BikeWalkLee urges BoCC to reject Lee Plan Amendments re: Mining on June 19th

On June 19th, the Lee County Commissioners will take a final vote on amendments to the County's Comprehensive Plan (Lee Plan) that will eliminate the current controls on lime rock mining in Lee County.  This proposal threatens our water supply, water quality, and quality of life.  On April 14th, BikeWalkLee sent a letter to Commissioners asking them to reject these proposed amendments because of the lasting harm that will be done to our quality of life (already seriously eroded) and the County's primary tool for enhancing livability--the Lee Plan, two of BWL's overarching goals.  

At the April 17th Transmittal Hearing, the  Commission chambers were packed with interested citizens, with more than 70 individuals speaking against the proposal, including many local elected officials from around the County. In spite of the overwhelming public opposition to this proposal, the Board voted 3 to 1 to proceed (only Mann voted against).

Lee County is at a critical crossroads and much is at stake in the Board's June 19th final decision.  If you care about Lee County's future, attend Wednesday June 19th (9:30 a.m. in Commission Chambers) County Commission Final Hearing on the proposed Comp Plan amendments on mining.  In advance of this hearing, on June 13th, BikeWalkLee sent another letter to the County Commissioners urging them to vote no.

June 13, 2019

Dear Commissioners:

On June 19th you will be deciding whether to adopt Lee Plan amendments that eliminate the current controls on lime rock mining in Lee County, allowing expansion of mining--the most destructive (and non-reversible) land use. This is one of the most consequential decisions this Board will make about Lee County’s future; it will impact our water supply, water quality, and quality of life for current and future generations. BikeWalkLee urges you to listen to the many voices countywide in strong opposition to this proposal and reject these amendments.

BikeWalkLee focuses on ways to improve and support our county’s quality of life through better safety, health, and mobility. We strongly oppose these amendments because they are incompatible with the quality of life that citizens of this county expect and deserve. The amendments also dismantle the most important governmental tool for protecting and enhancing our livability—the Lee Plan. Livable communities don’t happen by accident. They are the result of good long range planning, community engagement in the Lee Plan’s development, and the commitment and political will to follow the Plan.

The mining amendments are symptomatic of this Board’s abandonment of good ideas and sound planning practices to accommodate the demands of a few rather than the needs of many. The choice before you on June 19th is clear—either you stand with the citizens of Lee County or you stand with the special interests.

We urge you to oppose these unwise and unnecessary amendments to the Lee Plan.

Sincerely,

Darla Letourneau
On behalf of BikeWalkLee

 

BikeWalkLee's June 13th letter to BoCC
 BikeWalkLee's April 17th letter to BoCC

BikeWalkLee urges County Commissioners to reject proposals to eliminate controls over mining on April 17th

On April 17th, the Lee County Commissioners will decide whether to adopt amendments to the County's Comprehensive Plan (Lee Plan) that will eliminate the current controls on lime rock mining in Lee County.  This proposal threatens our water supply, water quality, and quality of life.  On April 14th, BikeWalkLee sent a letter to Commissioners asking them to reject these proposed amendments because of the lasting harm that will be done to our quality of life (already seriously eroded) and the County's primary tool for enhancing livability--the Lee Plan, two of BWL's overarching goals. 

Lee County is at a critical crossroads and much is at stake in the Board's April 17th decision.  If you care about Lee County's future, attend Wednesday April 17th (9:30 a.m. in Commission Chambers) County Commission Hearing on the proposed Comp Plan amendments to deregulate lime rock mining.  Last week's Action Alert will provide you with background information.

April 14, 2019

 Dear Commissioners:

On April 17 you will be asked to decide whether to adopt Lee Plan amendments that eliminate the current controls on lime rock mining in Lee County, allowing expansion of mining--the most destructive (and non-reversible) land use. This is one of the most consequential decisions this Board will make about Lee County’s future; it will impact our water supply, water quality, and quality of life for current and future generations. BikeWalkLee urges you to listen to the many voices countywide in strong opposition to this proposal and reject these proposed amendments.

BikeWalkLee focuses on ways to improve and support our county’s quality of life through better safety, health, and mobility. One of the most important governmental tools for enhancing livability is integrated planning, which is embodied in the county’s Comprehensive Plan. Our comments below focus on both the quality of life and integrated planning consequences of this proposal.



County Commissioners who will make decision on April 17th

Quality of Life
The county’s current path of rampant and unfettered development is unsustainable and incompatible with the quality of life that has drawn so many to make Lee County their home. If approved, this Lee Plan amendment opens the flood gates to expand mining throughout Southeast Lee County, directly impacting the quality of life of thousands of residents in Estero and Bonita Springs every day the mines are in operation—from cracks in homes due to mining explosions, to the never ending parade of trucks on local roadways creating noise, health, safety, and traffic issues. 
Communities outside the Density Reduction/Groundwater Resource (DR/GR) Area which have mineable limerock could also be at risk of having mines being permitted in their backyards, with similar consequences for residents. In addition, the quality and quantity of our water resources are threatened countywide, and the water quality of vital estuaries is further impaired. The impacts from mining directly or indirectly affect all citizens in the county.
 
 Opening the county up to expanded mining may very well be the last straw for many residents whose quality of life has dramatically deteriorated over the past five years --whether it’s caused by congested roads and crowded schools, lack of safe walking and biking, lack of adequate services for the growing population, or stormwater and flooding problems caused by poorly planned growth. Then there are the toxic algae blooms and fish kills that are creating health hazards, destroying marine life and ruining our beaches and coastal waters -- the drivers of our tourism economy. This not only affects current residents and visitors, it affects the county’s ability to attract and retain workers and families, which are vital to the short-term and long-term economic viability of Lee County. Unfortunately, a community’s reputation for a good quality of life can change overnight-- and once that happens, it can take years of work to repair. We can’t wait until our quality of life is gone to protect it, because it will be too late.

 Improving and maintaining quality of life is an economic necessity, both to grow a diverse economy as well as to maintain a tourist-based one. The role of our elected leaders is to improve the livability of Lee County so we can attract the businesses and skilled workers needed to grow. Good economics and good quality of life feed each other. The decision you make on April 17 will not only affect the current residents, it will affect future generations.

 As the 16-year old Swedish climate activist told a United Nations gathering in December 2018: “You say you love your children above all else, and yet you’re stealing their future in front of their very eyes.”

Integrated Planning
One of BikeWalkLee’s top priorities over the past 10 years has been to promote integrated planning by local, regional, and state agencies and elected officials. Our vision is that innovative and integrated land use and transportation planning can enhance our county’s livability. At the same time, this vision encourages creative new development and development in ways that meet the infrastructure needs, need for green spaces, and to locate the growth where infrastructure already exists, while preserving and enhancing the quality of life. In support of this vision, we have been deeply involved in the many county and Metropolitan Planning Organization planning efforts related to land use and transportation.

 The Lee Plan is the county’s overarching planning policy document, serving as a “road map” for the public to know how the county will address a wide variety of issues including land use, transportation, housing, natural and cultural resources protection, economic development, etc. It is the policy foundation from which all other county policies, ordinances, codes, guidelines, and practices flow. It is designed to be a comprehensive, holistic and internally consistent plan that enables the county to implement its stated vision. The state even requires this plan to be updated every seven years to address new challenges and new opportunities the county faces and to fine-tune the framework to better implement the county’s vision – a crucial component of reasonable, consistent planning.

 But the county’s planning efforts are no longer reasonable or consistent. This Lee Plan amendment proposal is just the latest and most alarming yet of the many “small” amendments this Board has approved. Collectively, these amendments are unraveling the very policy foundation of county government. Almost every time a proposed development or zoning request conflicts with something in the Lee Plan, the Plan is amended to accommodate that specific project – the exact opposite of comprehensive planning. The cumulative effect is that the Lee Plan, which hasn’t had a major rewrite in almost 30 years, no longer tells the citizens of this county where we’re headed. It’s doubly tragic because in 2010-2013 the community collaborated with county government to produce a comprehensive revision of the Lee Plan. After years of effort, an award-winning Evaluation and Appraisal Report (EAR) in 2011, and the completion of the Horizon 2035 Plan that represented a consensus of the various groups and committees, this Board never even looked at the Plan and never gave its committees or the public an opportunity to discuss the proposal with the Board. 

 
The proposed mining amendment is symptomatic of this trend to abandon good ideas and sound planning practices to accommodate the demands of a few rather than the needs of the many. There is a sound and reasonable policy in place today to allow the destructive (but necessary) practice of limerock mining to continue in the DR/GR Area in a way that balances the need for construction materials against the long-held purpose of the DR/GR designation – to encourage groundwater recharge and preserve long-term low-density land uses in the southeast portion of the county. Mining and subsequent restoration could continue as needed and new mines could be allowed once the need for more material was evident (and the damage from old mines was mitigated). That approach balances private rights with public needs and environmental protection.

To abandon this sound planning approach without justification, without assessing the potential damages and without meaningful public input makes a sham of the comprehensive land use planning process as it threatens water quality and aquifer recharge. It also jeopardizes the certainty for other areas of the county to know that their long-term planning protections will actually remain in place should they ever conflict with a developer’s desires to maximize their profits at the expense of the community’s quality of life.

Lee County is at a crossroads. The water quality crisis we experienced in 2018 is still out there, posing an imminent threat to the county’s present and future viability. The pressures of growth on our community continue to expand, while the funding needed to pay for that growth is constricted and inadequate. And the reputation of Lee County as good place to live, work and play continues to erode with every new crisis, every dramatic downturn and every environmental catastrophe. The very future of Lee County hangs in the balance—our ecology, our economy, our quality of life. County leaders should be doing everything in their power to better protect our water quality. Instead, this proposed amendment will make our water quality problem even worse, which is simply unconscionable.

As the Feb. 15th News-Press editorial opposing this proposed amendment stated: “The county needs to protect the environment, not expand mining. This should be a no-brainer for the county commission.”

We hope that you will oppose this unwise and unnecessary amendment to the Lee Plan.

 Darla Letourneau
On behalf of BikeWalkLee

Additional Links:
BikeWalkLee's April 14, 2019 Letter to BoCC

 April 10th Action Alert

News-Press Editorial:  There is plenty of lime rock: no need to expand


   

 

 

ACTION ALERT: Bonita Beach Road Vision Implementation – What’s at Stake for Biking and Walking

If you live in Bonita Springs and support a more walkable and bikeable community and a multi-modal transportation system, your voices are needed on THURSDAY Jan. 19th at the City's Local Planning Agency (LPA) meeting.  If you're unable to attend, send an email to the LPA prior to the meeting, and/or email Bonita City Council in support of this effort. Thank you!

What: Bonita Springs Local Planning Agency:  BBR Vision and Comp Plan revisions
When: Thursday January 19th @ 9am
Where: Bonita Springs City Council Chambers

You may have already heard that the City of Bonita Springs took a major step last year to envision the many possibilities to increase biking, walking, and multimodal transportation when it contracted with Toole Design Group to develop a vision for Bonita Beach Road. The result of that visioning was documented in a Final Report that emphasizes safe multi-modal transportation, an extensive multi-use pathway, human scale design, increased road networks, efficient movement of cars and people, and enhancements to the aesthetic quality of the corridor. You can view the Toole Design's entire BBR Vision Study final report or their PowerPoint presentation.

The Bonita Springs Local Planning Agency (LPA) is now considering how to implement the vision into the City’s comprehensive plan. The LPA will provides its recommendation to the City Council. Because this is an important step, your voice is essential. Let the LPA know that you support safe transportation design and that you support implementing the vision into the comprehensive plan. Click here for the LPA 1/19 meeting agenda and packet.

Report by: Darla Letourneau

Links to Bonita Documents:
 
Toole Design's entire BBR Vision Study final report
Toole Design's PowerPoint presentation
LPA 1/19 meeting agenda and packet.

Links to Previous BWL Blog posts re: Bonita Beach Road Vision Study:

• 5/24/16: Bonita City Council considers Bonita Beach Road corridor vision study 
• 2/28/16: A vision for the Bonita Beach Rd. corridor begins taking shape 
• 8/5/15: Bonita Springs City Council selects consultant team for Bonita Beach Rd. visioning study

Lee County Advisory Committees complete action on transportation element and near completion of New Horizon 2035 Lee Plan process

Progress continues to be made on the County's goal of revising its growth management plans to bring the vision of a "Livable Lee" to reality.  Both the Community Sustainability Advisory Committee (CSAC) and the Local Planning Agency (LPA) completed action on the transportation element in March, and have reviewed the land use element, with final action on that element to occur in April. 

Transportation Element

 The LPA discussed the Transportation Element at its February meeting, carried it over to the March meeting so it could be considered along with the land use element, and then completed action on it, transmitting it to BoCC at its March 24th meeting.  At the LPA meeting in February, BikeWalkLee's representative, Darla Letourneau, spoke in support of the recommendations by the CSAC.  (See the 3/1/14 BWL blog post that reported on our comments: Lee County Advisory Committees review key transportation element of New Horizon2035 Lee Plan.)

Based on comments made by CSAC, BikeWalkLee, and the Horizon Council along with the comments made by LPA members at the 2/24 meeting, staff prepared a revised version of the transportation element incorporating changes that they recommended to the LPA.

(See Staff 3/13/14 Memo to LPA with Proposed Transportation Element Summary of Comments and changes.)

Most of the comments made by CSAC (and BikeWalkLee) were incorporated . At the LPA meeting,  LPA members asked that the stormwater language be strengthened to encourage more innovative approaches (the CSAC language had included stronger language than the staff's recommended version).  Ann Pierce made public comments about the importance of strengthening this language.  Staff agreed that they would add language in the final version, reflecting the LPA discussions. 

The LPA voted unanimously to transmit the Transportation Element as revised by staff, with the addition of some more language on innovative stormwater approaches for transportation projects.

Thanks to Andy Getch and other county staff who have worked for three years on the various versions of this element, with each one being an improvement over the last.  BikeWalkLee also appreciates the work done by both the CSAC and LPA and countless other citizens and organizations to contribute to a much improved transportation element that shifts the focus to multi-modal transportation, complete streets, integration of land use and transportation, in support of livable and sustainable communities in Lee County.

Land Use Element

The Land Use Element was circulated on March 13th.  The CSAC Horizon 2035 working group drafted recommendations on the land use element that were to be presented for adoption to the full CSAC on 3/19; however, there was no meeting due to the lack of a quorum; therefore, the CSAC draft recommendations have not yet been transmitted to the LPA.

At the March 24th LPA meeting, the committee discussed the element at length, but carried it forward to the April meeting so that it could be considered alongside the maps, which will be on the agenda for the April 21st meeting.  Ann Pierce made public comments about the new Research Diamond section of the element (which had not been in the previous draft), and provided suggested specific language changes.  Several members spoke about their concerns with this section as written.  There was also discussion about the revised section on mixed-use, which is intended to better identify how mixed-use centers are to be identified, incentivize, developed, and designed.   

The LPA unanimously adopted a motion to continue the land use element to the next meeting and directed staff to  revise the draft element to reflect committee's comments on the Research Diamond as well as their suggestion to reduce some of the specificity in the mixed-use section, as well as a few other places.

Next Steps:

The CSAC will meet on April 16th to take action on the recommendations for the land use element, and consider the land use maps.

The LPA meets on April 21st and they will complete action on the land use element, along with the land use maps.

The May 19th meeting (scheduled for May 19th vs. May 26th due to the holiday) is scheduled to review the Glossary and Tables.  

In June, the full Comp Plan package should be ready for transmittal to the BoCC for action (to transmit to the State for review), with final BoCC action after the State review (60 days).

Background documents:

• Staff 3/13/14 Memo to LPA with Proposed Transportation Element Summary of Comments and changes

• Transportation element as presented at the February LPA and CSAC meetings.

• CSAC made recommendations on the transportation element (link to CSAC recommendations) at its Feb. 19th meeting.  

• BikeWalkLee overview comments on 10/26/12 Draft Transportation Element (11/25/12) 

• BikeWalkLee report: Moving Beyond Transportation Concurrency: A Path Forward for Lee County (11/12/12)

• The Land Use Element as circulated on March 13th.

• BWL comments to county Local Planning Agency on land use elements (4/5/13)

BWL Blogs:

• 3/1/14 BWL blog post that reported on our comments: Lee County Advisory Committees review key transportation element of New Horizon 2035 Lee Plan

• 3/1/14 Lee County Advisory Committees complete action on two more New Horizon 2035 LeePlan elements [focus on communities element]

• 1/30/14 New Horizon 2035 Lee Plan Feb./March schedule for completing revised elements review

Report by Darla Letourneau

Why we need good comprehensive plans

 This week's national "Better! Cities and Towns" newsletter contained a timely article about comprehensive plans written by Bill Spikowski, FAICP, of Spikowski Planning Associates in Fort Myers (a BikeWalkLee supporter organization).  As Lee County is nearing the end of the Horizon 2035 Comp Plan amendments process, this article reminds us of the importance of a good comp plan and its implementation.

Comprehensive plans – helping or hurting?

Easy steps can be taken to provide more vision and effectiveness for a municipal road map to the future.

Bill Spikowski, Better! Cities and Towns

 Note: This article is in the January-February print issue of BCT.

Most cities and towns have a comprehensive plan, an earnest document intended to guide elected and appointed officials as they make decisions about the future. Some comprehensive plans are quickly forgotten; others are followed literally when land is being rezoned and infrastructure expansion are being considered.

How can you tell if a comprehensive plan has become stale, meaningless, or even harmful? Watch for these tell-tale signs:

• When the vision described in the plan sounds like it was written thirty years ago – or the plan is vision-free.
• When the comprehensive plan has to be retrofitted to allow walkable neighborhoods or “complete streets.”
• When rezoning applications routinely require amendments to the comprehensive plan.
• When the city engineer insists he must widen a road to meet the plan’s level-of-service standards, despite adopted complete-streets policies.
• When the future land-use map in the plan looks like a zoning map, breaking the community into single-use monocultures.
• When the plan is no longer being implemented.

It doesn’t have to stay that way! A tool with such authority and potential is a great opportunity for a community to identify and respond to current challenges and opportunities.

Comprehensive plans are so-named because they address the local government’s entire area and cover a variety of topics including transportation, utilities, housing, and the environment. These plans, known as general plans in many states, usually contain a future land-use map and related goals and policies that can be a strong positive force in redirecting ingrained habits about how a community should grow (or not grow, as circumstances dictate).

Communities across the country take advantage of the comprehensive planning process to set a new course for their future. The best comprehensive plans define and protect natural features and farmland, are explicit about the nature of the future street network, and have future land-use maps that establish the desired character of existing and future urban areas.

The examples highlighted here just graze the surface of what has been happening recently in comprehensive planning.

Click here to continue reading the article, which features examples in four communities:

• Somerville, MA
• Nashville, TN
• Raleigh, NC
• El Paso, TX  

Implementation

Effective comprehensive plans identify the specific steps to be taken after the plan is adopted to implement the plan. These can include better methods of selecting capital improvements, new annexation policies, and zoning-code overhauls.

Without thorough implementation, a comprehensive plan’s true potential has been wasted.