Sent from Reader Georgette Lundquist
Butch-
I just went out and got my mail and my new copy of ROAR was in the mailbox. What a delight to see your front page article about development in Lee County especially in our little corner of it and the Board of County Commissioners.
We have lived in River Hall since 2006 but were in Colonial CC in 2004. I am pretty sure that when we became residents of Lee County fulltime in 2009 that we had the single member district voting.
The reason I say that is that Frank Mann, another long time Alva resident and very prominent member of Lee County and was our District 5 member of B of CC. Many times we saw Frank out and about and he was always on the side
of the residents whether you were an old Cracker or recent transplant. Living in a community that was started back in 2005 and then fell on hard times with the real estate crash of 2008 gave us time to realize what the county was about
and how East Lee was the rural side of the sprawling rest of Lee County. Also being in River Hall we went before the commissioners many times when our developer decided to try and get many more lots added to the development after
the then B of CC told them it was staying rural with 1 unit per acre so no more than 2000 units per 2000 acres. Of course in a sense we are not rural because we have amenities or at least this is what we have been told in the past few years!
I guess a place like Ave Maria in the middle of nowhere in Collier County must not be rural since they have amenities!
Funny how when you are buying into a community such as River Hall and are told one thing so you will buy and a few years down the road it all changes!! So many of the original residents, which we are, were told things that were changed
after they poured their retirement dollars into their Forever Homes. We chose to be in this area for a reason. We wanted more quiet. Colonial was nice, but next to I-75. Lots to do there but that was not what we bought into when we came to River Hall.
When we were going through one of the Land Planning changes several years ago, I looked at all the lots in Lee County that were platted at that time. There were already 7500 platted lots without buildings! And most were obn East Lee side.
Why is the county granting more building lots when these are not built on?? No new roads had been built and no new infratructure had been done. Now we are told at River Hall that there is going to be a connection road of Alico Road
Extended which will connect to Sunshine Road. When, you might ask? Maybe 10 years from now!! That will really help us and the thousands of new residents moving here every day!
I just rode down Buckingham Road today for the first time in about 6 weeks. I don’t know how our roads and infrastructure are going to handle what is going on there. There is a new Hemingway Pointe just past the Riverdale Library ear the high power lines.
Then next to that is the currently being built Portico which recently added more lots. Oakview across Buckingham Road with about 50 homes was just completed. Next to the Exceptional School where the old sod farm was, is now all cleared
for yet another new development. Buckingham Road is still a 2 lane road with some places having a turn lane. And to add to this the back or second entrance out of Hampton Lakes, part of River Hall, is dumping out onto Queen Street or Ruth
Street in Lehigh Acres. At this point traffic will all come toward Buckingham Road via Cemetery Road and there is no traffic signal there. People already in Portico have had major issues trying to turn left out of their development to go onto
Buckingham Road. There is a sign that a school might be built in the area also and when you think of school buses and all the traffic what a mess that will be! Someone wasn’t thinking ahead except with their purses for all the money they can make!!
Another new development is farther down Buckingham where it meets Gunnery Road. Both of these roads are still 2 lane roads. Where will all the water come from needed to supply all these homes? Where will the runoff go when there’s no more
green space to handle rain water? Concrete and pavement don’t absorb water as far as I know. Then flooding will happen. Good luck East Lee County!!
I am definitely voting for Amanda Cochran and will try and find a place where she is speaking. We need someone who cares about the residents and taxpayers who pay their salaries. Yes, some of these CC are wealthy in their own right like Mr Greenwell.
He has several businesses which are in the development business of the county. To us that is a conflict of interest. What happened to Sunshine Laws?? We have been to enough B of CC meetings over the years to see how they work. They might not actually meet
in private but they all know what the other one is thinking and how they will vote, especially when we are at a meeting where only 3 CC are there! 3 out of 5 is all they need to make the vote go!! We are not that dumb!!
We need a mayor or county executive for Lee County over the B of CC. In my mind the B of CC has too much power over this county!! They need the single member districts and add more districts! County is too large for only 5 districts!
Too many people now living in Lee County to only have 5 members of a board running it all. There needs to be some oversight! Like a Mayor or County Executive that needs to be accountable to the people!
Georgette Lundquist
PS I had a lot of thoughts in my head so I hope this is not too much to comprehend!
