Bo Turbeville offers suggestions from a table of Lehigh residents at this past Saturday’s codes workshop held at the Veterans Park Community Center. Photo by Mel Toadvine

Lee County Commissioner Frank Mann said he was happy with the turnout at the Lehigh land Development Code workshop on Saturday, Aug. 28. It was held at the Veterans Park Community Center, but future workshops, to be held every other month, will be at the East County Regional Library.

Some 35 residents of Lehigh met with Lee County planners to tell them what a future Lehigh Acres should be like now that the Lehigh Plan has been completed and accepted by the Lee County Commission.

At the start of the two-hour and 15minute session, Mann told the group there was but one purpose for the meeting and that was planning. He emphasized that the workshop had nothing to with taxes, code enforcement, road resurfacing and was not a general gripe session. The first meeting in July at the East County Regional Library had ended up with a large turnout with residents airing complaints with the way things are in Lehigh.

“Now that we have your Lehigh Plan, we need to come up with a land development code which will be more detailed and used in our county overall Lee County Comprehensive Plan,” Mann said.

On hand were seven planners from Lee County government who worked with the group by having them split up and sit at six tables. The groups were told items for discussion included such topics as signs in Lehigh, setbacks for properties, mainly commercial, buffering widths depths, plants, heights of buildings, architectural treatment of building, underground utilities, duplex standards, and temporary use of such vendors as hot dog stands.?Paul O’Connor, Lee County planner, and Kathie Ebaugh, also a member of the planning staff, talked to citizens and guided them through the process of discussing various topics to be included in the land use codes.

Giving Presentation: Mike Swords, right, offers a list of suggestions from his table group during this past weekend codes workshop in Lehigh. At left is Kathie Ebaugh, a Lee County planner. Photo by Mel Toadvine

“What are your dreams and issues in Lehigh? What do you want Lehigh to look like in the future?” O’Connor asked the group.

He pointed to a seven to eight-inch code book listing county codes and said Lehigh’s would be added to those that already exist and could be different from what other areas of the county have planned.

Those present were asked to identify how they envisioned Lehigh Acre’s future by describing the features, form and function of land development project by discussing three separate topics design features and components, site design and special development regulations. Each session of discussion at the different tables lasted for 20 minutes and a representative from the county sat in to guide the discussion. Each group selected a spokesman who at the end of the meeting gave details of how each group felt about the development standards that were discussed.

Those included architectural style, landscaping, transitions between uses and buffers, and signage in Lehigh, heights of buildings, setbacks, lot coverage, impervious surface and parking. Also duplex structures, mobile vendors and model homes.

The county planning staff took notes from the suggestions of each group and Ebaugh said they would be taken back and worked on by staffers and brought back to the people of Lehigh.

Mann and O’Connor: Lee County Commissioner Frank Mann, left, talks with Lee County Principal Planner Paul O’Connor at Saturday’s workshop on new codes for Lehigh Acres. Mann said he was pleased with the meeting because he had heard no negative comments. Photo by Mel Toadvine

Mann who spent the two hours at the workshop said it was one of the most positive meetings he had been to in some time.

“This process may take a year. But we’ll get to where Lehigh wants to be and I see those positive changes coming about will save taxpayers money,” he said.

The group was told the next workshop will be on Oct. 2 at the East County Regional Library and will be held from 10 a.m. to noon.

Ebaugh said all future meetings will be held at the library but she was waiting for dates for 2011 to be given to her from the library.

The public is encouraged to attend.

A group of people sit around a table talking future land use codes for Lehigh. Photo by Mel Toadvine

If there are more than the 35 that turned out Saturday, Ebaugh said more tables would be set up for additional residents who will be encouraged to discuss upcoming topics for Lehigh codes.

Interestingly enough, each group, when presenting its discussions, came up with many of the same suggestions. All agreed that no more model homes should be built along Lee Blvd., that commercial signs be the same height throughout the community and the address number of the buildings be displayed so they could be seen.

They called for regulations of street vendors, such as some of the hotdog carts, but agreed that they had a place but they should not be allowed to set up anywhere they pleased. They talked about zoning, agreeing that duplex homes be build in certain areas and not intermingled with single family homes. There was much agreement on other topics that were brought up.

“It was a great meeting and I think we are going to do well as we continue this process,” Commissioner Mann said. “We had a good crowd here and we hope more will become part of the process if they would to,” he said.

Listing code topics: Paul O'Connor, Lee County planner, explains the reasons for the meeting to come up with codes for the Lehigh Plan to a group of people at the Veterans Park Center. Photo by Mel Toadvine