GPICA discusses proposed changes to Plan, LDC that county hit pause on
On Saturday, Oct. 17, the Greater Pine Island Civic Association (GPICA) board held a public meeting to discuss over 100 potential changes to the Lee County Comprehensive Plan.
The meeting was led by GPICA Board Vice President Nadine Slimak. She said the current issue began in August when Lee County hosted a special public information meeting, with very little notice.
“Included in that was the total deletion of the community plans, so the special overlay that we have on Pine Island that says, ‘This is coastal-rural, you can’t put a shopping center in the middle of Bokeelia’ — those kind of rules — that whole section of the plan was deleted altogether,” Slimak said.
She let attendees know Pine Island’s community plan is not the only one on the possible chopping block, that there are 17 total community plans up for change or removal. Slimak explained the reason given was that it is an effort to streamline the processes of development and reduce or get rid of redundancies. In doing this, she said, they eliminated the things that make each of the communities unique.
“They did try to transmit things from the Comp Plan into the Land Development Code, but not all of the protections carried over — they just didn’t carry over with the exact same language. It’s not equivalent, the changes that they’re proposing,” Slimak said.
She explained the Lee County Comprehensive Plan is a long-range planning document that covers the current day and 10 or even 25 years into the future. It gives long-term projections for things like growth, development and number of residents. The Land Development Code (LDC) implements the Comprehensive Plan.
“The Comprehensive Plan might say, ‘Pine Island should be a coastal-rural area,’ and the Land Development Code would be the one that lays out how that is implemented, things like density requirements and … height restrictions” Slimak said, adding that the Pine Island community plan was the first one to be put in place within Lee County.
She explained that unique characteristics, such as having one lane in each direction coming on and going off of Pine Island, can create issues with things such as a possible evacuation during hurricane season, which limits the number of residents for the island. Pine Island’s community plan also takes into consideration and helps protect natural resources and agricultural properties.
“It tries to provide a framework for property rights and growth versus community needs and wants,” Slimak said.
The changes done today, she said, are likely to shape the way the island looks 20 years into the future and getting rid of the Pine Island plan may become an issue then.
Slimak said the problem with putting the requirements from the Comprehensive Plan into the LDC is that in order to change the Comprehensive Plan, the county has to hold public hearings and then transmit its proposed changes to the state. After the county has recommended its changes to the state, the changes go through a state review process.
The LDC is different, she explained.
“The county can say we want to make this change, they have a public hearing, they can implement the change. They don’t have to go through the state review,” Slimak said.
Formed after Lee County’s meeting in August, the Lee Communities Coalition is a grassroots alliance of civic associations, organizations and community groups working together to fight the changes.
The GPICA is a member of the coalition.
“We’re not betting on the fact that this is a done deal and it will never come back again. We’re still working, looking at the changes and still continuing forward,” Slimak said. “We maintain that the changes the county is proposing are not duplicative, they don’t streamline anything … we’re still moving forward and it’s still important to tell the county commissioners that you don’t want this to move forward.”
To watch the full meeting, visit the Greater Pine Island Civic Association on Facebook.
To reach PAULETTE LeBLANC / pleblanc@breezenewspapers.com, please email