Bonita advances plan to develop in DR/GR

After three presentations, some disagreement among scientists and urging from environmentalists to consider more data, the Bonita Springs Local Planning Agency formed a proposed list of Best Management Practices for future development the Density Reduction/Groundwater Resource area.

Recommendations include requiring developers to present landscaping concurrent with the Florida Yards and Neighborhoods program, adopting a numerical standard for nutrients and pollutants of concern, and requiring new developments to be hooked up to the Bonita Springs Utility sewer system.

"Simply because we establish that plan today certainly does not mean we'll be out there tomorrow," said Ronald Edenfield, senior engineer for Environmental Consulting Technology.

Edenfield worked on the engineering analysis of the DR/GR, which started in 2003. The study's results were released in 2005, and has been under peer review for a year, he said.

Lee County resident Tori Polonitza, who has lived on land directly east of Bonita Springs for 11 years, said she supports Best Management Practices, but too many restrictions won't allow for any development.

"It's not monitored, it's not improving," Polonitza said. "It's become the dumping ground of Bonita Springs."

Her land is outside of the city's boundaries but is in a swath that is under review for annexation. A neighbor, whose home is within the city's boundary, said they have dumping problems in the DR/GR. Since there is little development out there, many of the plots are overrun with trash and invasive melaleuca trees, and code enforcement rarely drives through.

"We've seen people just back up to the ditch and dump stuff," said Debbie Price, who has lived in Bonita Springs for 28 years. "There's no catching them."

The study, which incorporated some environmental data from other companies, isn't complete enough to make a knowledgeable decision, and information from other studies should be included, environmentalists argued. John Murray, the executive director of the Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed, handed LPA members a list of 19 panther studies that Lee County and other agencies have conducted -- information he said needs to be considered before a sound decision can be made.

"We (need to) establish some form of common ground by starting to integrate all these different knowledge bases," he said.

Complete agreement on how best to handle the DR/GR is unlikely, said Edenfield. The goal is to make the best decision at the time, he said.

"You could roll the clock back and ask the guys who channeled the Kissimmee River and ask them, 'Was this the right choice?'" Edenfield said.

The Kissimmee River was straightened into a 56-mile canal in the late '60s as a solution to area flooding, resulting in severe environmental damage. Congress authorized the US Army Corps of Engineers to begin restoration in 1992, according to the Audubon of Florida website.

Though now the decision is clearly the wrong choice, it was probably made with the best intentions in mind, Edenfield said.

"You try to make the right choice and move forward," he said.