The Estero Planning, Zoning and Design Board approved a development order for a four-story apartment complex with 137 units at the northwest corner of Three Oaks Parkway and Coconut Road. The 5-2 vote for approval came after more than four hours of discussion. 

The developer plans to demolish the former Winn-Dixie grocery store and replace it with a multifamily building. The remaining part of the shopping center and the bank will remain.   

There will be garages, carports and surface parking in the community. Amenities include a pool and an internal courtyard area with an outdoor kitchen and dining area. The building will be primarily concrete block construction and will have elevators, with all units having balconies.  

The units will be 20% to 40% larger than a typical apartment community, Hole Montes Inc. Vice President Charlie Krebs said. Monthly rent is expected to range from $2,500 to $5,000. 

In addition, a decorative partial wall and fence combination on the perimeter of Coconut Road and Three Oaks Parkway is part of the site plan. 

Estero Village Council voted unanimously in June to settle a lawsuit with Long Bay Partners LLC, Top-CR Associates LLC and PAC Estero Apartment, allowing the developers to build a four-story apartment complex. A month later, the planning board approved a final plan for the project, with the development order pending approval until Tuesday night. 

There wasn’t an empty seat at Tuesday’s meeting, with many residents of The Brooks appearing to voice opposition to the project. Residents cited concerns with their property value, wildlife, traffic, safety and overall incompatibility of such a project.  

Brooks resident Kathy Wyrofsky requested adversely affected party status, which was ultimately denied by the board in two failed motions. Wyrofsky’s property begins about 300 feet behind the development property line.  

“I feel that [I am] definitely more adversely affected than the rest of the general population,” she said prior to referencing her quality of life, sight line, noise, construction and wildlife disturbance as issues the development would bring. 

The Brooks residents procured more than 1,500 signatures on a petition to deny the development order. However, while residents said the apartment complex was not a good fit, the property was rezoned in 1997 by Lee County for mixed-use planned development, which allows the uses of commercial, multifamily and hotel.   

“Tonight, we’re basically here to review the site plan, which is the development order to see if that complies with the settlement agreement, whether it complies with the land development code and the zoning,” Community Development Director Mary Gibbs said. 

During the settlement agreement Council meeting, village staff learned there was a potential eagle nest in the area. However, after the village and applicant’s environmental consultants canvassed the area to address wildlife concerns, no nests were located. Despite no nests being found, the village’s consultant will conduct another site inspection later this year when nesting season is underway.   

There will be two access points to the project, one being from Three Oaks Parkway and the other on Coconut Road. As far as traffic is concerned, a traffic analysis indicates there will be a large reduction in daily vehicle trips by replacing the Winn-Dixie use with the 137-unit multifamily residential use, according to a village staff report.  

Many residents also took issue with the settlement agreement and final plan approval taking place during the offseason. However, Gibbs said the village is constrained by deadlines from the state. “We don’t have the luxury of saying, ‘You know, we’d like to schedule this during season,” she said. “It’s a little bit tricky for us.” 

Business owners in the existing commercial part of The Brooks Town Center also voiced opposition to the project, expressing concern with parking and traffic affecting their businesses and livelihood. 

“My people would come in the parking lot, they would see that the parking lot is full and they would leave thinking that we were busy,” A Cut Above Barbershop owner Tammy Rose said.  

Despite acknowledging parking issues affecting neighboring businesses is an inherited issue from when a gym opened in the center, the approved motion called for approval of the development order with the stipulation that the 20 spaces immediately in front of the commercial area that are back-to-back spaces be strictly reserved for commercial and not for joint use. 

While residents said the village should’ve been more transparent, the village brought back site plans and development orders in an effort of transparency and public involvement. 

“I know a lot of people are upset, because they feel like this wasn’t transparent,” Gibbs said. “But the Council wanted to make it transparent by having us come back to these hearings, come back with a final plan approval, come back with the site plan approval. Whereas if we had listened to what the developer initially wanted to say, the staff would have been approving the development order in the back room with no public notice of any kind.”