Estero leaders back resistance against Bonita Springs developments

BONITA SPRINGS, Fla. – Village leaders in Estero are getting involved in the controversy in neighboring Bonita Springs over two major high-rise projects planned for Coconut Road.

One project would introduce residential towers to the old Weeks Fish Camp in Bonita Springs. The other project, called Raptor Bay, is slated for a site near the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point and was the main topic of a six hour debate at a Feb. 3 Bonita Springs council meeting.

At last week’s Bonita Springs council meeting, high-rise condo protesters boo’d Mayor Ben Nelson for his vote in favor of developers. A 3-1 vote ultimately sent the Raptor Bay project back to a zoning board.

Most Bonita Springs council members are stressing that they are not fully supportive of the Raptor Bay condo project but are also clear that they will not completely vote against proposed plans.

Neighbors said they do not want either projects to be approved and they have the support of nearby Estero village council members.

“We want the whole project stopped,” Estero village council member Bill Ribble said of the proposed Raptor Bay condos Wednesday. “We don’t want to see them build the four condos nor the other four that could possible be built on the Weeks Fish Camp site, as well.”

Coconut Road is a shared street between Bonita Springs and Estero. Ribble said traffic in his community is a main concern. He has ordered a study on traffic on the road and said traffic issues become severe during winter months.

“For example, we have a traffic engineer now doing a study on Coconut Road and, as you know, the population in the summer is around 23,000 folks here in Estero but during season it’s about 40,000,” Ribble said. “So, as you can imagine, the study coming back this week is probably going to show a big difference in use on that Coconut Road.”

The congestion on Coconut Road could present a crisis during emergency evacuations, residents argue. One traffic engineer predicts it would take people 28 hours to leave Lee County if a major hurricane threatened the area.

Details in the study will be released later this month, Estero village council members said.

The village council plans to hand the study over to Bonita Springs to fight residential developments, officials said.