Issues Surrounding The DR/GR

Christi Linardich

Walter Prescott

Kristy Burja

Jill Castellano

Outline of Topics

General Info/History Points of View:

– Developers– Environmentalists– FGCU Students

Polices Affordable Housing FGCU Conclusions Solutions

General Informationand History

What is the DR/GR?

Density Reduction/ Ground Water Resource

96,000 acres of protected land in Lee County

One home per 10 acres

Serves to protect local aquifers and guard against

urban sprawl

History

1989 Designate DR/GR land in Lee County spanning Fort Myers and Bonita Springs under pressure from growing population and to ensure adequate future water supply

1991-1997 Board of Regents approves 760 acres of DR/GR land for FGCU use, sparking opposition from environmentalists, compromises ensue

History Continued

2004 study by Tom Missimer on the importance of DR/GR land claims it is not as important as previously thought and YMCA constructed on DR/GR land opens

2005 study by Greg Rawl and Ron Edenfield conclude that DR/GR land can support a higher density if better water management techniques were implemented

History Continued

2006 peer reviews of the Rawl study conflict and sense possible skewing of the results

Oct. 2006 under pressure to build affordable housing, city council approves amendment that would allow a piece of DR/GR land to become designated as ‘high density residential’ with extra plans to improve water treatment standards in that area, it is now waiting for approval by the Florida Department of Community Affairs and then through public hearings

Zoning Basics

Lee County:– Land zoned according to density, lot size, and setback

requirements

– Three zone types are residential, commercial, and agricultural Steps to Rezoning:

– Consult FLUM (Future Land Use Map): compiled by city planners and used to allot land to developers

– Amend laws to allow for building there: does not require notification to the public

– Cite importance of different perspectives other than city politicians and developers, civic engagement!

Points of View

Developers

Environmentalists

FGCU Students

Affordable Housing Advocates

City Politicians

Developer’s Perspective

DEVELOPERS 99

ENVIRONMENTALISTS 1

Developer’s Views

Development Means:– Growth

– Change

– Progress

– Improvement

Development & Quality of Life

Increased tax base = More spending money for beneficial projects

Creates jobs, which drives economy

Helps fulfill American dream of owning your own home

Creation of communities is a positive influence

New Ideas in Development

Clustering Density Transfer Development Rights (TDR or TDU) Hometown style development with high capture rate Low Impact Development (LID) Environmental Sensitive Design (ESD) – Including

latest water cleaning systems Re-development

Developer Complaints

High impact fees Concurrency Requirements Mind-boggling permit process Touchy-feely environmental wackos Inflated value of Florida panther and it’s habitat Government limiting the rights of property owners

Developer Quotes

“Based on the information we have received, we do not believe that a development in the DR/GR will affect water quality.”

David Morton – Bonita LPA Chair– “That’s the whole direction of the city, moving east

(towards the DR/GR). There isn’t much out west anymore. It’s a question of doing it right.”

Coalition for Workforce Housing

– “If you examine where there is vacant land in Bonita Springs, it is in the DR/GR.”

Environmentalist’s Perspective

Environmental Organizations

Sierra Club Audubon of Florida Defenders of Wildlife Conservancy of S.W. FL Florida Wildlife Federation Environmental Confederation of S.W. FL Responsible Growth Management Coalition

Environmental Importance

Provides habitat to native plants and wildlife

Important source of drinking water

Provides a better quality of life for residents

Contributes to the economy

Habitat

The DR/GR is an important habitat for threaten and endangered species– Florida Panther– Wood Stork

Florida Panther

It is widely believed that the number of panthers has dwindled to fewer than 100 adults in the wilds of Southwest Florida, the species’ last stronghold

Florida Wildlife Federation wants Bonita Springs to implement tougher controls on the DR/GR aimed at protecting the Florida panther.

Florida Panther Continued

Nancy Payton (Florida Wildlife Federation): “The city should discourage new developments that pack more homes per acre than what growth rules allow in that region”

In addition to discouraging such development, her group wants the city to create wildlife corridors.

The city also should look into transferring building rights from areas that are good panther habitat to those that are not.

Wood Stork

Very specialized feeders, storks need water levels between 2 and 18 inches in order to hunt.

Researchers say shallow wetland areas are the places where development is more likely to be approved, and those same wetland systems are where storks have historically hunted during the early winter months.

Being able to gather enough food for chicks during December and January is critical because it gives storks two chances to raise young. Without those wetlands, though, the season is practically cut in half.

Wood Stork Continued

Jason Lauritsen, a Corkscrew Swamp biologist who monitors wood stork populations in the region says that urban sprawl is one reason wood storks are still on the decline.

Unlike other wading birds in Florida that have grown in numbers the last few decades, storks’ numbers are constantly shrinking.

And although one bad year can occur for natural reasons, a loss of wood stork feeding habitat has contributed to breeding difficulties.

Water

It is a major source of our drinking water supply

It is a floway that brings rainwater from the interior into Estero Bay in an environmentally effective way

Water Continued

Lee County is generally not part of the regional urban water supply delivery system of the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD).

Lee County has to get its water supplies from local sources (as does Collier County).

Protecting such local sources, then, is necessary for the County’s future growth.

Water Continued

The greatest part of Lee County’s coastal waters, which draw a large part of the County’s $2 billion tourism industry, are now designated as “impaired.”

These problems can only be addressed with water quality clean up, which commonly occurs with more time for land storage and its subsequent groundwater recharge, and less “fast” drainage into coastal waters.

Quality of Life

Don Eslick (chairman of the Estero Council of Community Leaders):– “The environment ties into the community and quality of

life”– “If you just get overwhelmed with development and that’s

all you’re focusing on, you’re not going to have much of a community.”

Economy

Jennifer Hecker (natural resource policy manager for the Conservancy of Southwest Florida)– “We are trying to educate the community about flood

protection and groundwater recharge, because if we don’t have this essential green space then economically it will cost more to replace these things.”

– “Preserving our quality of life will benefit long-term market values. Take a long-term vision from a wider scope and make sure we are not shooting ourselves in the foot because natural resources and mutually dependent with the local economy.”

Student’s Perspective

What do you think?

Do you feel it is necessary to keep DR/GR as restrictive as it is now?

What is more important to you: the environment or affordable housing?

Do you think it was wrong to use DR/GR land to build FGCU, even though it benefits all of Southwest Florida?

Policies and Laws

Lee County Smart Growth Policies

GOAL 63 – GROUNDWATER:GOAL 63 – GROUNDWATER: To protect the To protect the county's groundwater supplies from those activities county's groundwater supplies from those activities having the potential for depleting or degrading having the potential for depleting or degrading those supplies.those supplies.

OBJECTIVE 63.1 - WELLFIELD PROTECTION:OBJECTIVE 63.1 - WELLFIELD PROTECTION: The county will maintain a wellfield protection The county will maintain a wellfield protection ordinance to provide regulations protecting the ordinance to provide regulations protecting the quality of water flowing into potable water quality of water flowing into potable water wellfields. (Amended by Ord. No. 94-30, 00-22)wellfields. (Amended by Ord. No. 94-30, 00-22)

Policies Continued

POLICY 63.1.1:POLICY 63.1.1: The wellfield protection ordinance will be amended whenever better technical data is developed and whenever additional potable wellfields are proposed.

POLICY 63.1.2:POLICY 63.1.2: The staff hydrogeologist will review and comment on all development applications near public utility potable water wellfields, with particular attention to proposed land uses within a l0-year travel time from the wellheads.

Policies Continued

OBJECTIVE 63.2 – POTABLE GROUNDWATEROBJECTIVE 63.2 – POTABLE GROUNDWATER: Base all future development and use of groundwater resources on determinations of the safe yield of the aquifer system(s) in order not to impair the native groundwater quality or create other environmental damage. Criteria for safe-yield determinations will be determined by the SFWMD, the agency charged with permitting these activities.

Policies Continued

POLICY 63.2.1:POLICY 63.2.1: For maximum protection of groundwater resources, identify future wellfields and/or relocation site(s) for existing wellfields well in advance of need. Coordinate with SFWMD, other water suppliers, and DEP to avoid duplication and to assist in data collection and interchange.

POLICY 63.2.2:POLICY 63.2.2: Institute a program to identify sources of groundwater pollutants in Lee County and to map these (point and non-point) on a county-wide basis.

Policies Continued

POLICY 63.2.3:POLICY 63.2.3: Identify water needs consistent with projections of human population and the needs of natural systems in order to determine the future demands for groundwater. (Amended by Ordinance No. 94-30)

POLICY 63.2.4:POLICY 63.2.4: Expand current programs to identify and map the contamination potential of groundwater resources for those areas of Lee County not currently under public ownership.

Policies Continued

POLICY 63.2.5:POLICY 63.2.5: Lee County, in cooperation with other agencies and the municipalities, will budget to maintain its current program of plugging non-valved, abandoned, or improperly-cased artesian wells so that at least seventy-five of these wells are plugged each year until such wells are eliminated. (Amended by Ord. No. 94-30, 00-22)

Amendment to Lee Plan

Lee County Board of County Commissioners Represented by Lee County Division of Planning

Amend Policy 16.8.12(2) to include a minimum acreage and width for on-site indigenous preserves and for receiving a 2:1 credit for preserving existing indigenous areas on-site within private recreational facilities in the Density Reduction/Groundwater Recharge Land Use Category (DR/GR).

Affordable Housingand DR/GR

Affordable Housing

Bonita Springs has 4,800 acres of the DR/GR and a waiting list of nearly 300 families waiting for affordable housing to become available in the area.

The Affordable Housing Coalition held a workshop on affordable housing from October 9 –17 2006 in Bonita Springs. It focused on the consideration of building residences on the DR/GR. Meeting turnout was disappointing where the voice of residents were unheard.

Affordable Housing Continued

On October 18th, the city council of Bonita Springs denied a bid to build 300 affordable homes on a vacant lot on a plot of land owned by Cingular Wireless.

The developers did not give sufficient purpose to build on this DR/GR land with claims that it was mistakenly under DR/GR in the first place.

http://www.bonitanews.com/mediagalleries/affordable_housing/1654/

FGCU and DR/GR

Decision to Build

The most dramatic change the Density Reduction Groundwater Resource area has witnessed since its creation was the establishment of a public university, Florida Gulf Coast University.

The state often sanctions such projects even in environmentally sensitive areas because their benefits are deemed too great to block.

The Controversy Begins

The fact that the more than 700 acres was a gift from prominent land developer Ben Hill Griffin III of Alico Inc. raised more than a few eyebrows.

"The university was put there to ensure growth would take place east of I-75," said Ellen Peterson, a longtime Estero activist, "and it has done that. It was not to help anybody. It was the second-worst thing that ever happened in Lee County, and I can't remember the worst."

Environmental University?

The university acknowledges that the lands it is built on are home to a variety of wildlife and contribute to the region's aquifer, FGCU President William Merwin said. That's why the institution has been developed with the environment in mind, he said.

Conclusions

Quotes to Think About

Matt Bixler (policy specialist for The Conservancy of Southwest Florida): “You have to look at more than groundwater recharge. This land rivals Babcock Ranch for environmental importance.”

Win Everham (FGCU professor): “You need to ask not why shouldn’t you increase density, but why should you? I don’t believe there is a societal obligation to maximize profit for private landowners.”

Quotes to Think About

Frank D’Alessandro (News-Press): “No matter which angle you look at it from, the interrelated affordable housing dilemma and fate of the DR/GR are social, political, economic, and environmental issues all rolled into one. In the end it is not the developers who will make the decision to build in the DR/GR area. That is up to publicly elected county and city officials.”

Solutions

VOTE!!!!! Get involved with

community meetings Stay informed by

reading the newspaper Write letters

Sources

Biersma, A. (2006). Public participation in the growth and development process of Lee County land use. http://rgmcswf.org/Files/Civicparticipation.ppt#269,1,Public

Cassutt, M. (2006, 10/19/2006). Council sends signal with DR/GR denial. Bonita Daily News, pp. 1A-4A.

Cassutt, M. (2006, 10/10/2006). Public meeting draws little public interest. Naples Daily News. http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2006/oct/10/naffordable_housing_meeting_attracts_few_residents/?housing

Sources

Cassutt, M. (2006, 10/8/2006). Hunt for land turns to DR/GR. Naples Daily News, pp. 1A-4A.

Ochoa, J. (2006, 10/8/2006). How Lee County might alter current uses of DR/GR land. Naples Daily News, pp. 4A-16A.

Ochoa, J. (2006, 10/8/2006). Collier's experience with Transfer of Development Rights could be a model for Bonita Springs leaders. Naples Daily News, pp. 1A-4A.

Sources

Naples Daily News Ft. Meyers Press Coalition for Workforce Housing Bonita Springs News Mitch Hutchcraft – Bonita Bay Development http://www.naplesnews.com http://www.lee-county.com/ http://esterofl.org