Marco residents praise downtown park idea

About 50 locals turned out Nov. 17 to hear city officials talk about how nearly 7 acres of downtown land could be utilized as a civic center, and the majority of those who spoke out praised the idea.

"I would urge my fellow citizens to be visionary," said Marco resident Charles Hughes. "This kind of project would help the quality of life (and) real estate values. We all have a lot of money invested here. ... This kind of project creates a quality community."

"This looks like a great concept," said seasonal Marco resident Bob Newman. "In the words of Billy Crystal, 'mahvelous.' This has to, somehow, enhance the value of city property."

Marco voters will be asked in a Dec. 9 mail ballot referendum whether the city should buy the 12 lots for $9.7 million from developer Dale Glon, and whether the city should finance the purchase with general revenue bonds.

Collier County Supervisor of Elections Jennifer Edwards will mail out the ballots on Thursday, Nov. 20.

Only marked ballots with a verified elector's signature, mailed or delivered in the return-mailing envelope by 7 p.m.

to the Supervisor of Elections Office on Dec. 9, will be counted. The count will begin at 8 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 10.

Naples landscape architect Ellin Goetz prepared some preliminary conceptual sketches of how the tracts could be used, and came up with two options, each featuring a large central town green.

The central green and civic center is something locals have envisioned since the 1960s, when the Deltona Corporation initially designed Marco, said Community Development Director Greg Niles.

Building on the legacy of Deltona's plan and the 1995 visioning process conducted by Marco residents, the city's open space master plan "revealed the need for a downtown Marco presence," Niles said.

"Throughout the history of Marco Island, there has been a continuity of recognition that public space (and) civic space is a desired" element of the planning process, Niles said.

A couple of residents questioned the $9.7 million price of the land, maintaining that it is too expensive -- although others noted that Glon has a signed contract with a back-up buyer should the referendum fail, and that contract is for $11 million.

Others questioned the need for more park space.

Marco Island Taxpayers' Association President Fay Biles said Marco has plenty of parks, especially little pieces of green space scattered around the island, and residents rarely use them.

Biles said she rarely sees anyone using Leigh Plummer Park or Jane Hittler Park.

"There's a whole mile of green space on Winterberry (Drive) and I have never seen one person there," Biles said.

One resident agreed, and suggested selling off those tiny parcels to offset the cost of buying the Glon property for a proper city park. Some worried that if Glon sells the land to a developer, the 110-foot-tall condos permitted would blot out Marco's open skies.

That was one of Michelle Hurtley's concerns, so the Mothers of Marco president strongly endorsed the purchase.

"It would be a shame if we do not do this," Hurtley said.

A 110-foot-tall building is taller than the AmSouth Bank building on Bald Eagle Drive, Hurtley said.

Furthermore, the city needs a park for events.

Hurtley said she'd swung by the Town Center Mall a few days ago to pick up Chinese take-out at Jackie's, and couldn't find a parking space because of a crafts show in the parking lot.

"I had to park way, way away because of the crafts show booths. The parking lot was packed -- just packed -- at 8 o'clock at night," Hurtley said. "To have to use parking lots for some of our special events is ridiculous."

That is exactly what this is all about, said Parks and Recreation Director Dana Souza, who has recently lamented holding public festivals such as Christmas Island Style and A Taste of Marco in parking lots.

The proposed downtown green is "intended to be a community gathering place ... to celebrate community in a very active, open way," Souza said.

Adjacent to the Winn-Dixie, the 12 lots are bordered by Elkcam Circle, Lambert Drive and the Rio Waterway just south of Smokehouse Bay. Glon hoped to build an Esplanade-type mixed-use project, including a hotel, but those plans fell through.

Some residents have worried that Marco will lose huge sources of tax revenue if the property is pulled out of circulation, but City Manager Bill Moss calculated the loss to be about $73,000. That is if Glon correctly estimated his completed planned unit development to be worth $45 million, and city taxes remained at the current $162 per $100,000 worth of property.

"Assume that City Council decides to reduce the millage rate to offset the new tax revenue of $72,000 for the developed property. Also assume that the typical home has an assessed value of $325,000, less $25,000 homestead exemption. The homeowner will pay a city tax of $486 if the city acquired the property for a park, and $482.38 if the property were developed and the new revenue was used to reduce the millage rate, or $3.62 less," Moss estimated last week. "This analysis assumes that all other property values remain the same and does not consider that more open space may, in fact, increase adjacent or citywide property values and therefore offset the revenue lost by additional development density."

Marco leaders reduced city taxes from $169 per $100,000 to $162 in September after Marco's property value increased by 13.6 percent, bringing the city's tax base to $6.72 billion.