Q&A with new Town Council Member Joanne Shamp
Long-time Local Planning Agency member Joanne Shamp was unanimously appointed at the Dec. 5 Fort Myers Beach Town Council meeting. Besides the support of the other board members, Shamp received praise from community members who spoke in favor of her appointment during public comment. Shamp will serve until March’s election, at which time three town council seats will be voted upon by residents. She has also filed by petition to run for that election to secure her place for the next term.
“I am appreciating the opportunity to serve this community that has welcomed me in 2004 and in so many ways enriched my life,” she said. “It’s an honor to give back in any way I can.”
Shamp served on the LPA, and by extension the Historic Preservation Board, since 2008. She’s also been involved in numerous other organizations and committees, and believes her experience delving into the land development code and comprehensive plan and her dedication to them when making decisions will be useful for the council.
What are your priorities, both now and if you should be elected?
First, getting this Estero Boulevard project completed as quickly and effectively as possible to fulfill vision of the comprehensive plan for a walk-able community, improved water quality and a safe and dependable evacuation route. It is the welcome mat to our island and the central vital link from north to south that we all share on a daily basis.
The fact is, we only have so much control, and the control we have is to work as cooperatively as possible with the county and other providers in any way that we can to get the project done as it’s envisioned for the town. Every resident, business, visitor has to cooperate by being tolerant with the inconvenience. I hope when the final project is completed, we will all feel it was worth the pain and expense.
My second priority is protecting our residential neighborhoods from commercial intrusion. I’m always concerned when proposals are made, particularly rezoning or TDC funds, like the suggested Virginia Avenue access. Our comp plan envisions the characteristics of a variety of areas – it provides for commercial areas, park areas and quiet residential neighborhoods. Residential is entitled to peace and protection. I say, those properties should be left alone unless a neighborhood in its entirety comes forward and requests something to be done.
My third priority is water quality. Everything we can do as a town and individuals to protect impacts occurring to our water quality need to be done. That includes the town council standing up and supporting anything that will negate the impacts of the Lake O releases; enforcing our fertilizer ordinance; and supporting the stormwater system on the boulevard.
Also, I hope to prioritize providing a level playing field by using the comp plan and LDC to ensure that all property owners are treated equally according to our regulations. You do that by following the rules. You need to know what the regulations are and you need to follow them. T
What should the town do about the discussed floodplain regulation changes?
The 50 percent rule, it needs to be reduced from a five-year limitation to a one year limitation so that property owners can improve their properties. This can be done, can be reduced, without negatively our CRS rating which gives us a favorable discount on our flood insurance. The reason why this is so important is it will assist property owners in preserving as many of our historic buildings as we can even through a period of redevelopment. Historic beach structures are one of several important facets of what give us our small beach town character.
What are your thoughts on development and how to manage it?
Controlling density and intensity of development, whether it is residential or commercial, is a critical part of the vision of our comprehensive plan. Any person who buys property has a right to develop it, within our LDC and comp plan. Individuals looking to buy property should do their due diligence and fully understand what the standards are for the property in the community they purchased. With redevelopment, we have some commercial design standards within our LDC and we have descriptions of some character within our comp plan. There’s a certain island style here that the community appreciates repeating in redevelopment whenever possible. Our community is interesting because it has the funky eclectic mix that is the town’s charm. We did try to describe the features of our historic structures and we encourage people to look at those as suggestions as tying new building into old. Unfortunately, we have to deal with the change in FEMA regulations that impact design standards in the community and incorporate them within the development design.
There is tension behind the Town Council dais. How will you handle that?
Another of my priorities, most importantly, since I may only sit for three months, is that I work cooperatively with the four elected council members for the benefit of the community until March when the voters will make their own selection. It is an important goal for whoever sits in that seat.
The four seated members were each respected and loved enough by this community to be selected by the voters to represent them. I know each of them, and each brings great qualities to their service on the council. I will work to show my respect to each by listening to their points of view, and I will base my decisions in a fair fashion upon the information presented to me by them, by staff, by the LDC and comp plan, and applicants that come before the council.
I join the entire community in hoping that the five of us together will work respectfully, amicably, and effectively together. All five sitting council members love this community, despite any differences in how they view how policy should be enacted.