CCPC Minutes 03/18/2010 R
March 18,2010
TRANSCRIPT OF THE MEETING OF THE
COLLIER COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION
Naples, Florida
March] 8,2010
LET IT BE REMEMBERED, that the Collier County Planning
Commission, in and for the County of Collier, having conducted
business herein, met on this date at 8:30 a.m. in REGULAR SESSION
in Building "F" of the Government Complex, East Naples, Florida,
with the following members present:
CHAIRMAN:
Mark Strain
Donna Reed-Caron
Karen Homiak
Tor Kolflat
Paul Midney
Bob Murray
Brad Schiffer
Robert Vigliotti
David 1. Wolfley
ALSO PRESENT:
Nick Casalanguida, Interim Administrator, CDES
Jeffrey Klatzkow, County Attorney
Ray Bellows, Zoning & Land Development Review
Page 1
AGENDA
COLLIER COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION WILL MEET AT 8:30 A,M" THURSDAY, MARCH 18,2010,
IN THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS MEETING ROOM, ADMINISTRATION BUILDING,
COUNTY GOVERNMENT CENTER, 3301 TAMIAMI TRAIL EAST, NAPLES, FLORIDA:
NOTE: INDIVIDUAL SPEAKERS WILL BE LIMITED TO 5 MINUTES ON ANY
ITEM, INDIVIDUALS SELECTED TO SPEAK ON BEHALF OF AN ORGANIZATION
OR GROUP ARE ENCOURAGED AND MA Y BE ALLOTTED 10 MINUTES TO SPEAK
ON AN ITEM IF SO RECOGNIZED BY THE CHAIRMAN, PERSONS WISHING TO
HAVE WRITTEN OR GRAPHIC MATERIALS INCLUDED IN THE CCPC AGENDA
PACKETS MUST SUBMIT SAID MATERIAL A MINIMUM OF 10 DAYS PRIOR TO
THE RESPECTIVE PUBLIC HEARING, IN ANY CASE, WRITTEN MA TERJALS
INTENDED TO BE CONSIDERED BY THE CCPC SHALL BE SUBMITTED TO THE
APPROPRIATE COUNTY STAFF A MINIMUM OF SEVEN DAYS PRIOR TO THE
PUBLIC HEARING, ALL MATERIAL USED IN PRESENTATIONS BEFORE THE CCPC
WILL BECOME A PERMANENT PART OF THE RECORD AND WILL BE
AVAILABLE FOR PRESENTATION TO THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
IF APPLICABLE,
ANY PERSON WHO DECIDES TO APPEAL A DECISION OF THE CCPC WILL NEED
A RECORD OF THE PROCEEDINGS PERTAINING THERETO, AND THEREFORE
MAY NEED TO ENSURE THAT A VERBATIM RECORD OF THE PROCEEDINGS IS
MADE, WHICH RECORD INCLUDES THE TESTIMONY AND EVIDENCE UPON
WHICH THE APPEAL IS TO BE BASED,
I, PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
2, ROLL CALL BY SECRETARY
3, ADDENDA TO THE AGENDA
4, PLANNING COMMISSION ABSENCES
5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - February 16,2010 (lAMP) & February 18,2010
6, BCC REPORT- RECAPS - March 9, 2010
7, CHAIRMAN'S REPORT
8, CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS
9, ADVERTISED PUBLIC HEARINGS
A, Petition: BD-PL2009-918, Hickory Harbour Condominium Association, Inc" represented by David
Turley, requests a Boat Dock Extension that includes expansion orthe northern most dock by constructing
two new finger piers with three new slips and constructing a new dock with eight finger piers, with 13 new
slips and the retention orthe two existing docks, totaling 40 slips, Subject property is located at 226 Third
Street, part of Lot 6, of Block D, Little Hickory Shores Unit 2, in Section 5, Township 48 South, Range
25 East, Collier County, Florida, [Coordinator: Ashley Caserta]
1
B, Petition: V A-PL2009-1220, Leo F. Lasher, is requesting one after-the-fact variance for an existing shed
that is an accessory structure to a single family dwelling, The request is for a variance of 9.4 feet from the
required rear yard setback of 75 feet as required by Collier County Land Development Code Subsection
4,02,01 Table 2, L to allow the existing accessory structure to remain at 65,6 feet from the rear property
line, The subject 2,5* acre property is located at 265 21" Street SW, in Plat Book 4, Page 97 and 98 of the
Public Records of Collier County, in Section 7, Township 49 South, Range 27 East, Collier County,
Florida, [Coordinator: Nancy Gundlach]
10, OLD BUSINESS
I I, NEW BUSINESS - PRESENTATION BY THE COLLIER COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT
12, PUBLIC COMMENT ITEM
13, DISCUSSION OF ADDENDA
14, ADJOURN
3/5/10 cepe AgendaIRay Bellows/jmp
2
March 18,2010
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to
the March 18th meeting of the Collier County Planning Commission.
If you'll please rise for pledge of allegiance.
(Pledge of Allegiance was recited in unison.)
Item #2
ROLL CALL BY SECRETARY
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Thank you.
If the secretary will do the roll call, please.
COMMISSIONER VIGLIOTTI: Commissioner Kolflat?
COMMISSIONER KOLFLA T: Here.
COMMISSIONER VIGLIOTTI: Commissioner Schiffer?
COMMISSIONER SCHIFFER: I am here.
COMMISSIONER VIGLIOTTI: Commissioner Midney?
COMMISSIONER MIDNEY: Here.
COMMISSIONER VIGLIOTTI: Commissioner Caron?
COMMISSIONER CARON: Here.
COMMISSIONER VIGLIOTTI: Chairman Strain?
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Here.
COMMISSIONER VIGLIOTTI: Commissioner Vigliotti is
present.
Commissioner Murray?
COMMISSIONER MURRAY: Here.
COMMISSIONER VIGLIOTTI: Commissioner Wolfley?
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: Here.
COMMISSIONER VIGLIOTTI: And Commissioner Homiak?
COMMISSIONER HOMIAK: Here.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Thank you.
Item #3
Page 2
March 18,2010
ADDENDA TO THE AGENDA
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: We have three items on the agenda. Is
there any changes anybody knows of to the agenda?
(No response.)
Item #4
PLANNING COMMISSION ABSENCES
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Okay, the Planning Commission
absences. We have a continuation of our March 20 -- yeah, we have a
continuation of our LDC amendment meeting on March 24th. It's in
the afternoon from 1:00 to 5:00 in this room.
Does anybody know if they're not going to make it for that
meeting?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Okay, we'll assume a quorum.
I have a question of staff. The packages for that meeting, I hope
you got them for today to give to us?
MR. BELLOWS: For the record, Ray Bellows.
We'll have them delivered tomorrow.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Okay. As long as we get them before
the weekend, if you could, that would be great. Thank you.
The other meeting, I'm not kidding you guys about this next
meeting, it's April 1st. So everybody comes before us that day, it's
April Fools Day. They won't know what we're going to do.
Do we have any issues coming up on that day, Ray?
MR. BELLOWS: We have a rezone and a variance, part of Port
of the Islands.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Okay. Depending on how we do on the
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March 18,2010
24th, we might look at that then as another continuance, if that works
for timing of things. So just to kind of keep that in the back of your
head.
MR. BELLOWS: Okay.
Item #5
APPROVAL OF MINUTES ~ FEBRUARY 16,2010 (lAMP) &
FEBRUARY 18.20]0
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Okay, approval of minutes. We have
two sets of minutes that were electronically provided, and we need a
motion to approve or deny -- or correct, I should say, for the February
16th, 20] 0 Immokalee Area Master Plan minutes.
Is there such a motion?
COMMISSIONER CARON: Motion to approve.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Motion made to approve.
Is there a second?
COMMISSIONER HOMIAK: I'll second.
COMMISSIONER SCHIFFER: Second.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Seconded by Mr. Schiffer. Motion made
by Ms. Caron.
All those in favor, signify by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER SCHIFFER: Aye.
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HOMIAK: Aye.
COMMISSIONER CARON: Aye.
COMMISSIONER KOLFLA T: Aye.
COMMISSIONER VIGLIOTTI: Aye.
COMMISSIONER MIDNEY: Aye.
COMMISSIONER MURRAY: Aye.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Aye.
Page 4
March 18,2010
Anybody opposed?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Motion carries.
Similar motion for February ] 8th, 20] O.
COMMISSIONER CARON: Motion to approve.
COMMISSIONER HOMIAK: Second.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Okay, motion made by Commissioner
Caron, seconded by Commissioner Homiak.
All those in favor, signify by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER SCHIFFER: Aye.
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HOMIAK: Aye.
COMMISSIONER CARON: Aye.
COMMISSIONER KOLFLAT: Aye.
COMMISSIONER VIGLIOTTI: Aye.
COMMISSIONER MIDNEY: Aye.
COMMISSIONER MURRAY: Aye.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Aye.
Anybody opposed?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Motion carries again, 9-0.
BCC recaps. Ray?
Item #6
BCC REPORT - RECAPS - MARCH 9, 2010
MR. BELLOWS: Yes, on March 9th the Board of County
Commissioners heard the rezone for RZ-PL-09-469. That was the
East Naples Fire Control District rezone. That was approved on the
summary agenda.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Okay. Thank you.
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March 18,2010
Item #7
CHAIRMAN'S REPORT
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Chairman's report. Well, we're all here,
that's a good thing, so I don't have anything -- that's just the good
news, so we're not going to get any bad today.
Consent agenda items, we don't have any.
Item #9 A
PETITION: BD-PL2009-918, HICKORY HARBOUR
CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION. INC.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: We'll move right into the advertised
public hearings.
The first petition is Petition BD-PL-2009-918. It's the Hickory
Harbor Condominium Association, Inc.
All those wishing to testify on behalf of this item, please rise to
be sworn in by the court reporter.
(Speakers were duly sworn.)
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Are there disclosures on the part of the
Planning Commission?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Okay, hearing none, the applicant's
presentation, please.
MR. TURLEY: Good morning. My name is David Turley and
I'm representing the Hickory Harbor Condominium Association.
I'm here before you to present a petition for an extension of 147
feet and 131 feet to the existing structures at the condominium itself.
Those protrusions are beyond the 20- foot permitted protrusion.
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March 18,2010
The waterway is approximately 1,1 10 feet wide and this is well
under the 25 percent limitation.
The condominium has 51 residents, and I'm requesting the
petition for 40 slips.
The location of the job -- of the project is in the northwest corner
of Collier County and the Hickory Shores subdevelopment.
If you all have any questions, I'm here to answer them, I hope.
Positively.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Well, we'll give it a shot.
MR. TURLEY: This is my first time, so --
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: That's no problem. We're a very easy
board to get along with.
I shouldn't say that.
MR. TURLEY: He smiles and I hear laughing, that's good.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Are there questions of the applicant at
this time, anybody?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: I have a few, sir -- oh, go ahead, Ms.
Caron, why don't you start off.
COMMISSIONER CARON: If you're in the water and you're
looking back at the condominium to the right, there's an empty lot.
That does not belong to the condominium; is that correct?
MR. TURLEY: No, it does not.
COMMISSIONER CARON: It looks like if a boat were to be
placed at that location it would come out on the canal side? There
seems to be a break already in the seawall there. Would that be your
understanding?
MR. TURLEY: It would have to come out on the canal side, yes.
But the setbacks on that piece are actually 55 -- no, 35 feet actual
setback. And that is more than ample for a 20, 24-foot boat to exit.
And it wouldn't interfere with that property whatsoever.
The other -- ifthere was a dock on that other property, it would
March 18,2010
have to be situated in an area that would allow a 15-foot setback for
them as well. So we're looking at 50 feet clearance for boats entering
or exiting either the -- a new dock on that vacant dock -- or the
existing docking facility.
COMMISSIONER CARON: So if they put a boat dock out on
the wide part of this area, essentially on -- along the same shoreline as
you were using, is that a possibility, or would the setbacks not--
MR. TURLEY: The setbacks probably wouldn't accommodate
it, only because there is a radius there. That dock would have to be
configured at such an angle to where the slip itself would be angled
and wouldn't really come into play.
COMMISSIONER CARON: So your new dock that you're
proposing in no way is limiting what can or cannot happen --
MR. TURLEY: Absolutely not.
COMMISSIONER CARON: -- on that piece of property.
MR. TURLEY: Absolutely not.
COMMISSIONER CARON: And if you look to the left of the
property, all of the property along that northern part of the shoreline,
those are all the boat dock lots, right?
MR. TURLEY: Well, actually, the boat dock lots start on the
other side of the --
COMMISSIONER CARON: I understand. But they're also on
this side, too.
MR. TURLEY: Yes, they could be, yes.
COMMISSIONER CARON: Is it where it looks like a total
mangrove area, green area, are there boat dock lots in there?
MR. TURLEY: Not that I could determine from the property
appraiser's site. I think the only one is that is shown up there, there's
one --
COMMISSIONER CARON: Is the one that you measured to,
the 274 feet?
MR. TURLEY: 275 feet. Yes, ma'am.
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March 18,2010
COMMISSIONER CARON: So there are no -- to the best of
your knowledge there are no -- there's no opportunity for anybody to
put boat docks out on that side --
MR. TURLEY: No, ma'am.
COMMISSIONER CARON: -- where that green area is. Okay,
thank you.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Anybody else?
Go ahead, Brad.
COMMISSIONER SCHIFFER: Yeah, it shows that there's a --
let me find the drawing. In the past it looks like these docks honored a
line called like a bulkhead or something line. Let me -- I can't find the
drawing.
MR. TURLEY: That bulkhead line was deeded by, oh, James
Lorenz back in 1967, I believe. That is -- actually, once upon a time
uplands, and that was dredged to build -- this water body is pretty
much manmade. And that was the primary bulkhead for the
development when it was created. And I couldn't exactly figure out
when it was created, but it was back in the probably late Fifties, early
Sixties.
COMMISSIONER SCHIFFER: And it looks in the past that
these docks were carefully put to not go over that line. But is that a
line that we now ignore or what is --
MR. TURLEY: No, no, that's what -- that line was designated
pretty much as a -- oh, it would -- I would consider it the 25 percent
rule type situation, which I don't -- I'm not really sure exactly what the
intentions were way back when that was designated, unless they
intended to fill all that area, which they didn't. They managed to
conserve that for --
COMMISSIONER SCHIFFER: Because here, if -- I did find the
drawing and it is a survey, a signed survey, actually. And it states --
it's called the bulkhead line. The marking's state-owned submerged
bottomland and private submerged bottom. And it refers to a plat
March 18,2010
book description of it.
So in other words this new thing is now going over that line
where all the existing docks carefully -- and carefully, I mean they
went right up to it, stopped at that line. So is that something we
should ignore?
I was going to ask staff that, but --
MR. TURLEY: Yeah, that's somewhat irrelevant as far as the
development is concerned itself. Like I say, this was deeded, that
bulkhead line, all that property was deeded to the state, and outside
that bulkhead line is sovereign submerged lands. And that's where
they ended up having to get a submerged land lease for that property.
COMMISSIONER SCHIFFER: That's why we're over it, is that
you're now leasing it and --
MR. TURLEY: It will be leased.
COMMISSIONER SCHIFFER: Okay. All right, thank you.
One other thing you might know, and this is really not important,
but on the surveys that this Hans Wilson has done, there's little blue
arrows show and what looks like topos. Is that current? Or what is
that? I mean, this is really not --
MR. TURLEY: Yes, those are water depths. Those are actual
water depths. They're in one-foot increments.
COMMISSIONER SCHIFFER: Okay, I see. They're just -- it's
so small that --
MR. TURLEY: I'm sorry that wasn't blown up. I had a hard time
trying to read it myself.
COMMISSIONER SCHIFFER: I got it, never mind. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Anybody else have any questions?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Okay. Sir, one of the criteria that you
have to review is consistency with the Manatee Protection Plan. In
fact, it goes further than review. It says whether the proposed dock
facility is subject to the manatee protection requirements of
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March 18,2010
5.03.06.E.ll of this code must be demonstrated. If applicable,
compliance with section must be demonstrated.
Have you determined if you're applicable to that code, if you
need to be consistent with the Manatee Protection Plan?
MR. TURLEY: Yes, I do. The impact, the native marine habitat
says five percent. The shoreline has approximately 15,000 square feet
of mangroves.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: You may be asking questions I'm not
going to ask -- you may be answering questions I'm not -- why don't
you just -- all I needed to know is do you believe you need to be
consistent with the Manatee Protection Plan?
MR. TURLEY: Yes, I do.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Okay. Thank you. Then it becomes a
matter of demonstration.
And if you go into that plan, there are some things that need to be
demonstrated. There are three criteria that you should be aware of:
One is the water depth, native marine habitat and manatee abundance.
Can you show me where the water depth -- I understand the
water depth in the area of your facility, but your facility is putting
boats that are going to go somewhere. And 1 believe the nearest inlet
is where they're going to go to.
So I was wondering, do you have any evidence that the criteria
leading to that inlet has adequate water depth? Because I haven't seen
it in the packet.
MR. TURLEY: No, there isn't adequate water depth at certain
tides. It's a situation where that area has changed. I've been up in that
area, so to speak, for the last 38 years. I live there. And I've noticed
over the years fishing and working up there that -- why it changes so
much, it could be from further development, it could have been the
Lely Barefoot project.
But anyway, there are areas that are very shallow. I would say
within two feet, one and a half to two feet. And that's south towards
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March 18,2010
what they call -- oh, they call it Hell's Gate. But it's just adjacent to
the Barefoot Beach project where they have their docks. And that's a
no wake zone and it's well marked.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: There are maps in the Manatee
Protection Plan showing the water depths in the area. They're not
readable at the scale that's provided in the plan, but it clearly says in
the plan, if you're planning to use them staff has them on file and you
can review them.
So first of all, as part of the demonstration that you meet these
certain level of Manatee Protection Plan acknowledgment, whether
that's preferred, moderate or prohibited, I would have expected you to
address these three issues in some orderly manner so we could have
seen, number one, the calculation for your vegetation, which I know
you're trying to explain to me, but I'll get into that in a minute.
Number two, you would have shown the water depths and how
they apply.
And number three, you would have shown the manatee carcass
tally for within a five-mile radius as required by the Manatee
Protection Plan.
I've not seen any of those. Now, I'm not saying you didn't do
them, I'm not saying that staff may not have understood them. The
problem is it's not staffs decision, it's ours. And that is the kind of
data that this board should be getting, and I've not seen that data.
Let me explain the manatee carcass recovery data. In evaluating
a parcel for a potential boat facility, a minimum sphere of influence
for the boat traffic must be designated. For this plan an on-water
travel distance of five miles is considered the sphere of influence.
Now, I've not seen a five-mile sphere showing manatee carcass
findings in that spear, nor have I seen the water depths shown in a
five-mile sphere, which would probably take you out to the inlet at
Wiggins Pass. I think those are critical and for you to determine what
your status is going to be for your marina siting criteria, because that's
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March 18,2010
a big impact.
If you're preferred or moderate, your calculation is 10 slips per
100 feet of shoreline.
If you're protected, which I don't know if you're in that or not,
your calculations could be one slip per 100 feet of shoreline.
And I've seen no evidence demonstrated here today if you're not
in a protected or if you are in a moderate. I know your assumption is a
moderate. I certainly question staffs, and I question the -- and I will be
questioning the Comprehensive Planning staffs acknowledgment that
you're in moderate, because they acknowledged that without having
sufficient information that they even acknowledged in their
acknowledgment they didn't have.
So I don't know how we got here today without all this being
documented properly.
Again, I'm not saying you could be wrong, I just want to see the
documentation.
Go ahead, you obviously have something to say.
MR. TURLEY: I do have documentation past five years for
Collier County manatees. And there has only been one documented in
that five years of a manatee -- or carcass recovery in Little Hickory
Bay. Other than that, everything else has been pretty much down
towards the southern end of Collier County, Caxambas, Addison Bay,
Roberts Bay, Little Marco. I have -- can I--
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: I mean, let me -- you can bring it, you
can show -- we need nine --
MR. TURLEY: I just found this late yesterday afternoon.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Okay.
MR. TURLEY: I mean, I've been searching high and low.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: First of all, I know -- I've gone to the
sites that provide that information. I've had to provide that information
myself, I had to assemble it myself, I've had to hire people to do it, so
I know what it takes to get it done. I know how it's done. I know the
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March 18,2010
radius from the point -- you draw basically a circle in that five-mile
radius and you pull out all the carcass data from all the agencies you
can and then put it in a tabular form and say, okay, here's why I don't
qualify for that, here's why I'm not in -- and that's the kind of data I
haven't seen here today.
Again, I'm not saying it's going to limit you or hurt you, but I
believe this board deserves a right to review that data equally as much
as staff should have asked you for it if they hadn't already -- or if
they've already got it, that's fine. But we needed to see it one way or
the other.
Well, that takes cares of the first issue that I have.
The second one is water depth. You've acknowledged water
depth's a problem, but I think you need to show us what that -- to the
extent of what that problem is, because if affects your rating, you may
not get the rating you want.
But that isn't the only criteria there is in the rating, so you could
come back with a mitigation to the rating which could show that
there's idle speed zones and things like that that help you.
I've seen none of those arguments. And I guess the reason I'm so
aware of this is because I was put through this eye of the needle
myself. And I didn't -- 1 don't see you providing it. And I know what
it takes to put that together.
And it certainly wasn't the staff in place today that asked that
question, this was many years ago. But we're still operating under the
same Manatee Protection Plan. So I'm just wondering how the
different levels of request happened.
Let me ask all -- oh, and the manatee sighting criteria has a
paragraph in it that says for shoreline vegetation such as mangroves,
no impact is defined as no greater than five percent of the native
marine habitat is disturbed. For sea grass, this is no more than 100
feet of sea grasses.
Now, the report that you provided -- and it's on Page 2. Actually,
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March 18,2010
it's -- well, that's the staff one. Let me find -- it's on the second page
of the form you filled out for the county, number six, whether or not
the proposed docks facility is subject to the manatee protection
requirements.
Now, there you tried to -- apparently that was the one where you
provided the answer. And in that answer you said you're not
impacting more than 10 percent of the native marine habitat. That's
number six.
Staff wrote it differently in their staff report. But in your
response to the questions, which I believe were submitted, I imagine,
by you in your application, you identified it was less than 10 percent.
Well, the Manatee Protection Plan requires less than five percent.
You may be there, but I've not seen how you've done that. You
started to explain it earlier, but I think we need to see the calculation.
You need to show us that the shoreline is "X". You've not impacted
more than that amount of greater than five percent.
There is a discrepancy between what you provided -- I mean, I'm
making the assumption it was you, because it's in the applicant
information. It's in the document that I thought staff got from the
applicant. The answer there though is quite different than the answer
provided by staff in the staff report. So I can only assume yours was
done by you, or the application was done by you and staff did their
own.
That's why I need to -- I think we need for the record something
to show us that you're not at 10 percent, you're at less than five, if
that's what you are.
MR. TURLEY: When I submitted this application, I didn't have
the application for the consistency, comprehensive consistency. And
when I just reviewed that, I noted that's how they gained a good
portion of the information that was submitted to staff. And it is my
fault for not submitting it, overlooking it. But that can be included in
a separate package with more detailed information.
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March 18,2010
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Okay. And I understand this is your
first time going through the process. I certainly, though, think that if
you were to bring this information in to us, it would be much more
helpful to understand what you're asking for and how it fits in with
everything.
MR. TURLEY : Yes, sir.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Because if you aren't consistent and if
you don't show consistency with that plan to get you a moderate or
preferred rating, your whole calculation goes -- is shot.
MR. TURLEY: Right, right. I understand.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: So that's where I'm concerned about.
And I think that's the last comment I have to make for your
behalf. We can have the staff report now, unless you have something
else you want to add to it at this point.
MR. TURLEY: You covered it. You hit the nail on the head.
Appreciate it.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Okay, thank you, sir.
Ashley, I guess this is yours?
MS. CASERTA: Good morning. Ashley Caserta with the
zoning section at CDES.
This is a request for two docks, an extension, a three-slip
extension to an existing dock which is the northernmost dock, and a
13-foot facility to the south of the existing docks, as outlined in the
application. The total request is for 40 slips.
And staff has reviewed the request against the criteria laid out in
Section 5.03.06.H of the LDC and recommends approval based on
those criteria.
Aside from the manatee protection issue, obviously we
recommend approval.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Any questions of staff?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Ashley, in the comprehensive planning
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March 18,2010
response, I'll read it to you. It says: The application identifies less
than five percent impact to native marine habitat. I'm not sure where
they got that from, because the application says 10 percent.
So I certainly think we need to have an answer to that. Do you
know why comprehensive planning responded with a five percent
number when the applicant had 10 percent in his application?
MS. CASERTA: Susan Mason is here and prepared to answer
that question in more detail than I am able to, so I'll --
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Let me read the rest of it, then we can
get it all at once. The calculation for a manatee use rating is not high.
I don't know how they got there, because I have not seen the same --
probably the information staff has. And if staff has the information
and can produce it today, it would be very helpful.
No confirmation was provided for adequate water depths for a
five-mile radius out to the Gulf of Mexico.
Then it says: Assuming inadequate water depth, the project
qualifies for a moderate rating. This rating allows for up to 10 slips for
every 100 feet of shoreline.
Why are we making assumptions? Why don't we just have the
information.
So I think it's -- you may not have gotten the information as well,
so I'll let Susan proceed now at this point.
Go ahead, Susan.
MS. MASON: Good morning. For the record, Susan Mason
with the Environmental Services Section.
I'm not sure if it was this particular applicant but the Hickory
Harbor Homeowners Association did submit for a consistency
determination to the compo planning department back in 2008. As part
of that packet, they did provide the information, and staff also uses
information that they have on record.
Regarding a couple things, I want to try to make this clear with
how staff applies the Manatee Protection Plan.
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There are the three criteria and that would get you the three
ranking. If you pass all three criteria, which is: Adequate water
depth, the impacts to native vegetation and manatee use, which is
actually calculated by number of manatee deaths in an area, then you
get a preferred ranking.
If you miss one, you're down to moderate. If you miss two or
more, you're down to protected and you're very limited on what you
can do with your shoreline.
For the case for these residents here, they really don't need to
score better than a moderate, because the Land Development Code
limits them on one slip per unit. So the most they could ever get on
this site by the Land Development Code is 51 units.
The moderate ranking with the Manatee Protection Plan gives
them up to 56 units. So they already exceed the maximum number of
slips that they could have by the Manatee Protection Plan, but the
limiting factor in this case is the Land Development Code.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: I think you need to slow down a little
bit, Susan, because I imagine Cherie' is having a real bad morning so
far between you and me. And I just realized that. So let's just slow it
all down. I will too.
MS. MASON: Okay, thanks.
And when the applicant came in back in September of 2008 they
-- staff did confirm the manatee deaths. And the way it's calculated is
all known boat-related manatee deaths for the county and all the
manatee deaths within five-mile radius of the person seeking the
determination.
So for this case there was 149 total manatee deaths in Collier
County, and this area within five miles there were six deaths. That
works out to be four percent of the manatees. And what's the
percentage that is the kick-in for what's considered high risk is 20
percent. So they're well below that. So they pass the manatee use
portion of the Manatee Protection Plan.
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March 18,2010
They did not provide the adequate depth. One of the things I did
want to clarify, there are maps but they're old and they're not very
legible. When it's required or requested that they demonstrate the
depth, they actually have to do soundings themselves. We don't rely
on historical data unless it's really something new that was -- they
provide to us, then we know it to be true. Because everything around
here is so much local knowledge.
And apparently according to the applicant's testimony, today they
wouldn't have passed that anyway.
The last remaining criteria was five percent, and it's of the native
habitat, which includes mangroves and also sea grasses. And as part
of their application for the consistency determination, but not for this
packet, they did provide information, they did the snorkeling to look
for sea grasses and surveyed.
They only have a -- I don't know ifthere's any -- I just kind of
skimmed this this morning. Whatever impacts they were showing was
less than the five percent.
And one of the things on a -- you can see on the determination,
we always put that on there on standard language, and it does give
staff wiggle room, because -- and it's intended to. It says, during final
construction plans, site development plan, site improvement plan
review, these findings may change based on the information submitted
at that time.
What they gave us in 2008 passed them as a moderate. If they
come in for their SDP and they show whatever mangroves they have
they obliterate them, well, that would knock them down to a protected
and they would no longer be able to get these additional slips. So they
would either have to eliminate the impacts to low enough or provide
evidence that they had adequate water depths to maintain a moderate
at that point.
But staff does do the determination based on the information that
was submitted, and we confirm based on all the other government data
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that's out there on manatee deaths and anything else that's relevant.
And then all we required as part of this review -- they gave us a
letter. And I didn't do the review personally, but the staff people who
do the letters -- and our staff people communicate if needed if we had
any questions on it. The reviewer did get the entire packet of support
information for the boat dock -- or excuse me, the consistency
determination, and it was considered adequate.
If you want that information to be provided to you for future
multi-slip or commercial marinas, we can certainly do that. We
haven't made that a practice in the past, but we certainly could
whenever -- and for all or whenever you request.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Well, Susan, we don't get that many
multi-slip facilities. The commercial process doesn't come through us
normally, so we very rarely see these. But the secondary criteria
number six requires demonstration. It doesn't require it to staff, it
requires it to us.
Now, staff needs it to evaluate what you're going to say to us. So
without you getting it, they have a big problem.
But I'm going to tell you right now, we deserve it and we need to
get it. That's part of our decision-making process. And from now on,
if it hasn't been your policy to provide it, I would expect that you
would from now on.
MS. MASON: Okay. And earlier we were talking to the
attorney that reviews these packets and we're going to work to make
sure it's part of your future packets.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Okay. Ms. Caron?
COMMISSIONER CARON: I have a question. Based on what's
been submitted, you could figure out whether they meet that five
percent.
MS. MASON: What was submitted during the--
COMMISSIONER CARON: Right now.
MS. MASON: Oh, well, I believe in this case it would be hard
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March 18,2010
for them to impact theirs, because they have no sea grass beds or
anything like that. There's really --
COMMISSIONER CARON: They have mangroves.
MS. MASON: They do. And at this point they're not -- they're
proposing less than five percent. And I don't know the detail.
The thing is too, this site plan that we see for the boat dock
extension or that we see for the other one, it may change a little bit
based on permitting. They're probably seeking DEP permits, and the
DEP might have them move over a little bit. And it can change
slightly.
And as long as it doesn't result in more impacts to mangroves
than the five percent, they're still going to be okay. It may not be
exactly what you see today. It normally doesn't have that level of
detail.
But there could be some slight tweaking based on permitting, and
as long as they don't -- and it will be reconfirmed at their next
submittal. When they come in for an SDP amendment or whatever
process, we'll make sure they don't go up above five percent.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Okay, that would have taken a simple
one-line calculation on the response. So the shoreline is "X", number
of mangroves lineal footage is "X", by the protrusion of three dock
walkways they're only going to be taking this much, that's less than
five percent. Boom, everybody is happy, it's done, it shows that it was
carried out.
That's all I'm asking for. That's the kind of stuff we should be
seemg.
MS. MASON: That's fine. The five percent, the way staff had
applied that is if 100 feet of mangroves existed and they impacted less
than five feet, that would be considered less than five feet. But not
necessarily the whole shoreline length. Like in this case, most of the
shoreline is vacant, so we would only base on what exists.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: I agree with you--
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March 18,2010
MS. MASON: Okay. Ijust want to make sure--
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: -- I'm not saying anything different. I'm
just saying we should have seen the calculations is all.
MS. MASON: Okay. That's fine. Sorry about that.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Anybody have any questions of Susan
while she's up here?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Okay, if not, Ashley -- does anybody
have any of Ashley at this point?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Ashley, I do.
Primary number one talks about the docks, 40 slips. Are they
limited to only use by the condo dwellers or are they allowed to lease
these out?
MS. CASERTA: No, these would be used by the people who
live, either rent or own, a condominium unit.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Primary four talks about the -- whether
a minimum of 50 percent of the waterway between dock facilities on
either side is maintained for navigability, but 25 percent of the width
of the waterway.
Can you show me on the -- I guess the overall site plan which
shows the water depths where you believe the waterway is?
We have in the past saw -- I guess they call it the thread, the
channel submitted to us to show us how the channel lines up with the
proposed dock slips to show there's no navigational issues. I didn't see
that here, so I'm not sure who's considering the waterway what.
MS. CASERTA: Would you mind repeating? I just want to
make sure I understand what you're asking.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Okay. You've got to show that you've
not used more than 25 percent of the waterway.
MS. CASERTA: Yes.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Okay. What's the waterway? Show me
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March 18,2010
what you believe the waterway is, is what I'm asking.
MS. CASERTA: It appears that this portion -- I'm not sure what
the water depth is here. But in my opinion, I'm not a boater, but I
would think that the navigable waterway would probably be these
portions here.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Right.
MS. CASERTA: But the waterway width, as shown on the aerial
submitted by the applicant, is detailed at 959 and 883 feet.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Well, the purpose of the primary criteria
question is navigability. You can take a waterway with an island in
the middle of it all over the State of Florida and say from one end of
the shoreline to a shoreline past some distant island or past some
distant reef or shallow shoal is the width of the waterway, but I'm not
sure that's the way it's generally used.
What we're used to seeing is channels, and we're looking at the
width of the channel at the waterway. Because the whole purpose I
believe of this criteria is to maintain navigability. And if you're not
doing that because you have docks all the way out to the -- with the
theory you're putting in front of us basically, you could run that dock
then all the way out to that shallow island and it doesn't matter
because the waterway goes all the way to the other side of the shallow
island far to the west. And I'm not sure that was the intent of the
question, the primary question.
MS. CASERTA: I'm not sure what the water depth at either
mean low tide or high is. But on -- I think it's the next page, proposed
site plan sheet three of nine shows a water depth of six feet. So
certainly that would still be okay for navigation.
I'm not sure if the applicant could attest to water depths when it's
much shallow.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Let me go back to my original question.
Is it your understanding that a waterway in this case runs from the
shoreline of the docks that are being questioned all the way past the
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March 18,2010
shallow area to the shoreline of the other side, to the houses in the first
aerial that you showed?
I mean, that gives you a thousand-foot wide waterway that's
blocked by potentially any number of things in the middle. So is that
really a waterway?
MR. CASALANGUIDA: Nick Casalanguida for the record.
Are we asking what the navigable depth is to define the
waterway?
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: No, I'm asking you what you're
considering a waterway so we know if we're penetrating over 25
percent of the waterway. If you consider islands not part of a
waterway and you can go to the other side, then we've got a problem
in calculations all over the county.
And I'm just thinking we should be looking at 25 percent of the
area between the shoreline and the nearest area that isn't navigable,
which would be that island. And if that's the case, the whole criteria
for this dock has to be looked at differently than had been approached
to us today.
I mean, if you want to push the boats out into that sandbar, or
whatever you want to call it, and say that's acceptable because the
other side of the sandbar gives you a waterway that goes way over to
those houses, I really don't think that's the right way to approach that
question.
MS. CASERTA: When I did the review, I honestly looked at it
as an open area of water.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: I think it would be helpful if you would
look at it again and try to determine what the waterway really needs to
be for the calculation of that 25 percent, Ashley. And if you guys feel
that there's enough depth there after you've seen where that depth is
that it's navigable, then you need to come back and tell us that.
Because right now I'm concerned about a dock going -- and it looks
like it's almost 60 percent into the area that would be considered
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March 18, 2010
navigable.
MS. CASERTA: Forgive me for asking, I would like to
understand what you think the waterway width should be so that I can
understand.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: My understanding would be where a
boat could travel. And you can travel in certain depths. You don't
have the depths of that, whether it's an island or a sandbar in the
middle. But if a boat can't travel across that sandbar, it then is limited
to its travel point between the edges of the sandbar and the shoreline
where the docks are.
And if that's the waterway in which they are allowed to travel, it
would seem to me we wouldn't want to block that. Under the criteria
shown to us today, this dock could theoretically go all the way out to
the sandbar and no one can cross it. So I don't think we mean that.
MR. CASALANGUIDA: Mr. Chairman, I understand your
question, because I'm a boater as well. That's why I asked are we
talking to define that a navigable depth. Six feet of depth from my
boat can cross that entire shoreline, that entire area. It would not run
aground, so it would be navigable for me. That's why I'm asking how
you define depth from navigable water.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Do you know -- I don't see markers
across that shoal, do you?
MR. CASALANGUIDA: I'm looking at a second exhibit that
shows the lowest contour to be approximately six feet or four feet.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Or is that where the measurements stop?
Because I don't see any points going across that shallow area.
If you're telling me that entire shallow area is six feet below
surface of the water, number one, I'm surprised it's showing up on an
aerial in a backwater that's full of black water.
And number two, I don't know what evidence you have that that
carries through that way. It looks like to me they just pulled it up to
that point and stopped there because maybe they didn't feel they
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March 18,2010
needed to go any further.
COMMISSIONER SCHIFFER: Or couldn't.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Yeah, or couldn't -- yeah, or couldn't
boat across it.
I know you may not -- yes, sir, did --
MR. TURLEY: On the SLER 945, it was stated in several
places. One was five foot to 12 foot average depth. And this last
sheet that was signed by the professional wetland specialist, their staff
biologist, it says six to 12 feet. That is a pretty flat, shallow -- five
feet, let's see. I want to call it a sea depth reading, 24 to 36 inches at
the time of the site visit. That is the amount of light that's able to
penetrate the water, 30 inches, okay?
Something in four or six feet of water, even with light shining in
24 to 30 inches, will illuminate the bottom, no matter what. I mean, it
won't -- you won't exactly see the contents of the bottom, but it will
illuminate the shallow area. Because all that was dredged originally
around the outside. And it is deep, 10 to 12 feet deep. And that gives
you the contrast from really dark water, deep water with tannin, with
shallower water with tannin. I mean, it's --
COMMISSIONER MURRAY: We just don't know though.
MR. TURLEY: Well, we can run back and forth and take depth
soundings and present it to you. But I can assure you, they did that as
well. Hans Wilson staff did that.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Then if they've done it and you can --
see, this is the kind of information that would be helpful for us to
have.
MR. CASALANGUIDA: Commissioner?
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Yes, sir, go ahead.
MR. CASALANGUIDA: That exhibit you're seeing in front if
you, if it's what it's telling me, is his boat dock proposed -- Ray, you
want to zoom out a little bit, if you could. It's showing that the
contour is six or five feet across that body of water, if that's the water
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March 18,2010
depth. All depths reference mean low water. Bottom left-hand corner
of that document, per DEP.
Do you see that in the bottom left-hand corner?
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Yeah, I see that.
MR. CASALANGUIDA: Okay. He's showing six feet across
and then it goes to five. Five is navigable for my boat. I don't know
what the requirement is for all boats. But usually two to three feet of
draft is typically what boats, even heavier boats draft, sometimes four.
But I draft at 18 inches, so --
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: So you believe that that shallow area is
five feet or more below the surface of the water at mean low water?
MR. CASALANGUIDA: That's what that document states at the
bottom left.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Well, I didn't see any points across it. I
saw the perimeter.
MR. CASALANGUIDA: Right.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: But I didn't see any points across it, and
that's what concerns me.
MR. CASALANGUIDA: Sure. I can understand with the way
you're interpreting that question, I would interpret it the same, is the
boat dock extending into an area that I would consider navigable to
reduce that?
And again, I don't know what that depth is. But if it's five feet,
that's enough for typical boats to cross.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: We have had other dock proposals come
before us, not for multi-slips but for singles, where there've protruded
into a channel and they've ended up having to show the thread of
channel so we can figure out how the relationship to where the
channel is and the boat traffic is and where the dock then would
protrude. That's the concern I have. Because none of that's seen here.
I don't know where the thread of channel is considered.
If everybody is acknowledging or saying that that island isn't an
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March 18,2010
island, it's six feet, five feet below the surface and it's fully navigable,
a few points from that island's center area would certainly be helpful
to confirm that that five-foot contour is flat across there. And that's
not what I see here to give that confirmation.
In fact, by the aerials it looks more closer to the surface than
what you may think, based on the backwater being as black and as
dark as you normally expect them to be.
MR. CASALANGUIDA: Sure. From this exhibit you can see
the eight-foot, six-foot contour lines.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Right.
MR. CASALANGUIDA: That's -- you know, if the dimensions
relative to these boat docks are 151 feet, 119 feet, 167 feet
respectively, I don't have a scale, but I would tell you that you've got
at least 50 feet of width between the edge of the boat dock and the
10- foot contour line. That's quite a bit of room to navigate a boat
through.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: But that's not the criteria I'm concerned
about.
MR. CASALANGUIDA: Understood.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: It could be a thousand feet, doesn't
matter. It's 25 percent of the water body. I was trying to understand
from staff what the definition of water body is for their purposes in
regards to this one.
MR. CASALANGUIDA: Sure, understood.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: I haven't been able to really get really
focused on that yet. And I think that's a question that needs to be
answered at some point.
COMMISSIONER MURRAY: Maybe it should be --
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Go ahead, Mr. Murray.
COMMISSIONER MURRAY: Maybe it should be water body
unencumbered, because that's what we're really talking about, there's
an encumbrance here, there's a -- you run aground, if you're on -- you
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March 18,2010
know, that's the thesis.
But I think the question is now clear, I hope for everybody. But
to my mind, that is the water body, even though there's an
encumbrance.
MR. CASALANGUIDA: The question is clear and the intent is
clear. It's the definition of that water body that I think we're trying to
come up with right now.
COMMISSIONER MURRAY: That's why I used the word
unencumbered. That may not be the best word for it but it conveys
my thought; that is, that there's a something that prohibits you from
free movement. And that's your limiting factor. And so maybe that's
what we need to say and qualify.
COMMISSIONER SCHIFFER: Mark?
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Go ahead, Mr. Schiffer.
COMMISSIONER SCHIFFER: You know, the surveyor did an
excellent job of laying this whole thing out. The fact that he didn't
add any more topos there to me probably means that it's five feet all
the way across the top of that.
If you look, he goes up into other areas where he gets down to
four feet and everything. So we're assuming that he didn't give us the
data when in fact he may have given us exactly what it is, which is
five feet. I'm not an expert on boat drafts.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: But Brad, my question was the water
body. And I don't know how we're defining what the water--
waterway, what the waterway width is. If you have a waterway with a
-- and again, I refer to this other issue that we have with a thread of
channel and you have a depth in an area that's associated with boating,
where do you locate the waterway?
Do you locate the waterway across one of the shallowest parts
that maybe if boaters see because it appears shallow they don't cross
it, is that part of the waterway? And that's what boaters are then led to
believe they should be utilizing. Or is there a thread of channel which
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March 18,2010
helps dictate the waterway? That's what I'm trying to find out.
COMMISSIONER SCHIFFER: Or is it an open body, the
lowest point in the center is five feet at mean water, which to me is
deep water, deeper than we're used to on these boat dock extensions.
So I think this is just an open body. There is no channel, there is
no thread.
COMMISSIONER MURRAY: And it has to do with what
you're in. If you're in a kayak, it's an open waterway, right?
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: It may be an open waterway.
COMMISSIONER MURRAY: If you're in a 55-foot troller, you
may be dragging bottom.
So you need to qualify a little bit better on that question -- not the
question, the question's valid.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Mr. Schiffer, then Ms. Caron.
COMMISSIONER SCHIFFER: I think we're assuming there's a
problem that may not be. This surveyor did an excellent job of getting
any nook and cranny, it goes up into smaller dimensions. I think he's
telling us that look, this is five feet at mean low water. That's a good
draft depth. I'm not an expert on draft depth, my draft depth is a pint.
But the point is, I think this is an open body of water. I think it's
measured properly. And if the guy ran out and ran it, he's going to
find five feet across the top of that.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Ms. Caron?
COMMISSIONER CARON: I just think we don't know at this
point and that it needs to be stated. Because if those docks get
extended out further and everybody actually has to use as their
channel the perimeter, then you need to have -- you need to protect
that channel in front of the condo.
COMMISSIONER MURRAY: Absolutely.
COMMISSIONER CARON: So that's all. If everybody has to
use the perimeter in order to get around in that area, then we have to
protect a certain amount of area in front of the Hickory Harbor Condo.
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March 18,2010
Those docks can't extend out forever just because you can
measure from one shoreline to the opposite shoreline where there are
houses and you can come up with a thousand feet.
MR. CASALANGUIDA: Commissioners, from my experience,
I've been boating for five years in Collier County, a depth of five feet
is navigable by most boats in that area that would use that boat.
And I understand the question, I understand the comments, I
understand the concern, because as a boater, I wouldn't want a channel
restricted by boat docks. It makes it highly unnavigable as you're
trying to enjoy boating. Fifty feet, I will tell you, is more than
adequate. Bridge crossings that we have typically at 41 are 20 feet
wide and two boats cross at the same time.
So I don't think this boat dock extension impairs the waterway
for other boaters. The criteria, I need to define that with staff, but I
will tell you five feet is pretty deep. So I don't think that it would
impair the waterway.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Go ahead, Mr. Vigliotti.
COMMISSIONER VIGLIOTTI: I have a question for the
petitioner. I don't know if we're going to get to consensus of
agreement here. We have a lot of questions as to lack of information.
Would you suggest -- would you think of getting the information for
us and coming back with this?
MR. TURLEY: Yes, I do.
COMMISSIONER VIGLIOTTI: I think that's the way we
should proceed then, because we're getting nowhere.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Well, not -- it's not we're getting
nowhere. I mean, I think we need to -- everybody has got to get to a
level of comfort. I would certainly like to understand the definition of
the waterway.
Did you find a definition in the code, Ashley?
MS. CASERTA: I wasn't able to find one in the definitions
section.
Page 3 1
March 18,2010
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: There may be one in the MPP. There
may be one in a few other documents at the county. I probably have
all those, so I'll look that up as well when I get time.
But I think that would be helpful to know what the waterway
definitively is.
If the waterway can be considered the entire body without that
shoal, that's great. Then I don't -- but I'd also like to understand based
on prior discussion this board has had concerning the thread of a
channel.
And we made a pretty big issue about a thread of a channel on a
boat dock approaching the thread of a channel. In that particular
example, the 25 percent wasn't the issue, it was the thread of the
channel fell in relationship to the extension of the boat docks,
regardless of the 25 percent rule, because then it became a navigability
Issue.
So I think out of fairness to all the other people that we've had to
deal with that this same issue is looked at equally on this one. So the
thread of channel becomes an issue. We made it one a long time ago
as a precedent. And the waterway definition I think is definitely
something that needs to be concerned with.
I think we need a mortality rate for manatees in writing shown to
us, one, that we can verify ourselves if need be. There are sources to
do that.
We need to have an acknowledgment of the water depths within
the radius required. Then I think the simple calculation for the impact
to the mangroves included in the statement to us would be helpful to
know.
With that in place, if it all matches up, then we can feel more -- at
least personally I would, I would feel better whatever motion is made
then to either support it or not support it. I feel very uncomfortable
not having this information now.
I think it's to the applicant's benefit to provide the best
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March 18,2010
information possible. And if you can come back and have a clean, full
information making everybody comfortable, I think that's going to
work for you a lot better than having some questions now, maybe not
getting the vote in you need, at least with -- maybe you'll get majority,
I don't know. But it's your call.
You can ask to be continued until you come back to us again
with more information, or you can ask for a vote today, that's up to
you.
Is there anything else from staff that you wanted to offer?
MS. CASERTA: Not at this time.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Okay.
MR. TURLEY: I would believe that it would be in our best
interest to go ahead and continue and get the proper documentation for
a more positive vote on this.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: I would appreciate you doing that. I
think that would be helpful.
COMMISSIONER SCHIFFER: I have a question.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Go ahead, Mr. Schiffer.
COMMISSIONER SCHIFFER: In this, watching this, the
testimony of providing the manatee data, it seemed like it was very
difficult to get. If staff has that and staff is the one keeping log of that,
wouldn't that --
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: It's on record. No, you can go to the -- I
think it's the Fish and Game website. I've pulled it up before, it's all
there.
MR. TURLEY: Yes, it's My FWC. And to the left they have
categories for species. There's manatee, click on that. It's -- once I
found it, it was easy.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Yeah, it is. You've got to interpolate it
out to show the five-mile radius from wherever area you're working
on, but it's all there.
Okay, is there any other questions?
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March 18,2010
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Then is there a motion to accept the
request for a continuance? And I guess it would be indefinite at this
point until everything gets done.
Is there -- Mr. Vigliotti?
COMMISSIONER VIGLIOTTI: I'll make the motion.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Is there a second?
COMMISSIONER SCHIFFER: I'll second.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Seconded by Mr. Schiffer.
All in favor, signify by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER SCHIFFER: Aye.
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HOMIAK: Aye.
COMMISSIONER CARON: Aye.
COMMISSIONER KOLFLA T: Aye.
COMMISSIONER VIGLIOTTI: Aye.
COMMISSIONER MIDNEY: Aye.
COMMISSIONER MURRAY: Aye.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Aye.
Anybody opposed?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Motion carries 9-0.
Thank you. And sorry you've got to come back, but I think it's
actually the best thing you could do today.
MR. TURLEY: Thank you very much.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Okay, thank you.
Item #9B
PETITION: V A-PL2009-1220. LEO F. LASHER
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Our next case is Petition
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March 18,2010
V A-PL-2009-1220, Leo F. Lasher, for a variance at 265 21st Street
Southwest.
All those wishing to participate in this item, please rise to be
sworn in by the court reporter.
(Speakers were duly sworn.)
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Are there any disclosures on the part of
Planning Commission?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: I think I just spoke briefly to Mr. Lasher
on my way in and out of here this morning. We really didn't touch on
the issue, just said hello.
Okay, sir, it's all yours.
MR. LASHER: Good morning. I want to keep this as simple as
possible. I bought a home in the area of Golden Gate Estates and I got
together with a couple of friends of mine and we built a garage, or a
shed. And I hired a surveyor, an engineer to -- you know, to help me
with this. I built it.
And then we had some rain and stuff happened and some of the
footers got washed away or something and we built this thing and we
ended up nine feet short on one corner of the shed. And it's supposed
to be I guess encroaching on the setbacks, correct?
MS. GUNDLACH: Would you like me to--
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Well, did you -- you didn't do this
intentionally then?
MR. LASHER: No.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Okay. Thank you, sir.
Any questions of the applicant?
Mr. Murray?
COMMISSIONER MURRAY: Sir, I don't mean to be rude and
probe into your personal life, but 2,100 square foot building?
MR. LASHER: Okay, I'm a car collector.
COMMISSIONER MURRAY: Okay.
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March 18,2010
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Anybody else have any questions?
Mr. Schiffer?
COMMISSIONER SCHIFFER: I do. You know, looking at this
-- you're going to be residing at this site?
MR. LASHER: Yes, on and off. I have also a home at the
beach.
COMMISSIONER SCHIFFER: But this is -- I mean, it's not a
homesteaded property.
MR. LASHER: No, no, it's not homesteaded.
COMMISSIONER SCHIFFER: But it's essentially -- so this is a
car collection that you're going to work on and --
MR. LASHER: Well, it's not that I'm going to work on it. I buy
cars that don't have to be worked on.
COMMISSIONER SCHIFFER: But you're not running a sales
operation or anything.
MR. LASHER: No, no, not at all.
COMMISSIONER MURRAY: You sure your name is not Jay
Leno?
MR. LASHER: I've met Jay Leno.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Since we're focusing on what you do
instead of what you did, what kind of cars do you have, just out of
curiosity?
MR. LASHER: I have older Corvettes, Fifties, Sixties.
Sometimes I get into the Seventies, depending on equipment. And
Chevelles, '69, '70 Chevelle.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Do you ever show them anywhere?
MR. LASHER: Four of them are going to be -- or seven of them
are going this weekend to West Palm Beach convention center. And
then the Barrett Jackson the following week and a half, there will be
four there.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: You're a lucky man. Thank you.
Anybody else have any questions?
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March 18,2010
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Thank you, sir.
Is there any staff report?
MS. GUNDLACH: Yes.
Good morning, Commissioners. I'm Nancy Gundlach, Principal
Planner with the Zoning Services Department.
And this variance is for a 9.4-foot encroachment into a 75-foot
rear setback in the Estates zoning district. And as Mr. Lasher had
described to you, it's for a metal structure building, and it is located
behind a residence in the Estates.
Now, staff is recommending approval. This is consistent with the
Growth Management Plan. And if you have any questions, it would
be my pleasure to answer them this morning.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Anybody have any questions?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Do you know where the thread of the
channel is?
MS. GUNDLACH: Absolutely not.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Mr. Murray?
COMMISSIONER MURRAY: You verified that this is not a
commercial enterprise or potentially a commercial enterprise, he's not
going to sell tickets to get in to see his pretty cars?
MS. GUNDLACH: I'm frankly not sure how I would verify that.
I just reviewed this as a variance.
COMMISSIONER MURRAY: Just wanted to ask the question.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Thank you. Anybody else?
Ms. Caron?
COMMISSIONER CARON: But you did verify the weather,
since that was the reason --
MS. GUNDLACH: I did.
COMMISSIONER CARON: Well, that was the reason for the
variance, so I'm assuming you did go back and check the weather and
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March 18,2010
that there was in fact rain, correct?
MS. GUNDLACH: Well, he built it during the beginning of the
ramy season.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: We have testimony that it was rain,
unless we --
MR. KLATZKOW: I verified it. I verified it yesterday.
COMMISSIONER CARON: Good.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Is there any -- any other questions of
staff?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Is there public speakers?
MR. BELLOWS: There are no public speakers.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Anybody from the public wish to
speak?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Okay. With that we will close the
public hearing and entertain a motion.
Mr. Vigliotti?
COMMISSIONER VIGLIOTTI: I'd like to make a motion for
approval.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Is there a second?
COMMISSIONER SCHIFFER: I'll second it.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Motion made by Mr. Vigliotti, seconded
by Mr. Schiffer.
Discussion?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: All in favor, signify by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER SCHIFFER: Aye.
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HOMIAK: Aye.
COMMISSIONER CARON: Aye.
COMMISSIONER KOLFLA T: Aye.
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March 18,2010
COMMISSIONER VIGLIOTTI: Aye.
COMMISSIONER MIDNEY: Aye.
COMMISSIONER MURRAY: Aye.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Aye.
Anybody opposed?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Motion carries 9-0.
And go out and enjoy your cars.
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: Go Chevy.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Okay, thank you, sir.
Item # 10
OLD BUSINESS
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Next item up -- well, we have old
business and then new business. I don't know of any old business.
Anybody else have any?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Other than Mr. Murray, I think we're
going to make the time frame we talked about. It's going to be before
noon today.
COMMISSIONER MURRAY: That's wonderful.
Item #11
NEW BUSINESS
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: The new business is a presentation by
the Collier County Health Department. And there's one person left
here, so I think it's her that must be making the presentation.
MS. REV A Y: Can you show me where I can put this? Sorry.
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March 18,2010
MR. BELLOWS: Sure. You want to use the visualizer?
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Do you want us to take a break for five
or 10 minutes so you can --
MS. REV A Y: Yes, that would be great.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Cherie', that would probably work good
for you now. We'll just have a break and come back and finish this
up. Let's take a 10-minute break and come back at 9:42.
(A recess was taken.)
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Okay, we're back from our break. The
last issue on today's agenda is a presentation by the health department.
And so we're ready. Go ahead, ma'am.
MS. REV A Y: My name is Stacy Revay from the Collier County
Health Department. I'm the chair of the Smart Growth Coalition. And
I told everybody from the coalition to be here at 10:00 for the
presentation, so it's a little bit early, but I'll go ahead and start.
Okay, so historically the Health Department has implemented
policies intended to ensure, among other things, that children are
immunized or wear their helmets when riding a bike.
In the same way local governments with jurisdiction over many
aspects of land use, food marketing, community planning,
transportation, health and nutrition programs and other community
issues are ideally positioned to promote behaviors that will help
children and adolescents reach and maintain healthy weights.
Promoting children's healthy eating and activity will require the
involvement of an array of government officials including mayors and
commissioners or other leaders of counties, cities or townships.
Many departments including those responsible for public health,
public works, transportation, parks and recreation, public safety,
planning, economic development and housing will also need to be
involved.
So who we are. I'm the Smart Growth Coalition. And our
current stakeholders, these are just naming a few: The health
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March 18,2010
department, the community traffic safety team that's from the
transportation department, Edison State College, Florida Gulf Coast
University, commuter services. There's some citizens advocates,
Collier area transit, the MPO, Collier County Parks and Rec, YMCA
and Collier County Comprehensive Planning Department.
The Smart Growth Coalition consists of citizens, governmental
agencies, organizations and coalitions who believe growth can be
better planned for a healthier, more livable and sustainable
community. The coalition recognizes there's a need for a
comprehensive representative group that brings many entities together
to work toward a common goal and to take a larger look at how to
work in a collaborative effort to create a livable, sustainable
community.
Some of the current issues that we're looking at include health,
principles of smart growth, built environment, sprawl, transportation
and making the connection between health and the built environment.
The prevalence of obesity is so high that it may reduce the life
expectancy of today's generation of children and diminish the overall
quality of their lives. Obese children and adolescents are more likely
than their lower weight counterparts to develop hypertension, high
cholesterol and Type 2 diabetes when they're young. And they're more
likely to be obese as adults. This is from local government actions to
prevent childhood obesity, the Institute of Medicine in 2009.
So health. There are three things that encompass health: Mental,
physical and social. And even if you draw a box around those three
circles, that might even include environmental.
The World Health Organization defines health as a state of
complete physical, mental and social wellbeing, and not merely the
absence of disease or infirmity.
In a new study conducted by the Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation, Collier County is number one for health outcomes,
morbidity and mortality; number 11 for health factors and number 17
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March 18,2010
for the physical environment, which is access to healthy foods and
exposure to air pollution, ozone days, et cetera.
I'm sure many of you are familiar with the smart growth
principles. These are the 10 principles. There are some that I've
highlighted there: To strengthen development toward existing
communities, aging in place and creating a better access to services.
Mixed land uses. Create walkable neighborhoods. Range of housing
opportunities and choices. Preserving open space to increase physical
activity.
And as we see in a lot of different neighborhoods, primarily
maybe even Naples Park, there are a lot of kids who are playing in the
street or playing on the side of the road and their bikes are in the
middle of the street. So there isn't a lot of open space for them to play
or to get their physical activity that's safe.
So why smart growth matters in Collier County. If we want
people to get out of their cars and on their feet regularly, we need
more than sidewalks. We need sidewalks that go somewhere useful,
like a store, school or work place.
And then as we'll go -- I'll show just a couple of different aerial
views and maybe discuss those a little bit.
So just about 60 percent of adults and 12.5 percent of high school
students in Collier County are overweight or obese. These are just
statistics from 2007, and we're in 2010. So when the new statistics
come out, we will most likely see a drastic increase in this.
8.8 percent have been diagnosed with diabetes. And the one that's
alarming to the health department or myself at the coalition is that
41.4 percent of high school students are inactive, which means they
get less than 20 minutes of activity a day, mostly because the
infrastructure does not allow them to walk to and from school. If
they're 16, of course they're going to want to be driving their cars, car
pooling with their friends, that makes sense.
But before they're that age, they're going to have to be driven to
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March 18,2010
school, and most of them aren't able to walk to school because they
don't live within the allowable distance. I guess a quarter of a mile is
what they're saying is a walkable community.
And I think that's sort of sad, because I think that most people
probably could walk a mile. But the infrastructure here has not even
allowed most people to walk within a mile of their home to get to a
medical facility or a grocery store or a farmers market or any kind of
shopping or leisure activity or open green space to play, recreation.
This is an aerial view that shows segregated land uses.
Residential does not connect to shopping, play, open space in any way
besides single occupancy use vehicles.
So as you can see on this slide, you can see that there are a
couple of baseball fields and some parks.
And the one that's interesting to me actually is if we look on Pine
Ridge Road, there's that Target with the huge parking structure, but
there really aren't any neighborhoods that would connect to Target in a
safe, easy, accessible walking, biking way. Especially if you look at
any of the residential that's north or, I guess -- for me it would be to
the west. Well, it's probably to your east.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: On this map, the Target is in the
southwest corner, right next to the residential community of Forest
Lakes.
MS. REV A Y: But as you can see, they would have to go all the
way out and around their community to connect to it, which would
probably most likely be more than a mile. And a lot of people who --
Quail Run, or what was that community called? Sorry, that's a little
bit later.
Here it is, yeah, Quail Run has a lot of different communities,
actually, and they're over 300 -- I'm sure there's over 300 residents that
reside there. And even in their complex they don't have a lot of safe
sidewalks or bike lanes that lead even across the street or down the
road for them to utilize any of these shopping areas.
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March 18,2010
And this is another one, just residential divided by U.S. 41,
which is a 45 mile an hour road. And I know that even driving on 41,
that's about a 60 mile an hour road. People drive really fast along
there. So anybody who lives over in the residential area that might
want to get to the public transportation stops that might be close to the
Coastland Center, it's very difficult for those individuals to cross those
major highways because it does not allow them enough time to get
across the road.
I recently rented a wheelchair to see how long it would take me
to cross the street, and I was mortified and I was totally scared. That
was on my own time. And I actually had to get up and throw it
because I was afraid that I was going to get hit by a car. So that was
just something that I had done.
Also, so -- and because of the 45 mile an hour road, it's not really
conducive to safe walking.
So there are a lot of great things that are here in Collier County.
There's a baseball field, there's Fleischmann Park, but there aren't a lot
of ways to access those things unless you do get in your car. Even
though it seems that everything is -- looks like it's close in proximity,
but when you actually get out there and start walking and biking in
that area, it's very hard, it's very difficult, especially if you are
someone who is a little bit older and you might walk a little bit slower.
And we're all going to be there one day, as much as we want to deny
that, maybe.
Okay, so what can the Collier County Planning Commission do?
Here are the eight different major issues that are in the evaluation
and appraisal report. And I've been invited to be at the table so that I
can help with these policies and these different things for the
Comprehensive Plan, which I think is amazing and I think is great and
is phenomenal. So thank you very much to the Planning Department
for that.
Two specific issues relating to the Collier County Evaluation and
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March 18,2010
Appraisal Report are number two, climate change and number three,
urban development pattern.
We know the Planning Commission will be assisting with
evaluation of the county's past development patterns through the EAR
process. Now is the time to be focused on new comprehensive
planning policies that discourage sprawl by fostering alternative
transportation modes which must be supported by a mix and
concentration of uses in urban areas.
And I know that the Eastern Lands will be building out. And sort
of -- I guess even if we are able to look at the policies that we have
now that are in the Comprehensive Plan or the Land Development
Code, if there's anything that we can do to strengthen them and to
make them so it will be more conducive to a more healthier active
lifestyle in the future, I think that we're making headway.
I understand that retrofitting is extremely costly and expensive,
but I think that if we're planning for the future, I think that it's really
important that we start -- that we start building an infrastructure that's
conducive to healthy living and a healthy lifestyle, because we do
have an aging population here, and as people get older they're more
dependent on other people, they're more dependent on possibly their
cars and using their car to go places when they would rather probably
just walk because they'd probably feel safer not behind the wheel.
And it's hard. It's hard to give up that dependence, and I understand
that and I appreciate that.
It's interesting, Dan Burden once said, the first thing somebody
wants to learn is how to walk and the last thing somebody wants to
lose is walking, being able to walk.
So if we kind of put that in perspective, sort of tells us that really,
we do like to walk and we do like to walk places and get out there.
And we have a beautiful, beautiful county, we have a lot of things to
offer. And if we continue to build in a sprawl development pattern,
it's going to be very difficult for our aging population.
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March 18,2010
Okay, so here is a community in Beaverton, Oregon. This is
conducive to aging in place community. As you can see where the
baseball diamond is and then there's a football field, this is where the
high school is. There's a lot of communities that exist right around it.
Right around it there are public swimming pools, there are assisted
living facilities.
In fact, this next one I like even better. So some of you may
know or may not know that I am from Beaverton, Oregon, I am from
Portland, Oregon, and I am not here to try to say let's make Collier
County into something that it's not or to make it into something that
isn't possible.
But I know from growing up in this community, that I walked to
my elementary school, I walked to the recreation center. My
grandparents stayed at the assisted living facility that was within a
quarter of a mile from my house. I walked to my junior high. There's
a golf course that you can see down here on one of the corners. There
was a recreation facility.
And this is a great place for someone that can -- you could grow
up there, you could go to the school there, there's a park, there were
two ifnot three assisted living facilities that were close by. They had
a range of housing opportunities, condos, apartments. They had some
low income housing that was sprinkled around in there a little bit. It
was very walkable and very accessible. And like a mile down the road
there's a huge mall and it's even bigger and bigger and bigger now.
And I realize that it's a different place and that their codes and
their smart code was implemented back about 35 years ago, so that
was sort of a long time ago. And I understand that that's not the way
that we sort of started here. But maybe just something to think about.
Okay, so what does a successful built environment look like?
So we've done a couple of things. Cambier Park is -- and I
realize that's in the city. And then Venetian Village, I'm not sure if
that's in the city or not. I'm thinking it might be. That's a very
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March 18,2010
walkable, bikeable area. There are condos there. You do have to
make sure to watch for cars, because sometimes they're driving a little
bit fast. But like I was saying before, we have done -- we have done
some things in Collier County that have been very positive.
The built environment includes all aspects of the environment
that are modified by humans, including homes, schools, work places,
parks, industrial areas and highways.
So the pictures that are over on your left represent what we
should possibly include in future planning. Not to say that they aren't
in the plans, but that maybe they need to be integrated with future
developments.
And I understand that the one that has the shops and looks like a
large sidewalk, but really it's sort of like a community gathering area,
the bike lanes that are -- it's kind of funny to me, actually, it almost
looks like McGregor to me in Lee County, but that's not where it is.
But it almost looks like that to me because of the palm trees. But
complete bike lanes on safe roadways and farmers markets on larger
sidewalks. And we know that people like to gather in these specific
places, especially the older population.
The built environment in Collier County looks something like
this. These are just some specific pictures. And I'd like to explain
them really quick.
The one picture on the corner of your -- the left-hand corner,
there's a couple of ladies that are walking on the sidewalk. And a lot
of people actually use this sidewalk. The thing that is interesting to
me is this is on Pine Ridge. Right across the street there is an
elementary school or a middle school and there are a lot of kids who
ride their bikes here, but their community actually is right behind that
wall.
So how great would it have been maybe if we had like a gate or
some kind of an access point so that they don't have to go all the way
around and they're riding their bikes on Pine Ridge.
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March 18, 2010
When I go down Pine Ridge and I see them stopping and they've
got the crossing guard there, it frightens me when I stop at that light,
because a lot of people as we know, don't stop at red lights. And these
kids are in danger every time they cross that street.
Now, their crossing guard is there, there's people that know
there's a school there. But then there's also people who are out of --
you know, here from out of town. There maybe aren't really paying
attention to those sort of things.
So anyways, maybe just forward thinking as far as not -- maybe
not as many gated communities or communities that can connect. So
that even they can go and see their friends without walking all the way
around a mile and a half or riding their bike on a busy road.
Then we've got Quail Run. I talked about that already. There's a
lot of different communities that are in there.
This is a gentlemen that's trying to cross the road. There is not a
crosswalk there. There is one that's about maybe a quarter of a mile
down the road, but he wants to cross there because there is something,
a gas station, directly across the street. So he's running and hurrying
to get to the median and hoping not to get hit by a car.
Then also in Quail Run they have slow signs, there's children
playing. But as you can see, there's a road without sidewalks or green
space for the kids really to play. I've never really seen kids playing
there, because they're -- and plus it kind of curves around a lot, so as a
parent, I wouldn't want my kid to be playing on that road. Just because
people do, they whip around those corners and they aren't looking.
Okay, walkable and bikeable community. Barron Collier high
school. There was a student I just saw that was --
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Miss, most of us have lived here a long
time. We're probably familiar with a lot of this. The best thing that
would help this board is to kind of get into the specific points of
improvements that are part of our Land Development Code or part of
our general planning process.
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I think the pictures hit home with all of us. We had it in the
packet that you provided. Might just save you some time and effort if
we really got into the meat of the issue and what you're suggesting the
Planning Commission do specifically.
And I would suggest that your attendance at the EAR meeting to
be most productive. If you have an issue that helps your cause,
definitely let us know what that is. But at the same time, give us a
specific example of a language change in the code that could apply.
Because a lot of people come forward and say well, this is nice if we
would just do this, but they don't tell you how to do it within the code,
what they actually mean by the language.
So as a heads-up to the EAR, that would be a very productive
way to approach the EAR.
MS. REV A Y: I actually got to go to the first EAR meeting and I
did give them some specific language for policies, for specific policies
that are already in place. So that was really -- that was really helpful,
and it was a great meeting. It was a long meeting but it was a good
meeting. It was great.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Well, I think you're going to find that
most everybody is going to be receptive to what you have to say. It's
something I know is an issue across the country. Now it's just a matter
of what is a good way to implement it with the language and then
what the fiscal cost is going to be and the time consumption to get
there.
So those are the big issues that I think from this board's
perspective we are probably most focused on.
MS. REV A Y: Okay, okay, great. So let me go ahead and skip
through a couple of these then. And then I realize four corners is in
the city, but just lacking connectivity. So increasing connectivity will
do these things.
So these are sort of some of the things that I was asking for these
to be implemented in some of the policies, increasing physical activity
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March 18,2010
among residents and tourists.
The connectivity will decrease greenhouse gas emissions,
decrease the obesity epidemic and allow for multimodal
transportation, which I know there is currently a master mobility plan,
which I read through and met with Mike Bosi on.
Also reducing the costs associated with repairing roadways.
And then there's a few more in here. Increasing connectivity that
is just not auto dependent. We need to create an environment where
people can age in place and continue to thrive throughout their lives.
Okay. And also, one of the things, actually, go back one slide
here, is for emergency vehicles, one access point creates less safety in
time of need. So when there's more access points, that is helpful. So
that's another thing possibly that we can talk about, some of the
policies, specifically.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: I don't know how often you wanted us
to ask questions. But one of the things I understand you're concerned
about access through the block walls that you showed there, for
example, if you have better access to the sidewalks and more accesses
to ambulances.
The problem that we run into in Collier County, and it's not one
that needs to be -- can be easily overcome, people like the security of
a community. The security means you've got to minimize accesses.
And even at the cost of having to walk around those, a lot of people in
the communities would rather have the security of being in a safe,
controlled community than the ability just to walk in and out of the
community more easily.
Now, I'm not saying they're right, I'm just suggesting that's an
issue that needs to be overcome in order to accomplish some of the
goals that you've suggested here today. So I don't know if you've
thought about that or realized that in this county and others this access
is restricted on purpose by a lot of these communities. It may not be
the right thing, but I think that's what's behind it.
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March 18,2010
MS. REV A Y: And I do understand that. And I think that again,
if possibly some of those houses were to overlook the road, that would
create a safety on its own. That maybe there wouldn't need to be
maybe as many gated communities if the infrastructure allowed for
something that already created its own safe environment.
Also, we've seen an increase in mental health diseases and -- with
the older population, especially in gated communities. So I can try to
find some -- because it creates a sort of isolation for them. So then
there've dependent on whoever can come and pick them up and take
them somewhere, without sort of a place to have community
involvement or to thrive in their own environment. So, yeah.
Okay, and then transportation, so you've seen these already. This
is from the smartgrowthAmerica.org growth and transportation
survey.
So four reasons that public transit makes sense. And these are
also some things to put in the policies. Economic benefits, provides a
high return on investment, creates jobs, economic activity, gets people
to work, cuts us oil imports.
America sent about $12 billion less last year to foreign oil
companies because of transit's fuel efficiency. Environmental benefits
cuts air pollution. And then quality of life, traffic accidents and the
stress of gridlock make automobile travel one of Florida's most
expensive public health issues.
Dangerous by Design was a report that was put out by
Transportation for America. And Florida is the number one in
pedestrian and bicycle fatalities in the country. So that was --
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: Say that again, please. What
did you just say?
MS. REV A Y: Dangerous by Design was a report that was put
out by Transportation for America. And Florida is number one for
pedestrian and bicycle fatalities.
COMMISSIONER MURRAY: Can I follow up with that?
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CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Go ahead, Mr. Murray.
COMMISSIONER MURRAY: Do you also have the data that
relates whether Florida's the place where bicycles are used greater
than any other state?
In other words, is there a proportional factor involved?
MS. REV A Y: There might be. In fact, I can go ahead and look
back in that report. I'm not completely sure about that. But I do know
that because of our weather, our weather is so great here -- I mean, not
in the summer, it's really rainy and hot, but other than that, there are a
lot of people who bike and walk.
COMMISSIONER MURRAY: Well, speaking only for myself,
I will tell you that I'm acquainted with a lot of this information, and I
see this as a social engineering effort and I don't have a problem with
you wanting to do that, but I do have a problem that if in the AUIR,
which is a very intense activity, and it's based on factual information
and detail that has to do with code compliance and growth
management adherence, I would be looking for very specific things.
If you're going to assert something, you have to be able to back it up.
MS. REV A Y: Okay, thank you.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Go ahead, Paul.
COMMISSIONER MIDNEY: Yeah, I would just like to say that
in Immokalee, I can point to three positive things that are happening
right now that are going towards this. The first is the bus service in
Immokalee is really being used a lot and it's really helping a lot of
people.
In this recession, a lot more people are walking and riding
bicycles. And the thing that they've implemented on Main Street in
Immokalee where there've -- I don't know, it's sort of like you have
crossing by right where you have to respect the pedestrian crossing,
that's something new that wasn't there before. And I think it's slowing
down the traffic a little bit and causing maybe more motorists to
respect pedestrians more. That's really positive, in addition to the
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increased bus service that we have out here now.
And the increased sidewalks that we're getting in Immokalee,
they're really being used. If you just walk down any place where
there's a sidewalk, you always see, like, the sidewalks are full now of
bicyclists and pedestrians.
So if the county can move in general more in that direction, you
know, it will be good. So I think some of the things that you're talking
about, the county is starting to move in a positive direction. But 1 just
hope that it can continue.
MS. REV A Y: Yes, yes, I agree with you. And as I said before,
it's not really -- it's not really about retrofitting, I understand that's
very costly, but as we continue to build, building for the health and
safety of our community and our residents and our tourists, really, is
really important I think for the future.
COMMISSIONER MURRAY: May I make a comment?
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Go ahead, Mr. Murray.
COMMISSIONER MURRAY: I would suggest to you too that if
we really are concerned about the health of the future and the children
and the rest, and that's a very valid point, have you invited to your
coalition, have you invited the people who manufacture cell phones
and who are involved in the television industry? Have you invited
them to participate? Because there's a causative in the problem. They
could also be a participant in the solution.
This is, in my view, all of the parties, they're all good parties and
it's a good idea. But it's reactive. And while it's seemingly is
proactive from your point of view, it's merely reactive, because in the
absence of taking away the cell phones and in the absence of taking
away the media, and I don't mean it per se taking it away but
modifying our use of it, you're not going to see a change in patterns.
But you're doing changes that impact on people's personal lives and
you're going to run up a wall about that angle and it's not going to be
useful to you.
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So that's a thought.
MS. REV A Y: Right. And, you know, one of the things, the
health department, we've kind of been talking about lately is really, it
is also about the education, I completely agree. And in fact I know
that they're -- I think the red light cameras they put in, I think that was
a step in the right direction because people aren't running as many red
lights, also which creates a healthier environment for people that are
using the crosswalks, especially people who are visually impaired.
Also, I think that -- sorry, I just lost my train of thought on what
you were saymg.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: That's okay, not a problem.
While you refocus, Nick, did you have something you wanted to
-- okay, I saw you looking over, I didn't know if you had a--
MR. CASALANGUIDA: At the end if I could.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Okay. Why don't you just continue
with your presentation then.
MS. REV A Y: Okay. It will come back to me in a second here.
All right. So then we talked about Naples Park a little bit. You
already saw that.
Okay, so here are some specific actions that possibly can be put
in the policies or the Comprehensive Plan. Specific actions for
increasing physical activity: Plan, build and maintain a network of
sidewalks and street crossings that create a safe and comfortable
walking environment.
Lee County has now adopted the Complete Streets resolution per
the smart growth committee in Lee County. And I know that we're
not a committee, we're a coalition, and we're brand new. That creates
safe comfortable walking environment that connects schools, parks
and other destinations through the adoption of a pedestrian bicycle
master plan, which I know is currently underway. I'm not sure sort of
where we are in that. Maybe that's what Nick was going to talk about
in a few minutes.
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Also promoting alternative modes of transportation through
increasing destinations within walking and bicycling distance of
residential units. Especially when we start building out in the Eastern
areas of the county, this might be really important, to make sure it's in
the plan.
Collaborate with school district and developers to locate new
schools central to residential areas. 1 think that's a big one. And
establish joint use agreements. And I understand there are some issues
with that.
COMMISSIONER MURRAY: On that slide, ma'am, I would
also recommend relative to that first bullet point that you folks get
yourselves involved with the school district, because they have very
specific policies regarding inter-connectivity with schools, even
adjacent parks. And they prohibit that activity. So you need to lobby
those people, get them involved.
MS. REV A Y: Right. And we do, the Collier County Public
Schools are involved. I also chair another coalition called the Health
Promotion Coalition, and they're also on that coalition as well. So we
are in the process of speaking with them about these things as well.
Sprawl, we know all about this.
COMMISSIONER SCHIFFER: Well, I'm not so sure, Stacy.
MS. REV A Y: You're not sure?
COMMISSIONER SCHIFFER: Because if you at that--
MS. REV A Y: I'm just not to -- like he was saying before, I'm
trying not to go over the things that you possibly do know.
COMMISSIONER SCHIFFER: That top slide, we do constantly
in Collier County. And any time you see that formation of buildings,
you have to realize that's, you know, what sprawl looks like.
And if you look at Collier County from an aerial photograph, this
is what I call the box of zippers, this is what Collier County looks like.
And we have to be really careful, because what's happened is we've
put a lot of pressure on the Estates area now because we've just
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sprawled right up to it.
So I think -- and I'm going to also save my questions til the end,
but I just didn't want you to jump off that slide and not have
everybody recognize our friend on the top.
MS. REV A Y: Okay. These sort of communities are more car
dependent, especially for kids. Maybe this first slide at the very top
for kids who might live in that one cul-de-sac, if their friend lives in
like three cul-de-sacs away their parents most likely are going to drive
them. Because even if that is a gated community, they don't feel safe
letting their kids walk that far away.
Sprawl and public health. Okay, so one study found that
California adults who drove the most had obesity rates 27 percent than
were three times higher than those who are drove the least. That's as
pretty large statistic.
Every 10 additional minutes also commuting associated with a 10
percent drop in community involvement. So U.S. average is 73
minutes a day of drive time.
There's a lot of other issues as well. Health, environmental
impact, increased pollution, increased obesity, which is currently
happening, and decrease in social capital.
Okay, so some of these things that specifically relate to health --
well, sprawl. Cost to the health and well-being of Collier County
residents, more sick days, more days in the hospital, unnecessary
deaths and injuries from traffic accidents, reduced opportunities for
physical activity.
And people who live in more compact metropolitan areas suffer
from significantly fewer chronic medical conditions than their
counterparts in sprawling regions. For example, people who live in
neighborhoods with a mix of shops and businesses within easy
walking distance have 35 percent lower risk of obesity.
And then the disproportionate impacts on poor and minority
populations whose neighborhoods often are cut off or harmed by
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transportation facilities. And we're also currently working with Collier
area transit to increase -- possibly to increase awareness of public
transportation so that it can increase ridership. And then we'll
hopefully increase the routes so that -- not to put Morton on the spot,
but my gentleman over here who's part of the Smart Growth Coalition,
him and his wife walk and his wife would like to access YMCA. And
because they live over by the mall, it will take her an hour and 45
minutes to get there by bus, so she doesn't go to the YMCA right now,
but possibly will in the future, hopefully.
People who use public transportation also get their 30 to 40
minutes of recommended physical activity every day.
Okay, so here are some other recommendations from the Centers
for Disease Control. These also can be implemented in the policies
and Comprehensive Plan: Improve access to outdoor recreational
facilities and enhance infrastructure supporting bicycling and walking.
As I've stated, I'm not saying to go out there right now and start
building all this stuff with all of the money that we possibly right now
don't have. I'm just saying that if we create an environment, if we're
going to build out in the eastern area, then creating this sort of
infrastructure will benefit the health of people who live there.
Support locating schools within easy walking distance of
residential areas. Enhance personal and traffic safety through the
county and improve access to public transportation, incentivize mixed
use development and geographic availability of supermarkets in
underserved areas.
Okay.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Okay, I'm sure there's going to be
comments. We'll start with Brad and work our way across.
Brad?
COMMISSIONER SCHIFFER: Ray, about 10 years ago we had
the community character plan which tried to bring these principals
into planning, right? So that didn't quite hit it.
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Transportation, they started to be very concerned about it, and I
think they are now with the efficiency of roadways, that might control
it.
But the odd thing to me is that smart growth is hanging out in the
health department. So now we're down to the fact that we realized
we're hurting the citizens by not building communities healthy that
tend towards, by just the path of least resistance, healthy living.
What is going on in the planning department for this issue?
MR. CASALANGUIDA: Commissioner Schiffer, I can answer
that. We're taking an active lead in it.
As I left the transportation department to come into community
development, the planning folks came with us. We're working on that
master mobility program which we think is comprehensive in all these
things that's she's showing today. Her report has been detailed, quite a
bit of information.
The bottom line is many petitions come through you, and we're
trying to make these codes effective to say that interconnection is
required, shared access is required, sidewalks, we're always bringing
this up whenever these planning petitions come forward to you.
The master mobility plan is intended to be part of a GMP
EAR-based amendment update and then follow through with LDC
cycle updates. We're in an environment right now where LDC cycle
updates are stressful and they put a lot of stress on both staff, the
planning commission and the board. But these types of initiatives are
extremely important.
And if I can ever impress upon this commission and the board to
listen to these messages and listen to the EAR-based process where we
can add functionality into our codes that encourage this, that's my
goal.
It's smart planning, and she's done a good job of putting it
together. Again there's a lot of depth to it. And we're looking at
adding things that you can actually tangibly see in the codes. But we
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encourage you to support that.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Anything else, Mr. Schiffer?
COMMISSIONER SCHIFFER: I just want to -- because I think,
one thing, I wouldn't mind if the health department maybe looked at
some of our applications.
Mark's right, I mean, the best battleground for a gate in the wall
was -- there was a shopping center down, I think it was an ABC
Liquor, there was a requirement for the gate and the neighbors freaked
out. They didn't want the gate.
Now, obviously they could buy a security system if that's the
problem. But people don't want to walk.
So are these things that we can now force people or start to -- and
it's not just putting holes in walls to sidewalks, it's starting to cluster,
starting to bring things together. It's starting to not do these two units
per acre subdivisions out in the middle of just spreading and spreading
and spreading.
If we didn't do that, we wouldn't need that road on Vanderbilt,
we'd be up much tighter to the coast where we do have big roads.
MR. CASALANGUIDA: Two examples I can think of in
petitions that have come across, I don't want to say recently, but at the
northeast corner of Pine Ridge Road and Livingston, there is
Marchesa plaza at the southeast corner but to the north of that is a
residential community that wanted no connection to the commercial.
Matter of fact, they wanted a wall across that.
And similarly, Brooks Village, which is at the corner of Pine
Ridge and Collier Boulevard, where the connectivity of the
community, speaking to the neighbors, they love the fact that they can
walk around the corner to the shopping center. And it was a fight at
first, but now that it's open, they've embraced it and they think it's a
benefit to their community.
So although the culture is right now is for these gated
communities and the restricted access, I think a good opportunity for
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us is to get some of these neighborhoods together to talk to each other
as petitions come forward and say what is your experience with this
after it's been open. And I think it's been beneficial when it is open to
the public.
COMMISSIONER SCHIFFER: So Nick, what you're saying is
that the principles that Stacy's putting forth today, your department is
going to actively be watching out for and incorporating in your
reviews?
MR. CASALANGUIDA: We are. And sometimes we're in front
of this commission, we're having that debate with you, requesting the
interconnection with a pedestrian walkway.
COMMISSIONER SCHIFFER: Thank you, I'm done.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Okay, work my way down. Mr.
Midney, did you want to add anything?
COMMISSIONER MIDNEY: Yeah, a couple of things. The
first one is, it's a good thing I think that the new community of Ave
Maria is walkable and it is bicyclable. And it's a good example, you
know, if we are going to be having development in the eastern part of
the county, that's a good example to point to.
And the other observation is that is seems like the poorer people
get the more they're walking and using cars and the richer they get, the
less they want to have interconnection. And it's sort of like, I don't
know, it's backwards.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Ms. Caron?
COMMISSIONER CARON: Yeah, in the urban area, almost all
the large tracts of land have been built or have approval to be built.
So a lot of these fine ideas are not going to be implementable unless
the particular developer decides that that's the case.
We have, however, had several things come up in front of us
fairly recently with supposed mixed use but we never approve them as
mixed use. They always have the option to be one or the other. And
perhaps that's one way that we could tighten codes is if you're going to
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do a mixed use, it really legitimately has to be a mixed use project.
Now, I don't know if that then stymies people from going
forward with a mixed use or not. But there ought to be some incentive
to actually do mixed use. I mean, I can think of two or three that have
come by this board fairly recently, and they all wanted to make sure
that they could protect that oh, no, we don't want to give up our right
to have all commercial or all residential. But it comes forward to us as
a, quote, mixed use.
And that's never been pushed by staff. That's never been a
consideration in a staff comment that this really should be a mixed use
project. It's always been whatever they want.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Okay. Anybody -- now the other side.
Mr. Murray?
COMMISSIONER MURRAY: Stacy, if! may call you that.
MS. REVAY: Sure.
COMMISSIONER MURRAY: In logic, you can never use the
specific to prove the general or the general to prove the specific. You
cite one study, there may be others that have other lower numbers. So
I'm going to intentionally be seemingly against you. I'm not against
you per se, but I want you to be clear, okay.
You say you lived in Oregon, I believe. You grew up there. And
everything that you needed was within a mile. Was that true of every
child in your area throughout your city?
MS. REV A Y: I would say probably mostly.
COMMISSIONER MURRAY: So that there were schools
intentionally built (point, point, point) just that way so that that would
work.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Let's see the court reporter get that
click, click, click.
COMMISSIONER MURRA Y: That was in Swahili. That was in
Swahili and that's why.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: I looked up, she looked at me and oh,
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oh, how are you going to record that?
THE COURT REPORTER: How do you spell it?
COMMISSIONER MURRAY: Point, point, point.
My point is that -- and I served for four and three-quarter years
on the smart growth community character. And I left as
vice-chairman of that. I was the last standing Indian.
The report was provided to the Collier County Commissioners,
they accepted it. They never approved it. That doesn't mean they
cannot go forward approving it. Some of the smart growth principles
are now being implemented, they're being recommended.
But we have constraints under the law. And my frustration will
come from open-ended commentary and non-provable or asserted
without any real backbone. And my frustration will come if you don't
have means of offering good language recommendations.
We're constrained by the law. If someone wants to utilize their
property and the highest and best use is such and we say no, you can't,
then there's going to be a lawsuit, and the county will find itself -- so
all the policies in the world don't help unless they can really have
backbone.
So I don't want you to think I'm against you, I am admittedly and
clearly openly frustrated by some of the things that I've seen on here
because I do see them as social engineering. Maybe that's a good
thing.
Some of it I think is probably -- I remember when you mentioned
there's a child on a street with bicycles. I'm a child of W odd War II.
We didn't have very much. We didn't have -- I lived in Brooklyn,
New York, safe streets, not on your life. We rode our bicycles, we
played our ball. It is a matter of judgment. You're in another
generation, you view things differently.
And whether or not you can convey sufficiently to an old guy
like me that what you're asserting is valid overall and not just to a
particular -- because recently there was a citation about how healthy
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Collier County is relative to all the other countries. And there's an
awful lot of people you cited that don't walk and don't do anything.
So there are contradictions in your information. You have to have
those clear in order for me to buy into it.
MS. REV A Y: Well-- and people are -- and I think that the one
thing that, if I can kind of like go back to is the one slide that has the
physical, mental and social well-being. And it talks about Collier
County is number one for health outcomes, for morbidity and
mortality but number 17 for physical environment. So that breaks it
up.
Because at first when I looked at it also saying that Collier
County is the healthiest county in Florida, I thought well, maybe I
need to look at this a little bit closer. So number 17 puts us down the
list as far as physical environment goes, which makes sense with the
60 percent of obese or --
COMMISSIONER MURRAY: What is physical environment?
I don't understand this.
MS. REV A Y: Access to healthy foods, exposure to air pollution,
ozone days, et cetera. That's from the Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation report that was --
COMMISSIONER MURRA Y: My God, there are McDonalds
and Burger Kings all over the place -- exposure to healthy food.
Yeah, okay, I gotcha.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Mr. Wolfley?
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: Many of the things that I
wanted to say have been covered. I just wanted to say, you can build
a community to be your perfect social community, and until we
become, probably maybe sooner than later, a communistic society and
force people to do things a certain way, you aren't going to get kids off
the computer unless the parents guide their children. Thus they aren't
going to be out and walking more than a quarter mile a day.
The other thing is parents don't want their kids walking more
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than a quarter mile because of the predators out there.
COMMISSIONER SCHIFFER: Oh, my God.
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: Well, this is -- I hear it every
night on the news a kid has been picked up and, you know. So do you
want your kids walking down the street. These are just two things I
see that have to be overcome. You can have the most perfect
community, but if you've got weirdoes and Internet, what are you
going to do?
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Well, now that we're off on a tangent
here --
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: No, it's not, it's the call to
reality.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: That's fine. Does anybody else have
any other comments they'd like to make?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Okay. Is there anybody in the public
that wants to speak and address anything --
MS. REV A Y: Martin, did you want to say something?
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Sir, you're more than welcome to come
up to a microphone, and I ask that you identify yourself -- or can we
take a microphone to the gentleman.
MR. ROSEBERG: My name is Martin Roseberg, and I serve as
a volunteer on the Smart Growth Coalition. As Ms. Revay mentioned,
I am a walker, I don't even own a car. And I got here by bus.
And the point was raised about making practical
recommendations. I wanted you all to know that I have been in touch
with Gene Calvert. I understand he's in charge of the traffic lights
here. And one very simple low cost thing in terms of safety -- health
and safety go together, of course -- is to allow the minority,
pedestrians that is, to cross our streets safely.
And I spoke specifically about the time allowed for the walk
signal at certain intersections. He said that there is a new federal
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regulation coming up that is supposed to extend that time, I certainly
hope so. But very simple things like reminding our drivers that there
is a state law that you are supposed to yield to pedestrians -- I've
almost been run over three times, it's not pleasant, very frightening.
And our drivers do not realize that there is such a thing as a pedestrian
and bike riders, also.
And that is something very simple that I hope the Planning
Commission would at least encourage the powers that be, the
appropriate staff people, to look into.
And in terms of encouraging walking, I think Ms. Revay
mentioned that there are communities around the country who are
doing that, and the results are very good. There's this new term, new
urbanism which means going back to those days. I think, and Mr.
Murray, you remember in Brooklyn you did have a neighborhood, you
could walk to places, you did know your neighbors.
COMMISSIONER MURRAY: You just didn't go out of your
neighborhood. I'm kidding.
MR. ROSEBERG: The idea is that maybe there was no need to,
you had everything that you needed virtually, or most of the things
that you needed every day in your neighborhood.
And that is something I know that is more in the long-range
thinking. But I know that there is a new community, I think someone
mentioned that Ave Maria is a walkable -- yes, sir, you mentioned
that, that Ave Maria is a walkable community. If the community of
New Cypress ever gets on the ground, I would encourage you to work
with them and encourage them to make their community a walkable,
what is sometimes called a livable community.
They say that they're going to be an ecological community, so
you have an in right there. If you want to be an ecological
community, consider the human ecology and allow people to walk
safely and to ride bicycles safely.
So those are all the points I wanted to make at this time. And I
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thank you.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Thank you, sir, appreciate it.
Is there another --
COMMISSIONER MURRAY: I'd like to make a comment to
the gentleman. I want you to understand, sir, that although apparently
I'm negative in my approaches to this, I am not negative to all of your
concerns in any way. And I do appreciate everything that you've said,
and those are tweaks that we need to attend to. And I'm happy that
you're a part of that. And I want you to understand I favor and support
that.
Just for our purposes as a commission, and the amount of work
that we have to do, it is very important that we have thought-out,
practical and clear instructions as to what you desire and want to have
implemented. And we would then work as a body to try to make that
happen if it's at all feasible.
MR. ROSEBERG: I fully understand. I am all for clarity and
things spelled out very clearly. Yes, absolutely.
COMMISSIONER MURRAY: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Thank you, sir.
Next speaker. Ma'am?
MS. A VOLA: Hi. I'm Michelle A vola. I'm the Executive
Director of Naples Pathways Coalition. If you've not heard of us, we
are a nonprofit advocacy group working for a safe, interconnected
transportation network for non-motorized travel. So walking, cycling,
wheelchair, that type of thing.
So obviously you know the angle that I would be coming from.
And knowing that I only had a few minutes to address, I haven't come
armed with a bunch of statistics for you, but just a few things to
address.
In talking a couple of times now with the Mayor, and he said
Naples didn't plan for how it is now. They didn't have the ability to
see where it was going to get to. And so now there's tourists walking
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in the street, there's people getting killed. The woman died last night
who was hit over by the hospital on Monday. There's too many
people in too short of a place, too many cars, not enough safe places
for people to be able to walk, ride their bike, get where they need to go
if they can't drive, if they choose not to drive.
As the Planning Commission, you're planning, and there's areas
that are still to be built out. There actually are improvements that can
be made that don't cost millions of dollars. So I think in the things that
1 was hearing Stacy say was that when there's decisions to be made we
really need to think long term for every single person out there, not
just the typical teenager playing the Gameboy and the parents, you
know, driving them the block to school and sitting in the drop-offline
for half an hour and burning tons of fuel.
We need to think about everybody, so we don't end up with a city
like this that's a hodgepodge ofthere's a sidewalk here, there's nothing
here. There's a bike lane that ends at a guardrail, there's closed off
communities, there's communities right next to each other that, you
know, they live two minutes apart but it's a 20-minute drive around.
We just need to plan better. And there are still areas to be built out.
So when things come before you, that's all we're asking for, is
just thinking about all the users. So thank you.
COMMISSIONER MURRAY: IfI may?
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Of course.
COMMISSIONER MURRAY: Thank you.
Your coalition, does it have plans for your paths in every area of
Collier County that can be utilized by people? Have you planned that
out?
MS. A VOLA: We have -- no, that's not where -- where we see
that there's issues and gaps to be filled, yes, we go before councils and
we point those out --
COMMISSIONER MURRAY: But you have no overall plan?
MS. A VOLA: We have worked with the city and the county in
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the master pedestrian and cycling plan. So yes, we have been very
much a part of that.
COMMISSIONER MURRAY: What I'm trying to establish, and
I just want to be very clear, you have an expectation that we should
have, we have the opportunity to plan for the future. I would think
then that you would also be in that same position, you would have
already determined where those paths should be.
MS. A VOLA: On every street, wherever a road is resurfaced or
widened, it's already in the books that it needs to be made a complete
street. And what that means is sidewalk on both sides, bike lanes. It's
supposed to be everywhere. So it's not like we're just saying well, just
here or just there. It's already in the books that they're supposed to be
done correctly to be complete streets. And then there just seems to be
ways to work around that.
So that's why the plan is just everything needs to be done
correctly.
COMMISSIONER MURRAY: So let me understand this, if I
think I got you right. You're suggesting that if one person on 55th
Street Northwest, there is probably no such place, point being, though,
one person decides to build and there's then a street. They're required
to have a sidewalk. Are you asserting then that we as a planning
group should require that the county build all the sidewalks, even
though there's nobody yet willing to build a home?
MS. A VOLA: I think we need to plan for the future so we're not
trying to retrofit later when it costs that much more money to do it
later and it impacts more people with changing right-of-way or
changing the perception --
COMMISSIONER MURRAY: So you're suggesting that the
county spend the money to put the sidewalks in all the way -- at that
time.
MS. A VOLA: To plan to do it right from the beginning, that's
kind of what I -- that's what I teach my children. That's what I --
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COMMISSIONER MURRAY: We have to figure out where we
can get that money, okay.
MS. A VOLA: Yes, certainly.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Mr. Schiffer?
COMMISSIONER SCHIFFER: I think what also we have to do
is, we have a lot of people that request that the roadways be narrowed.
I think when they do that we should ask where are the bicycles going
to go. That's all.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Anybody else -- Mr. Wolfley, did you
have something you want to say?
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: I'll let my time go to --
MR. CASALANGUIDA: Three points if I could,
Commissioners. One--
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Three?
MR. CASALANGUIDA: Yes, please, if I could.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: We'll count them now.
MR. CASALANGUIDA: You have a master pathways plan that
the pathway coalition has worked with us on that talks about the major
pathway networks going all the way from Marco Island into Lee
County, so you have an adopted pathways plan. You have an ADA
transition plan that shows deficiencies of -- he's counting too, I may
have a fourth.
An ADA transition plan that shows $200 million in deficit in
fixing our system, retrofitting right now. That's an issue.
And the third one I'll leave you, is you're right, when I'd taken on
this job I read the packets and they talk about does this impact the
environment. And we lack in a couple sections where we should be
asking ourselves does this encourage community walkability, does this
encourage connectivity, does this reduce vehicle miles traveled, this
project that comes before you. And I think that's what they're asking
us to do is ask those questions when those petitions come forward.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Thank you, Nick.
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Anybody else have any questions?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Miss, thank you very much.
MS. A VOLA: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Appreciate it.
And Stacy, we appreciate your presentation today. And I
strongly advise you at those meetings that you do attend, come
forward with suggested language so it can be chewed on. And
basically nothing should be accepted by anybody until the fiscal
analysis is known and the stakeholders involved all had an opportunity
to view it and we weigh its consequences.
Doesn't mean we're against it, it means it needs to be weighed out
and thoroughly thought of, so --
MS. REV A Y: Right. And there are some really great -- the last
thing I'll say, just one thing. I think there are some really great policies
that are in place. However, 1 just think that the wording is too loose
and it needs a little more teeth and a little more mandating, and then I
think we'll have it.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: And I think Commissioner Schiffer
actually summized (sic) everything very well, we should be thinking
about this. And the next time we have a narrow road come through,
that's a great question to ask everything single applicant coming
forward. And if they know that ahead of time maybe they'll come
forward with better planning. So you've had a good impact already.
I appreciate very much your time today.
MS. REV A Y: Thank you very much, Commissioners.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Thank you.
And that is the last item on our agenda, everyone. Anybody in
the public have any other comments they wish to make today?
(No response.)
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Okay, is there a motion to adjourn?
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: So moved.
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CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Motion made by Commissioner
Wolfley.
Is there a second?
COMMISSIONER VIGLIOTTI: So moved.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Mr. Vigliotti.
All in favor, signify by saying aye.
COMMISSIONER SCHIFFER: Aye.
COMMISSIONER WOLFLEY: Aye.
COMMISSIONER HOMIAK: Aye.
COMMISSIONER CARON: Aye.
COMMISSIONER KOLFLA T: Aye.
COMMISSIONER VIGLIOTTI: Aye.
COMMISSIONER MIDNEY: Aye.
COMMISSIONER MURRAY: Aye.
CHAIRMAN STRAIN: Aye.
Weare adjourned, thank you.
*****
There being no further business for the good of the County, the
meeting was adjourned by order of the Chair at 10:44 a.m.
COLLIER COUNTY
PLANNING COMMISSION
MARK P. STRAIN, Chairman
These minutes approved by the Board on
presented or as corrected
, as
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