Four Corners residents protest city land use, zoning change
Nearby property owners are concerned a zoning change in a southwest Cape Coral neighborhood could have a devastating effect on their single-family home community.
They gathered Monday to protest the proposed land use and zoning change at Agualinda Boulevard and Beach Parkway, also known as “Four Corners,” which could result in the addition of up to 510 multi-family units of affordable housing at that intersection.
Nearly 100 residents gathered at one of the four empty lots at the intersection to make their feelings heard and to plan a strategy for next Monday’s City Council meeting, where the change is expected to be discussed as part of a major revamp of Cape land codes.
The city of Cape Coral has been undergoing a comprehensive land use and zoning overhaul that is expected to have an impact on multiple sites countywide.
Randy Landers, a community organizer, brought concerned neighbors together to “put their ducks in a row” for the upcoming meeting. Landers said he expects more than 100 homeowners to come and present their case to oppose the land use and zoning change and change it back to single-family housing.
“They are trying to change from marketplace residential to multi-family; from 283 apartments to nearly all multi-family on three of the four corners,” Landers said. “These are single-land roads. Adding 1,000 cars a day in this intersection where it’s already busy and where cars exceed the speed limit.”
Residents expressed concern that the more than 500 units will not fit in with the single-family neighborhood, that it would overload the roads on Agualinda and Beach, nearby schools and utilities, and possibly increase crime while decreasing property values near the site.
Jim Michalski said the original 242 units was a bad deal, and that more than doubling it will make things worse.
“This is a single-family development area and the infrastructure was designed for that. We’re half a mile down the street from two schools. These are single-lane roads. This would decrease our property values, bring congestion, crime, something we don’t need,” Michalski said.
Cindi Kent said the area needs to remain single-family homes and perhaps even make it into a 55-and-over community.
“It’s what the baby-boomers really need. If Cape Coral is so interested in affordable housing, let them go to Cape Coral Parkway near Chiquita and see how long those condos have been sitting there empty because they can’t sell them,” Kent said. “People won’t buy those condos and they won’t buy here, either.”
The city of Cape Coral has identified a shortage of affordable housing, which will take at least 1,500 units per year for five years to make up the difference.
Landers said there is plenty of land elsewhere in the city for multi-family units to be built.
“This doesn’t need to go into person’s neighborhood. Pine Island Road has a tremendous amount of space for multi-family units,” Landers said. “You want to built them in the proximity of businesses, and there are no businesses in this area.”