Lee County committees review draft land use element of Horizon 2035 Lee Plan this month

As we reported in our March blog story, County staff and its committees continue to work through the elements of the Comp Plan Horizon 2035 update, with the current focus on the important land use element.  This month BikeWalkLee provided comments on the land use element for consideration by both the LPA and CSAC.  Integration of land use and transportation planning is key to complete streets and complete communities, so these two elements are a major focus of BikeWalkLee's attention. 

On March 19th, Lee County’s proposed new Land Use Element , including the current and proposed Land Use Map, was released.  This draft is the culmination of an extensive effort that began with the formulation and adoption of the County’s Comprehensive Plan Evaluation and Appraisal Report, March, 2011.   Proposed changes to Land Use Categories densities, intensities, and locations may be of particular interest to planning communities, as well as policies that help define the character and context of development in specific places. 

Staff Report, Proposed Land Use Element; Proposed Map, Current Map:

Additional information on the entire comprehensive plan update can be found here:

BikeWalkLee's comments on the land use element.

There are a number of ways you may participate in the public review of these elements:

• The Local Planning Agency had an overview presentation and discussion about the draft Land Use Element at its March 25th meeting.  There will be a detailed discussion at the April 22nd meeting, 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., and the public is invited to come to that meeting and make public comments.   Note that this meeting will be held in a different location: Conference Room 1(first floor) in the County Administration building on 2115 Second Street, Fort Myers.  Groups and individuals are encouraged to submit their written comments or statements in advance of the April 22nd meeting to LPA@leegov.com, and staff will distribute to LPA members.  
•  The Community Sustainability Advisory Committee will review the draft at their meeting on April 17, 2013.  The meeting starts 6:00 pm, 1^st floor County Administration Building Conference Room; or
•  Participate in the online public forum.
•  In addition, County staff will be presenting the land use element to each of the Community Planning Panels at their regularly scheduled meetings between now and May, and members of those communities are encouraged to attend those meetings.  Check with your local planning panel for details, and click here for the schedule of presentations.
  
  

BikeWalkLee's "Take-Aways" from Tampa Bike Summit

Secretary LaHood being interviewed by NBC-2 News

 As reported in Friday's blog story about the Bike SafetySummit, BikeWalkLee participated in the April 11th Bike Summit hosted by USDOT Secretary Ray LaHood and came away inspired and energized.  While our first post shared links to the local news coverage, a video of the opening session featuring Secretary LaHood, and our photo album, this blog post focuses on what we learned at the summit that can help us improve the safety of Lee County's roads for cyclists, make a more multi-modal transportation system for our community, and change the culture.

Below are some of the highlights from our report.  Click here for the full report.

USDOT Announcements of Interest:

TIGER V:  Secretary LaHood announced that there is going to be a 5th round of grants for TIGER grants, the highly competitive discretionary grant program to fund innovative multi-modal transportation infrastructure projects.  There will be $475 million available and the grant announcement will be coming out shortly.  This is exciting news, since Lee County had a highly ranked complete streets initiative application ($10 million request) in rounds 3 and 4.  As Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn said, it took them 3 tries before they got their Riverwalk project funded ($10 million) in TIGER IV last year, so the third time is the charm.  BikeWalkLee will be requesting the MPO Board to re-submit a strengthened complete streets initiative grant application for TIGER V.

Performance Measures:  One of the themes of the summit was the shift to a performance-based transportation system as called for in the MAP-21 Act.  USDOT officials announced that the draft regulations for the new performance measurement system will be coming out shortly for public comment and that it will require states to set strong performance measures and targets for reducing pedestrian and cyclist fatality and serious injury rates. These will require accurate, timely data collection and accountability. This is welcome news and we should start planning now for setting local targets to reduce the rate of bike/ped fatalities and injuries in Lee County. 

Overarching messages:  Secretary LaHood's themes can guide our efforts: 

• develop zero tolerance for people who don't respect cyclists. 
• continue effort until we reduce cyclist deaths and injuries to zero.
• as more people use biking for transportation needs,  we have to step up our safety agenda
•  bike and pedestrian safety is a long-term campaign that requires cultural/behavior changes, along with laws and enforcement.  Think of the successes with the "Click It or Ticket" seatbelt campaign and Mothers Against Drunk Driving...with a combination of tools over a decade or more, the desired behaviors have become the norm.  That's the kind of sustained and multi-faceted approach we need for our bike safety campaign.
• To succeed, we must change the culture in Florida--a long term and systematic shift. 
• Secretary LaHood and other officials voiced strong support for Complete Streets policies as a way to make our streets safer for everyone.

  

  Secretary LaHood with Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn

Economic Benefits:  Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn focused on the economic benefits of investing in biking infrastructure and making it a safe biking community.

• Being a bikeable/walkable city is key to a city being able to compete with other cities for the intellectual capital workers. Saying “We recognize that intellectual capital is mobile and if we don’t want to keep losing to Charlotte, Austin, and Minneapolis we need to be competitive, we need to be a connected city. So, we are all in and we are getting out ahead”. 
• He wants to make Tampa a "hip" and "cool" place to attract and keep  smart, talented professionals want to live.  Is it a city where you can live, work and play and not get into your car?  Biking is a big part of positioning the city to attract those workers.
• This message resonated with the Lee County participants --this is an economic development tool and an important part of positioning our county to be vibrant and sustainable into the future. 
•  Buckhorn says “We don’t have the money to road build our way out of congestion, it has to be multi-modal; walking, biking, BRT, light rail.”

Celebrate the Progress we've made:   At the close of the summit Beth Osborne, USDOT Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, made some important points about what's been accomplished in the past 4 years...yes, we've got a long way to go, but we should also realize the progress we're making.

Four years ago the first bike share opened up and now it's in 40 cities; and mayors are now creating economic vibrancy in their cities by focusing on bikeable communities--something that has changed profoundly in 4 years.

FDOT encouraged to adopt complete streets policy:  We were also encouraged to hear the call from participants for FDOT to adopt a statewide complete streets policy and are hopeful that with District 1 Secretary Hattaway's support, FDOT will take up this leadership challenge.

This approach, which BWL has recommended to Florida Governors since 2010, could help shape the culture change needed to make our streets safer for all users, and provide needed leadership and support to the 32 communities in Florida (including Lee County) that have adopted complete streets policies.  BikeWalkLee will redouble its efforts, in collaboration with other advocates throughout Florida, to encourage FDOT to adopt a complete streets policy this year.

The full report includes lots of specific "take aways" organized by the following topics:  education, engineering, enforcement, policy/law/regulatory changes, messaging, coalition-building, advocacy, and policy and data.  We encourage you to read the full report for ideas from national leaders and other Florida communities about how Lee County can step up its efforts to make our roadways safer for cyclists and pedestrians and achieve the economic benefits that come from investing in safe and accessible biking and walking infrastructure.

   

Report by Darla Letourneau and Ann Pierce (4/14/13)

Lee County Commission is recruiting its next County Manager and your assistance needed

 The Lee BoCC is recruiting for a County Manager and applications are due May 13th, with selection to be completed by the end of June. It is critical that the person selected for this important position has the vision and proven experience to meet the serious challenges facing Lee County.  BWL encourages the Board to conduct a national search for a proven leader who can lead a transformative organizational change effort, which is what is needed if the new vision for the County--a vibrant, livable, sustainable community with an integrated land use and transportation  vision--(as articulated in EAR of the Horizon 2035 Plan) is to be successfully implemented.

If you know leaders in other communities that would be good candidates, encourage them to apply.  If you have questions or issues you want to be considered as part of the interview process, the county has provided an online mechanism to participate.  Click here.  As this process moves forward, let County Commissioners know how important this decision is for the future of Lee County.

The County's website also includes the recruitment flyer, with the qualifications excerpted below:

"The  County  is  seeking  a  decisive,  professional  manager  who  is approachable, articulate, ethical, and dedicated to providing public services.  The  ideal  candidate  will  be  a  confident  leader  who  has  a proven  record  of  being 
results-oriented,  who  will  set  a  course  of action  with  clearly  defined  expectations  and  hold  staff  accountable.  A team-oriented manager who values and empowers staff and is fair, consistent  and  equitable  to  all  employees  is  needed.  Establishing  trust  and demonstrating  integrity  and  transparency  with  the  Board,  staff  and  the community is essential. A willingness to look at new approaches and inno-
vative  solutions  to  improve  operations  and  services  will  be  needed.  The selected 
candidate  will  have  exceptional  communication  skills  to  include listening and disseminating information effectively throughout the organization. The ability
 to connect with the workforce and involvement in the community is important."

"Requirements for the position include a Bachelor’s degree with an emphasis in Public or Business Administration, Economics, Finance or a related field; a Master’s degree  is  preferred.  Candidates  should  have  at  least  seven  years  of  progressively  responsible  senior  level  management  experience  in  public  or  business administration, preferably within local government as a City/County Manager or Assistant  City/County  Manager  with  agencies  of  similar  size  and  complexities. Private sector experience is valued and direct experience related to performance management,  benchmarking,  strategic  planning,  as  well  as  intergovernmental and  public/private  partnerships  is  a  plus.  Solid  financial  and  budgetary  skills  is  a must. Residency within the County is required."