County Staff Pleased with Plans for River Project

Report recommends land for Estero on the River be rezoned -- with a few conditions

By Elizabeth Wright
NaplesNews.com
March 23, 2007

Other than the ugly traffic snarls that would result if it were built tomorrow, Estero on the River is a fine project.

That’s what Lee County staff had to say after reviewing plans for a major development proposed for the northeast corner of U.S. 41 and Corkscrew Road, a project that would include a mix of stores, homes, offices and a regional theater. The project would be built on 85 acres of land that used to belong to the Koreshans, a utopian religious group with a presence in Estero since the late 1800s.

County staff seemed to like what they saw in the developer’s plans, and although their recommendations can be ignored by county commissioners, the staff report that went out Wednesday recommends the land under the project should be rezoned for mostly mixed-use development, with a few conditions.

Some of those conditions would hold the developer, the Naples-based D’Jamoos Group, to several public promises already made to the Estero community. Those include ensuring public access to the Estero River, which cuts through the project, and setting aside 53 housing units out of 530 to be housing for “moderate qualified income residents.”

Another condition the county transportation department recommended would prohibit construction on the site until it’s a sure thing that work on widening U.S. 41 north of Corkscrew Road is beginning.

Traffic projections show the four-lane stretch of U.S. 41 north of Corkscrew would be a failing road if Estero on the River were built now.

Other developments north of Corkscrew Road, including a planned Wal-Mart, have been given that same condition: no construction until U.S. 41 work is finished.

Progress on widening U.S. 41 to six lanes in the area remains at a near standstill as the Florida Department of Transportation continues to search for a drainage pond site north of Corkscrew Road. Actual road work is not in the state agency’s budget until late 2010 or 2011.

Seeing that condition in the staff report was not a surprise to Betsy D’Jamoos, chief operating officer for the D’Jamoos Group. She said she did not think the condition would be a problem so long as site development could go on in the meantime.

The D’Jamoos Group has talked in the past of providing up to $1 million to expedite U.S. 41 road work. The company has no obligation to do so.

But the company likely will be paying more than $2 million into the county’s affordable housing trust fund if the project gets approved. The D’Jamoos Group wanted to build more homes on the property than zoning regulations would usually allow, and it preferred to pay the money to the trust fund rather than include lowincome housing in its plans.

In spelling out approval of plans for granting the developer’s permission to build these 181 additional “bonus density” housing units, the county staff report did note that the property would be an excellent site for affordable housing, given bus service along U.S. 41 and all the jobs in the area.

All together, Estero on the River would include 530 homes and about 300,000 square feet of commercial space, with most of the homes and stores clustered on the north side of the Estero River.

The D’Jamoos Group does not own the land for the project yet; the College of Life Foundation does. That foundation holds on to the remaining assets of the religious group, the Koreshans, who were the principal residents of Estero for the early part of the 20th century.

D’Jamoos said she expected the land deal would close in the next few days, finishing the deal before they know whether the land will, in fact, be rezoned.

The county hearing examiner will look at the project April 4, and after that, the plans go to county commissioners.

“We’re committed to this,” she said. “We know we’re proposing a quality project.”

© 2007 Bonita Daily News and The Banner. Published in Bonita Springs, Florida, USA by the E.W. Scripps Co.