Wishlist for the new Town Council
To the editor:
I very much hope that the new Town Council will have a successful term, full of cooperation, good will and a strong desire to do the best for the residents and business community of Fort Myers Beach.
Regarding Seafarer’s Mall, I think that we have the chance of a lifetime to demolish the unsightly hulk and work with Lee County to straighten Estero Boulevard and speed up traffic leaving and coming onto the island. However, if there are to be any parking spaces or shops, it is ESSENTIAL that access to them is only from the Crescent Street side. Then no pedestrian would need to cross Estero Boulevard at the present dangerous position right by the sharp bend. The pedestrian crossing would be near Crescent Street, where people would actually want to cross to access parking, shops, restaurants, etc.
I am convinced that the pedestrian walkway in its present position slows the traffic more than the bend in the road. Were it not to be moved to a more suitable position, not much speeding up of traffic would be achieved and it would all be a waste of money and effort.
In my opinion it would be counter-productive to have a parking garage at this point, as that would encourage more day visitors to bring their cars to the island. The traffic might speed up on the newly straightened road for a short time and then – once visitors realize that there are plenty of parking spaces – they would take up the slack and increase traffic density, slowing traffic down once again during season.
I would also like to urge our new Town Council to look after our environment. It is our most precious resource. As my friend famously said at a Water Management Meeting: “People don’t come to Florida to look at cathedrals”. Residents and visitors are here because of our wildlife and natural beauty. Once that is gone, what will we have left? I’ve heard it said that we can’t afford money for conservation in these hard economic times. I think that – on the contrary – we can’t afford NOT to protect our environment, as a loss of that would further depress the real estate market, all tourist business, etc.
We had a little sample of that when many tourists stayed away because they thought that our beach was affected by the oil spill. I know of huge rental losses in condominium blocks. Also, I’m sure that we still remember the huge heaps of stinking red drift algae, mixed with dead fish, on our beach and the smelly blue green algae in the waters of Sanibel. Our Town Council must keep up the pressure to have water releases from Lake Okeechobee carefully controlled.
I urge everybody who agrees with this letter, to let the Town Council members know. They want to have feedback from the electorate.
Gertraud Short
Fort Myers Beach