Walgreens, City Mattress projects approved

A Walgreens drug store and a City Mattress warehouse both won approval to be built on Bonita Beach Road. Combined, the projects will add nearly 75,000 square feet of commercial space to what is arguably the city's most developed corridor.

For city fathers, deliberating over the proposed 14,055-square-foot Walgreens reminded them of the last time the drug store giant came before them. After City Council members OK'd a Walgreens store two years ago, the company scrapped the project. Instead, a CVS Pharmacy sprouted on the northeast corner of Bonita Beach Road and Imperial Street.

Several council members said they hear more complaints about that storefront -- with its bright red lettering and imposing facade -- than any other.

"We went through all this with a Walgreens before and did a lot to hammer out the design of the building, and then up popped a CVS that didn't look anything at all like how we designed it," Councilman Jay Arend said. "We were the ones who caught all the static on that one."

Two years ago, in response to concerns about the boom of gas stations and strip malls on Bonita Beach Road, council members established a set of design standards for developers to follow along the east-west roadway.

But, Councilman Wayne Edsall said, the CVS and other developments have proved that those codes have too many loopholes for developers to slip through.

"We have to toughen up," said Edsall, who urged the council against endorsing the Walgreens but ended up as the lone dissenting voice.

The Walgreens is expected to rise on 2.18 acres on the northwest corner of Bonita Beach Road and Imperial Street, across the street from the CVS and diagonally across from a now-under-construction Eckerd drug store.

Charles Basinait, the Fort Myers attorney representing Walgreens, also worked on behalf of Walgreens before the council when the Deerfield, Ill.-based company sought the location where the CVS now stands. It is difficult to legislate design standards, he said.

"I realize some people may not like the color or the design," Basinait said of the CVS. "I guess it's all in the eye of the beholder."

City Mattress officials spent nearly a year designing their planned 60,792-square-foot distribution center and working with Lee County planning officials, said project planner Greg Stuart. The result looks nothing like the typical warehouse, with varying roof heights and an exterior painted in muted peaches and tans.

"That design exceeds Lee County codes and Collier County codes and meets Naples city codes," Stuart said after the meeting. "We knew what would be expected of us, and we stepped up to the plate."

Council members apparently agreed. They unanimously approved the project, which is set to be built 300 yards east of Interstate 75 on the north side of Bonita Beach Road.

A movement is afoot to address the shortcomings in the city's design review process. If some city planners have their way, the designs for any commercial or large-scale residential projects would have to pass muster with a city-designated architectural reviewer.

Under the plan, the reviewer's suggestions would be just that -- suggestions. Over the past three years, council members have rejected two proposals to create a design review board, fearing that mandatory compliance would daunt would-be developers.

Councilman David Piper still has his reservations about the latest proposal. Legislating something as objective as building designs to developers is a lot like trying to catch a snake without harming it, he said.

"If you grab him too loose, you're going to get bit. If you squeeze him too tight, you'll squeeze him to death. If you grab him right, you won't hurt him and he won't hurt you," said Piper, who is also the owner of the Everglades Wonder Gardens attraction and has been bitten by enough snakes, he said, to know better.