Lee County Commissioners deferred the closing of a 50-acre parcel of land for a potential new solid waste recycling facility for the second time March 5. The property is near State Road 82 in eastern Lee County, adjacent to the former Gulf Coast Landfill and Pelican Preserve community.
Commissioner chambers were packed with more than 100 residents wearing red, opposing closing on the property. Residents were concerned with the sight, noise and smell of such a facility close to their homes and sought answers to their questions regarding plans on the site.
Assistant County Manager Christine Brady presented the item March 5 to address some of the concerns, starting with what the facility is and what it isn’t. “This is an indoor covered facility handling recyclables,” she said. “The operation is not a landfill or a waste transfer station.”
The recovered material processed will be bottles, cans, paper, cardboard and containers. The presentation also stated there will be no hazardous waste, tire processing, outdoor processing, wet garbage or operations close to homes.
Brady stressed the industrial zoning on the property with allowed uses including aircraft landing strips, freight and cargo handling and gasoline dispensing among many.
Given the allowed uses, Commissioner Cecil Pendergrass said the county would be better off building the facility rather than allowing Waste Management to build under the current zoning or selling the property with the existing zoning.
“We know that [Waste Management] can build something with only a 25-foot setback from the property line of Pelican Preserve and Stoneybrook,” he said.
The current zoning could allow set uses with a 25-foot setback, with the county proposing a 1,025-foot setback if the proposed facility moves forward. The proposed setback is about the size of three football fields, according to Brady.
“We believe that 1,025 [feet] gives us a lot of buffer and a lot of opportunity to create plantings that would allow us to basically tuck this facility in there,” Brady said.
Commissioner Brian Hamman agreed with Pendergrass. “I believe this property might get sold, and when it does get sold, I think you got to worry about who the neighbors are going to be,” he said.
Brady said the solid waste and county lands team have worked extensively for about two years looking for an appropriate site throughout the county, including the Alico corridor.
However, some challenges to other sites included property owners refusing to sell to the county, zoning, properties with protected species and properties not conducive for the type of use.
Commissioners first approved a $14.5 million purchase agreement with Waste Management Inc. of Florida for the acquisition of the property in August in a 4-1 vote, with Pendergrass opposing.
The initial motion to defer the item Feb. 20 was made by Hamman after residents expressed concern with the proposed facility during the public presentation of matters by citizens portion of the meeting.
On March 5, the decision to defer followed an overwhelming presence of residents in opposition of the closing but resulted in residents welcoming the commissioners to hold public meetings in their communities before making a final decision.
The motion made by Hamman to have public meetings for public participation and defer the item to a later date was unanimously approved.
The dates of those public meetings have yet to be announced, but the item will have to be returned to the board before the May 2 cut-off date for closing on the property.
