Lee Plan a forgone conclusion?
To the editor:
The Lee County Planning Agency just recently held a public hearing about wide-ranging amendments to “the Plan” the plan that was written to protect county citizens and preserve county resources. The changes filled over 300 pages. The public was given three – four days to absorb/analyze/critique these amendments. At the hearing, the public was very vocal in their opposition to the vast over-reach and having the changed countywide plan shoved down their throats. Logical concern after logical concern was voiced, but in inimitable Lee County fashion, the public was ignored, and the 330-plus pages were passed on.
Alas, do not fear! It did not take long for our knights in shining armor, aka county commissioners, to stick their fingers in the wind and decide that for sake of political appearances, they had to slow the process down.
Now we enter the realm of buyer beware. Anyone aware of how the Lee County commissioners operate realizes that they continually amend the plan at the direction of the developers who fill their war chests with money. They have been doing this since 2008 when they greatly reduced the impact fees and from that point on regularly amending the plan to allow over building and destruction of natural resources.
It would be great if common sense prevailed, but history tells a different story.
So, it should come as no surprise that when the dust has settled, the commissioners have duly and “responsibly” rubbed their chins, and the public has been distracted; this will come to be.
Norman Cannon
Fort Myers