Chuck Curry: Imperial Landing vote; look at the cemetery

The bugler might well be playing "taps" for the Imperial Landing redevelopment concept this coming week, as the Bonita Springs City Council again takes up the controversial project for the site of the former Bamboo Village trailer park.

Although workshops are not typically decision-making days for councils, there is a chance Imperial Landing could find itself on the block during Wednesday's meeting.

Assistant City Manager Barbara Barnes Buchanan said Wednesday that the typical course would be for the council to "give direction" to staff at the workshop and such direction come back for a formal vote.

Yet, there is nothing keeping the council from directing staff to pull the plug on the project. After that, it would all just be an exercise in bookkeeping.

So, I ask myself, what will happen? Here's how I answer myself:

Will there be a vote?

Most likely in one form or another.

What will that vote do?

It is difficult to predict.

The easy money is that the Antaramian company's vision for Imperial Landing will die in a 4-3 vote, with the trio of new council members joining Council member Alex Grantt in shooting it down.

Yet, it is my belief that something will be salvaged from the whole debate.

The Imperial Landing plan as presented at a community meeting this past spring will not fly. Yet, the developer said at the time that the square footages for retail and residential space was pretty well set.

Antaramian Corp. will be presenting an altered plan to council at the workshop.

Whether it is enough to turn the tide remains to be seen.

I have always had a belief that one of the new council members would find a way to vote for this kind of redevelopment on the site at Old 41 Road and the Imperial River.

Will it be Martha Simons? Well, she is a businesswoman and the Old 41 Road district needs something.

How about Pat McCourt? Well, he has proposed killing the project once, but if proponents of the plan can make him see a light that doesn't involve taxpayer dollars, then he could be the swing vote as strange as it sounds.

How about Richard Ferreira? I would suppose you could evaluate him off my comments about McCourt, but with only one vote needed to swing the deal, he might offer the best chance.

So, without inside information (for which I apologize), I would guess that a somewhat changed Imperial Landing plan will win 4-3 or even 5-2.

Of course I also thought that pro golfer David Duval would turn his career around at The Master this year. He shot an 84 in the first round (really bad for a pro of his caliber) and missed the cut.

Wait and see this Wednesday for Imperial Landing.

• Today the Sunday Banner begins a two-week look at the Bonita Springs Cemetery.

It is small and weathered around the edges.

Yet it is a wonderful timepiece for looking at Bonita Springs.

Check out the coverage in the rest of today's Banner.

• While Council member Pat McCourt stands for a smaller staff at City Hall, he's not going to get one any time soon for the Code Enforcement department.

City officials have a hit on their hands with code officers cleaning up the city. From cars parked for sale in rights-of-way to junk cars and to, now, a beefed-up code allowing for a quick process to condemn structures, the code department has lots of muscle.

This past week's vote to further tighten codes came as absolutely no surprise.

In fact, the chief code officer pointed out the next targets on his list: signs, laundry drying in front yards and sales.