Edd Weiner is chairman of the Lehigh Acres Community Planning Corp. As an architect, he also sits in on the Architecural Review Board.

The Lehigh Acres Community Planning Council will meet tonight at 6:30 p.m. at a new location and the public is encouraged to attend as usual. Chairman Edd Weiner said the LACPP will meet in the Bravo Sheriff’s Station annex on Homestead Road by entering the rear door, across from the Senior Center.

The LACPP will name five people to fill empty seats on the LACPP board. Some candidates showed up at the meeting in May without resumes and two were unable to show up, so the board of commissioners tabled the nominations for new members until this month’s meeting.

The LACPP meets on the second Wednesday night of each month and has met for the past several years at the Veterans Park Community Center rent-free.

Since it is not an “official” appointed advisory board by the county, it is considered a private and as such would be charged $20 an hour to meet at Veterans Park. Someone complained and the LACPP was told it must pay rent or go somewhere else. The LACPP chose the alternative, board members said. Meetings usually last until around 8:30 p.m.

Folks in Lehigh come to the LACPP with problems and with ideas for a future Lehigh. The LACPP is also the parent group of the newly formed Architectural Review Board.

Developers and those seeking rezoning are encouraged to meet before the ARB which makes a recommendation to the LACPP which passes a recommendation on to county officials.

Kathy Ebaugh, Lee County principal planner, attends most meetings on her own time. She has said that the developers and others are not required to attend the LACPP or the ARB. She said recently that those seeking development in Lehigh can meet with any recognized group as long as they advertise the meeting for the public and minutes are taken.

However, the LACPP has become the accepted and recognized organization that planners have attended to reveal plans for development and/or seek approval for rezoning before the applicant goes to the county.

Even though it is not an officially appointed group, members of the Lee County Commission and/or the Hearing Examiners’ Office has often asked if the group appeared before the Lehigh Acres Community Planning Corp. before coming to them.

Weiner says the LACPP represents a cross-section of residents in Lehigh and believes it is in the best interest for developers and planners to appear before its Architectural Review Board.

For reasons unknown to many in the community, there are a few people who oppose the group saying it has no legal right to listen to applicants. However, the group has been meeting for years and has guided the community in the formation of a Lehigh land use plan which is being presented to the county soon for final approval.

Those who want to become members of the LACPP are urged to attend tonight’s meeting with a brief resume and be ready to be interviewed by members of the LACPP. Once the applicants are voted on and win, they immediately take their seats at the LACPP table.

Weiner wants to remind everyone in the community that the meeting site has been changed to the annex building of the Lehigh Substation, which is being offered to the group by the Sheriff’s Office.

There may be a note on the door at the Veterans Park Community Center reminding the public to attend the new site.

The LACPP consists of 13 members and five are needed to fill vacant seats.