Daltry speaks to civic association about development
Lee County Smart Growth Director Wayne Daltry addressed the Fort Myers Beach Civic Association meeting Tuesday, Nov. 25, that the town’s council needs to get involved in helping the county on a plan for San Carlos Island before a proposed hotel and condo development there increases traffic congestion onto both islands, according to Lee Melsek, civic association member and editor of Tidelines, the group’s newsletter.
“Daltry, in a speech to about 30 people at meeting of the Fort Myers Beach Civic Association on July 25, said the proposed development as it stands now would greatly increase traffic on a road already badly congested during the winter months,” Melsek said. “He also said the county needs to do a redevelopment plan for San Carlos Island before considering the proposed development.”
Fort Myers Beach real estate agent Bob Beasley, who is also a member of the development team, attended the meeting, Melsek said, and reported that it will probably be three years before any development rises from the ground.
“The state currently is reviewing the development plan and Daltry said the Lee County Commission should be making a decision on the plan at the end of February,” Melsek said. “Until then, he said, the town of Fort Myers Beach, and all concerned residents, should be intimately involved in working with the county to see that any development at its doorstep doesn’t negatively impact the Beach.”
At the end of October, Lee County Commissioners narrowly approved the comprehensive plan amendment that could lead the way for a new 300-room luxury hotel and conference center; a new waterfront restaurant on Matanzas Pass; condominiums, time share units, marina and retail stores along both sides of Main Street on San Carlos Island.
Owners of the 30 acres on uplands Beach resident Ray Alvarez and Salty Sam’s Marina owner Darrel Hanson asked commissioners to amend the county’s comprehensive plan to change current zoning designations to a new category, Destination Resort Mixed-Use Water-Dependent. Currently the parcels are zoned Urban Community, Suburban and Industrial Development.
The project is planned to spread through 30 acres of uplands and nearly 40 acres of submerged land in Matanzas Bay, which will include Salty Sam’s Marina, Ebb Tide and Oyster Bay RV Parks on Main Street.
At the Oct. 23 hearing, commissioners agreed to send the request to the Florida Department of Community Affairs in Tallahassee for review and further recommendations on the plan, a state requirement before the comprehensive plan can be amended.
Lee County Commission Board Chairman Ray Judah, who voted to approve the plan, said once it comes back from the state he will request that a comprehensive transportation plan be created.
“We’re going to need to talk with the applicant about not just a bus stop, but getting involved financially with the transportation center at Summerlin Square,” Judah said. “The county has already been in negotiations with the property owner there to put in a multi mode transportation center and that’s going to be key to alleviate traffic congestion on San Carlos Island and Fort Myers Beach.”
Forty-year San Carlos Island resident and business owner Bill Semmer urged commissioners to approve the amendment.
“I’m definitely for the project for many different reasons,” Semmer told commissioners. “One of them is that it’s going to enhance our island and it’s something we can use and the amount of jobs it’s going to bring to the island.”
Semmer said he isn’t overly concerned about increased traffic as a result of the project.
“Leaving the island has never been a problem,” Semmer said. “I run anywhere from 20 to 40 trucks off of San Carlos Island and it’s never a problem. Coming to the island during season might be 15 minutes and the most 30 minutes to get to San Carlos Island. …The problems are on Estero Island. I’ve sat in that when I do the high-rises at the south end and it sometimes takes two hours to get from Santini Plaza to the bridge. Once you get to the bridge, it’s just clear sailing all the way.”
Semmer, who owns Semmer Electric, Bonita Bills Waterfront Restaurant and a marina, said the project would directly help businesses on the island.
“It will help enhance everything that we have,” he said. It will bring more tourists, bring more dockage, bring more restaurants – everything that we’re looking for to get them to San Carlos Island.”
Lee County Commissioner Frank Mann, who voted against amending the comprehensive plan, said even though he would not support the amendment because of fear of dramatically increased traffic congestion, overall he was in favor of the resort.
“I think it’s time to bring this part of Lee County into the twenty-first century,” Mann said, “and there’s a lot I like about this project. The concern, which the language has not been met, remains the density issue. …I cannot, in good conscience, send this on at 13 (units per acre).”
At that time, Beasley, talked about the traffic concerns.
“The biggest contention, obviously, was traffic, which is on everybody’s mind,” he said. “But most people still aren’t understanding is that San Carlos Island does not have a traffic problem – it is Fort Myers Beach. All those people that are sitting in traffic aren’t lined up coming to San Carlos Island; they’re going to Fort Myers Beach and there’s nothing we can do about that. Our little project down at the end of the street is not going to make a bit of difference, no matter what anybody says, as far as Fort Myers Beach traffic.”