Commissioners pave way for new San Carlos development

San Carlos Park will get an Estero-style makeover with a new development that Lee County commissioners agreed to rezone Monday.

Though the proposed Cypress View development is in San Carlos Park, managing partner Greg Toth said he intends to build it in accordance with the Mediterranean guidelines found in the Estero planning area.

"What we found in Estero is ... if you raise the bar and create a nice product, you can get higher leases and higher sale prices," said Toth, who sits on the Estero Community Planning Panel and is a real estate agent for Select Real Estate by Stephanie Miller.

Commissioners agreed to rezone the nearly 10-acre piece of property, which is on the north side of Estero Parkway at the intersection of Cypress View Drive, from agricultural to commercial planned development.

Toth plans to build a mixed-use commercial center with 47,328 square feet of retail, 67,446 square feet of office space and 5,000 square feet of outdoor seating.

The property is two roughly 5-acre pieces of property on either side of Cypress View Drive. Toth envisions building three two-story Mediterranean-style buildings on each side of the road with retail on the first floor and office space above. The buildings would share a common area with outdoor seating.

Toth said he is not sure what businesses will locate in the buildings, but acceptable uses under the new zoning include restaurants, retail, banks, pharmacies, food stores, souvenir shops, dry cleaning, pet services and a post office.

"We decided to leave our options open and let the market, the local retailers, decide," he said.

There will be no large, stand-alone uses such as a Home Depot allowed. County commissioners also made sure there will be no gas stations or convenience stores on the property.

That type of business is better suited, and likely will be located, about a block down the road at the intersection of Estero Parkway and Three Oaks Parkway, said Lee County Commissioner Ray Judah.

Walter Fohs, pastor of the Lamb of God Church north of the property, also asked commissioners not to allow a liquor store because the church also operates a preschool.

"We feel good about what they are building," he said. "But we would not be in favor of having a preschool with a liquor store within 500 feet."

If developers want to bring in a liquor store, they will have to apply for a variance through the county process, said county planner Nettie Richardson.

"That gives the church an opportunity to voice an opinion of why they are for or against the package store," Richardson said.

Toth's group also owns the 36-acre parcel next to the property at the intersection of Estero Parkway and Three Oaks Parkway.

Once the county completes its planned extension of Estero Parkway, which will include an overpass over Interstate 75 and a connection to Corkscrew Road, the property will realize its true worth, Toth said.

"We feel the interchange is going to be one of the best in the county when the overpass is done," he said. "It will be a gateway to the airport and university."