Edd Weiner, vice president of the Lehigh Acres Community Planning Corp. (LACPC) holds illustrations of two "round-abouts" he believes could be constructed in Lehigh to alleviate traffic problems. Photo by Mel Toadvine

Members of the Lehigh Acres Community Planning Corp. are looking into the future, after the Lehigh Plan, and are talking about such things as the

construction of “round-abouts” to alleviate traffic problems in Lehigh and shuttle buses to get people around the community. They’re ideas they want to take to the County Commission after that body votes to accept the Lehigh Plan into its own county

comprehensive plan.

“I know the commissioners like the plan, from what they are saying,” said Bo Turbeville, president of the LACPC. He told fellow members last week that he

has been told the Lehigh Plan will come before the Lee County Commission the first of April.

Meanwhile, LACPC Vice President Edd Weiner showed illustrations to fellow members of how “round-abouts” can be used in a few places in Lehigh to

alleviate traffic problems such as turning left in heavy traffic on a two-lane highway. He passed around two illustrations and actual aerial photos and said Richard Thompson of Lehigh had helped with the project, supplying the aerial shots.

Weiner used overlays showing how a round-about would function for motorists.

Weiner explained that traffic is sufficiently slowed down when motorists enter into a round-about, and said they work in other communities to make it

easier for motorists to make left turns without having to stop.

A round-about is typically a circle around a particular roadway that allows motorists to turn off to the left or right without having to stop for traffic.

Nearby Cape Coral has created a few round-abouts to move traffic through the city.

Members also discussed transportation problems in Lehigh because people can’t get around town using the current Lee Tran Route 110 bus. It only stops at

certain locations and most people in Lehigh are far from bus stops.

LACPC member Linda Carter has been checking for smaller shuttle-like buses that could travel more routes in Lehigh, get in and out of parking lots and

take passengers to different sections of Lehigh and to the main stop near the Publix supermarket on Lee Blvd., where riders could take the bus to the Edison

Mall in Fort Myers and from there, board other buses to go to other locations in Lee County.

These are all things that members discussed after they say the county accepts the Lehigh Plan. Members said that if they showed up en mass to ask for these things, they can make a difference.

Such discussion led member Frank LaRossa to say that he thought it was time for the group to encourage candidates from Lehigh to seek offices in the county to represent Lehigh. The group is a 501(C-3) non profit organization and can not become involved in politics, but it can encourage another group to form.

“We got two years before another election. It’s time now to groom leaders in our own here in Lehigh to run for all the offices that we can, and that includes national and state and county offices.

“You all know that Cape Coral voters control who will be our county commissioner. That is where the heavy vote comes from. We have to get our people educated and get leaders here to run for these offices. That’s the only way we are going to get what want and need in Lehigh,” LaRossa said.

“I’m talking from the bottom of my heart,” LaRossa added. “If we can’t incorporate, then enough is enough. This group and others need to talk about

getting people to run for office. Let’s make something in Lehigh.”

Frank Mann is currently the east county representative, but he lives in Alva. And although he is liked by leaders in Lehigh, most would like to see a Lehigh person on the County Commission, many members of the board have said.

Sidewalks have been one of the main issues discussed in past meetings and members of the LACPC hope to bring the issue up again and again after the county adopts the Lehigh Plan which was prepared by Wallace Roberts & Todd.

A proponent for years, Willard Baker, a member of the LACPC, agreed and said sidewalks should be a priority. In the past, children have been fatally

injured walking to a bus stop along Lehigh streets because there are no sidewalks in most parts of the community.

“It takes people to go down to the County Commission in force to get things done,” Baker said.

Weiner also said he was drawing up another version of a rental ordinance for Lehigh Acres that the group could present to the County Commission. It will

be brought back for LACPC approval, he said.

He also said the advisory committee in Bonita drew up its own rental ordinance and it was working, but he was reminded by Baker that Bonita has a much smaller population than Lehigh. Baker and Weiner agreed that Bonita had about 1,600 rental units.

After the meeting, Weiner was asked how many rental units are there in Lehigh Acres.

Weiner said he would estimate the number between 12,000 and 14,000 units, including homes, condos and duplexes that are being rented.

The LACPC has been concerned because of the conditions of many rental units in Lehigh. An ordinance would require landlords to meet special standards. They would have to pay for some type of license to rent.

However, it would mean more personnel in the county to keep up with the work load. The ordinance would call for fees and inspections of rental units.

The only people who attended the meeting were a man and his wife who said they are new residents of Lehigh. Members of the board welcomed them but said they didn’t understand why out of a community of more than 60,000 people, only a handful of people ever attend. Turbeville reminded the group that Lee County Commission meetings only draw around 25 to 30 people from the entire county.

“And look how big the county population is,” he said.