Planning Panel looking for three new members
The North Fort Myers Community Planning Panel is currently seeking three new members.
“We’re looking for people within the community to give a time commitment to the panel and that are interested in establishing the future of North Fort Myers,” said group president John Gardner.
Qualifications include being a resident or property owner within the Planning Panel area or being a business owner operating legally in the area.
The Planning Panel area includes all areas from I-75 west to the Cape Coral city limits and from the Charlotte County line south to the Caloosahatchee River.
The panel consists of 11 members, with four coming from the North Fort Myers Chamber of Commerce, four from the North Fort Myers Civic Association and three at-large from the general population.
“Naturally the civic association is covering more or less the people side, the chamber is covering the business side and the at-large is desired to be representatives not covered directly by those. We’d like a wide ranger of representation,” said Civic Association President Gregg Makepeace.
“According to the by-laws on the Planning Panel there is a minimum meeting of once a quarter and there certainly could be more special meetings when things get more active.”
He said the appointments are important to planning input for North Fort Myers’ future growth.
“It’s not necessarily tomorrow’s actions, but will cover the growth of North Fort Myers in the future,” he said.
Applicants should contact Gardner through the Chamber of Commerce at 997-9111 or Makepeace through the Civic Association at 567-0740.
Updates
At the last Planning Panel meeting, Lee County officials came to update attendees on issues of interest in the community including County Principal Planners Jim Mudd and Matt Noble and Commis-sioner Tammy Hall.
Johnson Engineering was to make a report on the status of writing land codes for the North Fort Myers Community Plan, to be incorporated into the Lee County Plan. Instead a representative announced a conflict of interest and the fact Johnson was withdrawing from consulting on the codes.
Hall said the county would begin a search for a new consultant group, which could take about 6-8 weeks.
Hall said it wasn’t a big step back.
“We don’t have massive development coming out of the ground next year, so it’s a really good time to have a delay if we are going to have it,” said Hall.
The commissioner also answered panel member and citizen questions on other issues including a North Fort Myers Community Center.
“It’s not that we want a center, we need a center,” said Makepeace.
In the past he noted a key need for meeting space for local organizations, but he said the major thing is disaster preparedness and shelter.
“Lee County is desperately shy of storm shelters that are hurricane-level,” he continued. “In North Fort Myers, we really have zero. Due to the amount of people with manufactured homes, we need to do this as soon as possible, as a backup for people to go to for emergencies.”
Monies for the project are a problem, said Hall, who noted that she was a proponent for the center.
“We had a dramatic decrease in impact fees last year,” she said, where capital for the project would traditionally come from. She said Lee County Commissioners would have to examine and vote on where the funding for center would be drawn.
Budget meetings will occur in April. Hall said her office will alert all of those on her e-mailing and contact list of when the next public meetings would occur concerning the center.
“It’s really important people come to these meetings and support the project,” she said,
Makepeace said the Civic Association will conduct most of these meetings.
The Waterways Estates issue was also brought up, the local county-purchased property that has wastewater treatment plant issues.
“We’re still working on Waterways Estates,” she said. “We’re still in negotiations with North Fort Myers Utilities and probably have three to four more weeks of talking to them. Then a notice will be sent out for meetings.”
Residents asked about when the county will do repair and safety checks and when there will be any action.
“We are doing a walk-through this week because it is taking so long,” she said, and will examine repairs.
Hall is encouraging those who want to be advised on updates and meetings on these issues to contact her office to be put on her e-mail and contact list. Call 533-2259 or e-mail dist4@leegov.com.