Members of the Burnt Store Corridor Coalition urged Charlotte County commissioners on April 23 to host a stakeholder meeting to help solve problems related to the area’s increasing growth.
John Fleming, chairman of the Burnt Store Corridor Coalition, or BSCC, said members are concerned the county is not properly measuring the effects of rapid development.
“There is a perception the county is fast-tracking proposals from developers, while at the same time discounting the concerns of residents,” Fleming said.
BSCC asked the county to update its area master plan for the Burnt Store corridor that was done in 2005 and created by developers. C
ommissioners directed staff last year to undertake a planning effort to address cumulative impacts and needs of the area after hearing from residents, but it had been seven months since the last workshop when commissioners met with coalition members.
“By now, our area residents should be involved in community planning workshops to help define a new vision statement and analyze demographics of new residents,” Fleming said.
Of the group from the BSCC, about a half dozen spoke about various problems.
Fleming said there is a dire need for an urgent care center.
“We have no hospitals that are within a quick route to get to where we are,” he said.
Residents in his community, Burnt Store Lakes, call 911 when they are sick because a medical facility is too far for them to drive.
Mary Ellen Kiss said any updates to the Burnt Store Area Plan should include input from both Charlotte and Lee counties, the cities of Punta Gorda and Cape Coral, as the corridor runs from U.S. 41 in Punta Gorda to Pine Island Road in Cape Coral.
She said residents in both counties share the same concerns: a lack of proximity to grocery stores and urgent care, drainage, traffic and protection of wildlife.
One after another voiced their concerns and asked commissioners to host a stakeholder meeting involving everyone along the corridor.
Commissioners later directed County Administrator Hector Flores to have staff gather materials to be presented at a future stakeholder meeting.
Shaun Cullinan, the county’s Planning & Zoning official, updated the board on the corridor.
A significant amount of land is in preservation and owned by the state, county, city and privately owned, and almost half of Heritage Landing and Heritage Station lands are preserved. No building can ever occur in those areas.
An overlay map shows wildlife corridors and how they connect. Wildlife signs were installed, with additional signs and crossings to possibly be added later.
A transportation study was completed, and its findings will be presented to commissioners in May.
BSCC member Phillip Smallwood of Pirate Harbor said another lane or road has to be added because traffic at Zemel Road is usually backed up, and during a hurricane evacuation there would be a risk of traffic accidents with people rushing to get out.
The South County Stormwater Municipal Service Benefit Unit has agreed to fund an updated hydrological study. Coalition members asked the county to conduct a new one since so many new homes have been built since the last study, and they expressed concerns about drainage and potential flooding.
Cullinan said the corridor communities now have 1,990 single–family homes and 739 multifamily units, with a population of approximately 5,540 residents.
Although there is ample acreage to have a Publix plaza–type shopping mall, a metro study shows to support that, the population would have to be 15,526, which is estimated to be in 2045.
Commissioners agreed that a stakeholder meeting should be held and everyone in the corridor should be able to attend, but no timetable was set.
Kiss said she was disappointed the commissioners didn’t make a motion to schedule the stakeholder meeting.
