Minimal notification as county fast-tracks settlement agreement
To the editor:
The controversy over the new town being plunked down in the DR/GR has raised some very disturbing worries about how the current rapid development in Lee County is being managed and the influence of special interests. Sadly, the lack of proactive outreach to the countywide population about a development that will have widespread impact on roads and traffic, cause school overcrowding, and require critical infrastructure such as wastewater treatment and stormwater runoff for which county residents will ultimately pay.
Women For a Better Lee has questioned that this rush to approve a far-reaching legal settlement with the landowners resulted from our commissioners taking their usual 5-week summer break. The judge overseeing this case gave the plaintiffs and the county until July 27 to agree to a settlement, yet the agreement was rushed through the county in just 27 business days and was approved on the day before our county commissioners went on vacation — even though they had more than another month to hear from residents. Coincidence?
According to Deputy County Attorney Michael Jacob, the county did do outreach; it “mailed notice to residents within 750 feet of the entire project boundary.” This is outreach? To an area that is thinly populated? Think of 750 feet — a little over two football fields long. How many residents were notified? We are a county of 800,000+ people; do we really believe this was adequate? The County did publish notice of the Hearing Examiner session on the matter seven business days prior to the meeting, but the notice did not appear on the County calendar, and once at the hearing, participants were presented with a 710-page document that included the settlement. And as Mr. Jacob notes, “I met with two individuals for over 45 minutes in our Office that came here with questions and concerns” for whom he “made copies of the files.” Again, this is a justification for limited outreach and getting the input of concerned residents?
Even though we all do not live along the Caloosahatchee or the Cape’s canals and do not personally experience the toxic algae floating in our waterways, does that mean Lee residents living in Estero or Bonita should not care? Do those in the Cape ignore the threats to wildlife, ecosystems and our future drinking water for south Lee County? According to the county’s thinking, only those immediately impacted by its actions are worthy enough to be heard. Surely this is a dangerous precedent.
So many of us came to Southwest Florida to experience the outdoor environment on both land and water. The county ignores its residents at its own peril. It’s time to vote out our commissioners and replace the incumbents with leaders who will argue on our behalf. As Mr. Jacob says “Simply put, the County lost the lawsuit.” Is it any wonder why? We need to start winning these lawsuits if we are to remain a paradise.
Charlotte Newton
Women For a Better Lee
womenforabetterlee.com