Editorial: Imperial Landing

Today's workshop on downtown Bonita Springs in general and the proposed Antaramian development in specific should generate a lot of passion, rhetoric and debate. That's good. What would be even better would be if all the heat generated a fire that actually got something accomplished.

Today's workshop will focus primarily on the Antaramian Group's proposal to turn 5.3 acres of city-owned land along the Imperial River into Imperial Landing, which will have restaurants, shops and 106 condominiums. Much has been written about and speculated upon as to what the recently revamped Bonita Springs City Council will do about the proposal, which was championed by an earlier council. The March elections brought in three new council members and none has exactly been a fan of Imperial Landing, meaning it could be a dead plan walking.

The danger of today's meeting isn't so much that Antaramian's idea will get shot down. The real threat is that it will get shot down and no one will have a better idea.

That is where the real tragedy of Old 41 lies. Since U.S. 41 cut off downtown Bonita's lifeblood some three decades ago, no single idea has been able to garner enough traction to accomplish much of anything. There have been community redevelopment agencies, Main Street programs, special financing districts. All got some support but none ever reached enough critical mass to reach the ultimate goal — a downtown that can survive on its own.

The current efforts are the strongest tried so far. The city bought the former Bamboo Mobile Village for $2.6 million in 2003, moved the residents out and started shopping the property around. The plan: A good deal on the property for a developer, a jump-start on downtown revitalization for the city.

The basic idea is sound, whether the jump-start comes from a development like that proposed by Antaramian or something else. The new council members are right to take a cold, calculating look at what would best leverage a now-vacant site into the engine that transforms downtown. Maybe they don't like the mix of condos and commercial to public space. Maybe they don't like condos at all. It's their call.

What they need to remember, though, is that it's not enough just to cast stones. The harsh truth is that Old 41 needs help. Thirty years of free market forces, including the booming real estate market of recent years, made downtown what it is today: A road dominated by convenience stores and places to buy or repair your used car. Turn down Antaramian without a viable alternative and there's little reason to see that changing.

Unless, of course, someone has a better solution, one politically viable enough to gain a majority of council votes and one practical enough to actually make a difference.

Absent that, council members should approve Antaramian's proposal.