes as written; seconded by Ms. Gray. Called and carried.
3.
Discussion: Mr. Daltry referred to the
handout,
Incorporation, attached and introduced Mr. Mazurkiewicz.
A. Steps involved in Incorporation Assessments-Joseph Mazurkiewicz
Mr. Mazurkiewicz gave a summary of his “bio” including the 17
feasibility reports he has done for entities in SW Florida. See
attachment for content of his presentation. Some of what he said
follows. He explained the statutes for the State of Florida for an area
to incorporate and the requirements. A sentinel event was the reason for
incorporation in the 16 of the 17 reports he has done. He referred to
Fort Myers Beach, Lehigh Acres, Golden Gate, etc.
Reasons to establish another layer of government: 1) presently
unhappy with the level of service from your local government, 2) afraid
that the local government cannot protect the unique characteristic of
community and, 3) if yes to 1 and 2 and there is a belief that there is
no chance to change relationship to local government, or if the county
would do a local plan? If not, a feasibility study should be done and he
explained the steps. He talked about state shared revenues. Out of 17
corporations he has done, only 2 incorporated because they all had
“silver bullets”, i.e.; Golden Gate, Boca Grande and Captiva, etc.
He opened the floor for questions:
Mr. Luft referred to Miami’s donor areas who figured out if they
incorporated they could keep the tax base. The county changed it to,
nobody incorporates unless a special fee is paid to offset the drain on
income from low income areas – no bed taxes. He questioned Lee
County’s demographics and to what extent does Lee County have this
situation. He said that is what happens with donor areas. The
incorporated MSTBU millage would have to rise and final boundaries
established. This could be prevented by charging for services as
Pinellas County or the Sheriff does.
Mr.
Mazurkiewicz explained to Mr. Noethlich, (using Pinellas as a working
example) what is the defining piece to a 2 mile buffer? He explained
that Pinellas County negotiated the boundaries, what to fund MSTBU, what
amount for property tax, and address where to annex. Ms. Gray talked
about how Pinellas County deals with enclaves in unincorporated areas
and the buffer. In answer to Ms. Fineberg’s question Mr. Mazurkiewicz
said when other cities incorporate, the county takes a big hit in
revenue because the ad valorum taxes go directly to that community. It
is important to find a way to provide services and compete positively,
or county salaries would be cut.
Mr. Luft said Smart Growth advocates economical sustainability. He asked
in his feasibility analysis what threshold does density and value of
property (McMansion’s) like Lehigh sprawl, get a sustainable development
pattern? Mr. Mazurkiewicz said it is no longer sustainable when over 50%
of the lots are developed. Lehigh’s cash cow is shrinking. When a
community incorporates, the chance to have a sustainable development
pattern is gone. The county could look at advocating policies on
incorporation to preserve the ability to create a sustainable community
before preempted by the incorporated process. Lehigh is the last viable
community in Lee County. Density can come through redeveloping
vertical integration, redeveloping in an existing commercial area,
and eventually density will support mass transit, but it is a slow
process.
B.
Mining, the needs of the Industry-Ronald Inge
Mr. Inge gave his bio and gave an overview of mining. Some of the issues
he talked about were the physical steps of mining, including fill dirt
and rock used in the building and landscape industry. Rock is used for
cement, asphalt, concrete block. It is excavated by drag lines for up to
a year to drain the water back to the lake. This rock material is not
found everywhere. Most of the resources are in the DRGR area. He said
Lakes Parks is an example of an old quarry. Lakes along I-75 are small
quarries from building interstates.
He
talked about the DRGR. He explained that mining did not challenge
density because housing developments are not good neighbors to quarry’s,
but development continues to move into quarry areas.
In
order to sustain the construction industry to build communities, we have
to have availability of resources. This resource would be more expensive
for Lee County if it were shipped in. Railway is the shipping source.
The
News Press did an investigation on trafficking in Lee County because
people talked about the evils of trucking. The study showed dump
trucks caused fewer accidents. He talked about the long term view on
planning a quarry (mining has used this for 20 years) to include a 500’
set back from property line until they got a no from county staff. The
mining zone has thousands of acres that are not used.
Mr.
Inge agreed with Chairman Hammond that mining reservoirs could be used
for drinking water. Every mine after 1986 is required by Florida Statute
to have a berm planted with a variety of trees and a shelf that slopes
into the water.
FYI,
it takes 38,000 tons to build 1 mile of 1 single lane and 400,000 tons
to build an average house. I-75 requires massive material. Having
several mining producers keeps the price down and determines the
market for rock. Trying to market a better price in cents per ton
than competitor is the nature of the competition between mining
companies.
Questions: Mr. Inge answered Ms. Gray’s question on where, besides
Lee County, is the rock sold. Due to the cost of shipping and no
railway, the rock is sold within a 50 mile radius.
Mr. Luft asked about the eco system and the effect of stripping all soil
off of the rock and carting it away. (He referenced the Rain Forest.)
Mr. Inge said muck is stockpiled in permitted areas creating hundreds of
mitigation acres. There was concern on land use concept of mines with
surrounding subdivisions and the possibility of government offering a
density bonus, - an economic incentive to restore the environment and
avoid redevelopment. Mr. Inge said it is a good if your objective is to
create a water supply. He explained that the effect of water filtering
through the rock is not changed because rock is only removed in
sections. Chairman Hammond explained that the lake water evaporates, but
could stack water in the impoundments to raise the water level, and
create a cash cow through storage fees.
C. Complete Streets, providing for complete transportation options-Dan
Moser: Tabled.
4.
Task Progress:
A.
Member Issues: See handout,
Status Report DR/GR Action Plan
September through December 1, 2007 for Mr. Daltry’s overview.
B.
Other Progress Reports: Some of the issues Mr. Daltry reviewed were:
upgrade in commercial areas; Army Corp of Engineers moved target of Lake
flows up to 50% to reduce the drought impact on grass pads; the
Legislature passed the deadlines and the Water Management District is
taking this serious. Regarding the Watershed Plan, water treatment
facility is proposed up river; issues have been raised and pursued in
the River, Lake and Kissimmee Management; Lee County has made an impact
on the spillway issue; the Board probably will toll I-75; and add to the
list rural lands.
Mr.
Daltry read to Attorney Tim Jones a
Resolution from the Smart Growth
Committee honoring his service with the Committee.
5.
Public Comment: There was none.
Motion
to adjourn at 8:00 p.m. by Mr. Luft; seconded by Mr. Noethlich. Called
and carried.
6. Set next meeting date (January
16, 2008)
Respectfully submitted by:
Lucy
Crook, Recording Secretary
County
Administration
Lee
