9/15/09 MEETING MINUTES
NORTH FORT MYERS DESIGN REVIEW PANEL
Meeting Minutes
SEPTEMBER 15, 2009
I. Call to order
SCOTT J. BRENNER called to order the regular meeting of the NORTH FORT MYERS DESIGN REVIEW PANEL at 6:00 p.m. on September 15, 2009 at North Star Yacht Club, 3420 Hancock Bridge Parkway, corner of Beau Drive, N. Ft. Myers, Fl.
Attendance: The following Board Members were present: Scott J. Brenner, Jim Lattmann, Jack Howerton, Alec Mylan, John Gardner, Joe Beck, Maynard D. Houston, Wayne Daltry and Mike Land.
The following additional persons were present: Barry Gidley representing the Del Tura HOA, Dan DeLisi of DeLisi Fitzgerald,. Land Use Planners, Kevin McGraw, President of Caddis Development, Bonnie Makepeace, Gregg Makepeace, auxiliary member and Tony Palermo of the Lee County Department of Community Development.
II. Approval of minutes from last meeting
Motion by Jim Lattmann, seconded by Joe Beck, and passed unanimously, that the Minutes of the last meeting prepared by Secretary Mike Land and distributed to all members, auxiliary members and concerned citizens via e-mail, be accepted as submitted.
III. OFFICERS REPORTS
Jim Lattmann, Vice President – Briefed the group that Lee County had FGUA in to negotiate with NFM Utilities to purchase THE WATERWAY ESTATES WATER TREATMENT PLANT.
Scott Brenner, President- Announced that he, Jim Lattmann, V. President and Mike Land, Secretary, had met with Dave Goldstein of THE BREEZE to finalize arrangements for the blog/website space they had allotted to us, and that a 30-day Beta test was underway. We had already placed information regarding our meetings and Minutes on it, and that The Breeze would monitor and exercise content control to prevent anything offensive from being posted by bloggers
Mike Land, Secretary –Stated that the Site had the ability to hold up to 5 pictures for any page, and that he was going to put 5 representative photos of commercial buildings that utilized what we considered to be “Old Florida” architecture on a page explaining our preference for this type of architecture, and what some of the main characteristics of that style were, so that developers, planners, architects and other interested parties could see what we envisioned as the future face of North Fort Myers.
V. NEW BUSINESS
Presentation by Dan DeLisi of DeLisi Fitzgerald Land Use Planners on behalf of Caddis Development regarding its site at Bayshore and Interstate 75 Interchange. This project presented to us 2 years ago when the site included 60 acres, now reduced to 40 acres. The northern portion of the site is zoned “suburban land use” and the southerly portion is zoned “C.T.” permitting commercial tourist uses. The applicant seeks to combine both into a commercial planned development(C.P.D.) use. Mr. DeLisi recalled that when he appeared before us two years ago we stressed that this was the entryway into our community and that we wanted something aesthetically pleasing. He stated that they had done a tree survey and he was confident that the landscaping and the use of Old Florida architecture would result in something we would like. The Site Plan called for a residential plat along the westerly side of the site, a parcel in the middle which would contain one or a few buildings for shopping, and an area of 1.8 acres which would hold a 90- room hotel, and if that was successful, another 90- room hotel. Kevin McGraw, President of the Developer, from Lansing, Michigan, assured us that he wanted to make this project eye-appealing, but as limited by the economy and the site usage.
Scott Brenner suggested that connections were needed for pedestrian traffic between the various sub-parcels; stated that we needed to seek amendment to Goal 28 in the Lee County Comprehensive Plan, and opined that it would be hard to do residential in this area, and they should consider office and commercial instead. Discussion strayed to the strong feasibility of doing a medical office building on the site. Joe Beck asked the presenters to create a proposal for this site utilizing “Old Florida” architecture within a realistic price point. Mr. DeLisi stated that they could do a proposal similar to that at the Corkscrew Interchange of I-75.
Motion by Lattmann, seconded by Beck and unanimously passed that the developer is encouraged to proceed with new plans as stated previously and then re-present to us again.
Scott J. Brenner adjourned the meeting at 7:45 p.m.
Minutes respectfully submitted by: MIKE LAND, SECRETARY