Mound House parking lot issue resurfaces
Only one major issue remains prior to the anticipated opening of the Mound House.
With the William H. Case House close to being restored to its 1921 grandeur, an observation pier under construction and scheduled to be completed at the end of this month and a reputable museum director on Town staff that is making plans to enhance the cultural and archaeological island gem for visitation with soft and grand openings, only one dilemma exists. The problem involves parking.
The Mound House property houses just over a handful of legitimate parking spots and a projected ballpark figure of hundreds of visitors can be expected to the site on a daily basis. This causes Town officials to look elsewhere for vehicle deposits.
Reenter 216 Connecticut St. into discussion.
“I agree that Mound House needs the parking at 216 Connecticut St.,” said Mayor Anita Cereceda, who received a majority consensus from her fellow Council members to move forward with plans. A master concept plan has already been developed and will be revisited.
At a Feb. 17 workshop, Beach Council members were asked to hash over future uses for the Town-owned parcel midway down Connecticut Street. Other than selling the parcel, the only other discussion centered on providing Mound House overflow parking there. It was stated to hold anywhere between 27-40 parked vehicles, depending on landscaping.
A parking lot on that parcel could be accomplished with the current zoning process by the summer, says Town Attorney Derek Rooney. But, a change in zoning could take longer.
During the work session, four Beach residents spoke in favor of the planned development for a parking lot with proper landscape buffering. The collective sense was the public property is for everyone not just neighborhood residents.
Beach resident Dan Hughes, who was mayor when the Town purchased Mound House in June 2000 and still in office when the empty lot in question was acquired in April 2003, expressed frustration that, 15 years later, Mound House remains mostly idle. He called Mound House a “jewel” and believes it will be a real treasure for the community once open.
“In my view, it’s incumbent upon this Council to utilize if not maximize the thorough potential of this property,” he said. “In order to do that, you must have sufficient parking.”
Hughes knows Council must face naysayers and weigh neighborhood issues and full island interests. He referenced island churches with parking lots that border residential areas. He believes the Town lot is “important and essential” for Mound House.
“It is a constant dilemma for Council members to face the issue of the general interest of the citizens versus the interest of abutting property owners on any issue. You face that constantly,” he said. “There are some hard decisions that have to be made.”
Back in June 2014, Cereceda decided to sit down with her neighborhood residents to pitch a passive park/parking lot idea for 216 Connecticut St. Roughly 30 of 150 neighborhood residents who attended the meeting were adamantly opposed to the idea and requested that Town officials sell the property.
Neighborhood residents feared “commercial intrusion” on the roughly 265-foot deep, 80-foot wide parcel that was initially purchased due to lack of sufficient and available parking at Mound House property.
Concerns included the Town’s ability to rezone it for other commercial uses there in the future.
On Feb. 17, Councilwoman Rexann Hosafros stated the Town has the power to change the commercial zoning and design a special category to lessen the possibility of future impact. That process was explained as more involved, lengthier and may impose ramifications on existing conditions elsewhere on the island.
Town Attorney Derek Rooney stated a CPD with a list of “very limited” uses and restrictions on other uses would work better.
“If it was called just a planned development, it would be much more helpful,” said Cereceda.
Currently, the Town has a lease contract with Beach Baptist Church (corner of Estero Boulevard and Connecticut Street) involving an area of its extensive lot for overflow parking. A shuttle is used to transport people from there to Mound House.
Councilman Alan Mandel, who is opposed to developing 216 Connecticut St., would like the church arrangement to continue and maybe greaten instead of building another parking lot on the street.
“It’s an ample parking lot and the idea was to use the shuttle from there so that commercial vehicles would not be going up and down that street and that the overflow parking could be stopped at the beginning of the street,” he said. “It requires a minimal amount of money per year to maintain the relationship versus the hundreds of thousands of dollars to develop and landscape the (216 Connecticut) property.”
Currently, Giesen said that 65-87 people attend advertised tours on Tuesdays and Wednesdays per day, and that only 13 spots at the church are leased out -half of which are taken up by staff and volunteers. She has contacted church officials about leasing more spaces, but there are limitations.
“To be able to shuttle five (people) at a time does take time,” she said.
With Mound House scheduled for an opening this fall/winter, the need to accommodate potential visitors with viable parking is great. If developed, the overflow parking would most likely have a shell surface. The approval would be contingent upon a Local Planning Agency hearing and a Council hearing, both with public input.
Besides the proposed use of the Town parcel, neighborhood residents have also expressed anxiety over buses dropping off Mound House visitors and parking in front of some of the homes on the road or the turning around of traffic that sometimes impacts residential driveways or property landscaping and mailboxes.
On Feb. 17. Giesen proposed an end-of-street circular turning area, similar to a cul-de-sac idea, that would give vehicles enough radius to reverse their course and not use the property as a turn-around. She stated many Mound House visitors do not read installed signage that limits vehicle access within property grounds -vehicle usage only for accessibility or to launch paddle craft. She would like to have the gate closed and only opened when someone either calls for access or punches in the access code, much like Bay Oaks Recreational Campus.
“This poses a safety issue for our tours, because we do have tours that tour those native plants that is part of our programming,” she said. “(The cul-de-sac plan) would prevent people from driving around (the property). There is an impact to our shoreline every single time someone comes around the Mound House.”
A soft opening for the Mound House is slated for sometime this summer. Members of the Cultural and Environmental Learning Center Advisory Board have begun polling a guest list for a planned VIP grand opening evening reception in the fall. Both dates have not yet been confirmed.
In the meantime, Mound House officials have begun preliminary rental rates for property usage. Giesen introduced figures to Council members at the workshop after stating there is a demand for usage. She has had roughly seven inquiries about wedding ceremonies and other uses since the beginning of the year.
A research study has been completed with information gathered from rates from similar venues in Southwest Florida.
Rental area options include the house’s patio area and orientation room for after hours usage as well as the pier and lawn area. Four-hour base rates for weddings ceremonies could cost $150 per taxpayer or $200 for a non-taxpayer, while wedding ceremonies with receptions could run $1,000 (taxpayer) or $1,250 (non-taxpayer). Similar base rates apply for facility rentals ($1,250 taxpayer/$1,500 non-taxpayer for daytime events for pier and lawn area) and meetings ($150 per hour for orientation room of 30 people or fewer). Events would hold a participation limitation and could not occur before 8 a.m. and after 9 p.m.
The exclusivity of such a historic and archaeological site directly on the bayfront demands high dollar.
“It’s a very unique and secluded venue,” said Giesen.
“If anything, I would raise these rates,” added Cereceda. “Only certain people will look to that venue. It is exclusive.”
When open, Mound House will be a cultural and environmental learning center celebrating Florida’s natural history within Estero Island’s oldest standing structure that sits atop an ancient Calusa Indian Mound.