Still time to voice an opinion on NFM future growth
Lee County planning officials have been hosting a series of meetings in different communities to get local input on the future growth in specific areas. Last week, there was one in North Fort Myers. If you missed it, there is still time to comment, according to Paul O’Connor, Lee County Division of Planning.
“Seven years ago when Lee County updated its comprehensive plan, North Fort Myers residents were concerned about designing a Town Center with walkable streets, high-quality housing and parks,” he said in a prepared statement. “Since then, the North Fort Myers Community Planning Panel has worked with Lee County Planning toward setting new community standards that encourage revitalization of existing neighborhoods and development of new, mixed-use centers where people can live, work and play.
“Specifically, residents were asked what was most important to them, and productive and beneficial growth of North Fort Myers at the meeting.
“We had several community members participate, and we broke them into five groups. The purpose of doing more groups was to make people feel more comfortable.”
He said the comments they got from North Fort Myers mirrored Riverdale area concerns.
“The talking points were, No. 1, future community vision. No. 2, land use and development, and No. 3 parks and conservation – really more public space. There were a lot of comments for public space, whether it be the library or places you would meet outside. There was also a very strong sentiment for playing fields in the area, like Little League fields”
Transportation was also a big point.
“Not only cars, but sidewalks, bikeways, mass transit and trails.”
Public services were also an issue brought up by local residents.
“There was a sentiment to have a satellite government office – Lee County – in the area. Common themes were to stop sprawl, divide utilities in urban areas and more emphasis on good design and connectivity. Participants also wanted to see school facilities used more – don’t lock them up all summer.
The next step?
“We are going to complete the nine workshops, this was the fourth and we have five more to go. What we intend to do is compile all the comments per workshop date, then we will evaluate them to find common themes. We will generate a list of major issues, use it like a yardstick to gauge the Lee Plan.”
The list will then be brought to the county commissioners at the end of June.Anyone that did not get a chance to make the meeting can go to lee-county.com and there is a comment sheet. The link is www3.leegov.com/dcd/ComprehensivePlanning/EAR/EAR2011.htm.Questionnaires are in both Word and Adobe formats, where you can comment on the same talking points.
The next workshops are Wednesday, May 5, 5 to 7 p.m. East County Regional Library 881 Gunnery Road, Lehigh Acres Tuesday, May 11, 10 a.m. to noon Boca Grande Community Center131 First Street West, Boca Grande Thursday, May 13, 10 a.m. to noon Captiva Civic Association 11550 Chapin Lane, Captiva.