Estero residents say Corkscrew Crossing could cause traffic, environment issues

Estero residents with concerns about a project that could bring up to 724 more homes to Corkscrew Road spoke out Tuesday night at a village meeting. 

Corkscrew Crossing, formerly known as Monte Cristo, is a housing development that would be built on nearly 400 acres on the south side of Corkscrew Road. The site is between the existing gated communities of Wildcat Run and The Preserve at Corkscrew.

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Chief among the concerns expressed by Estero residents at the village's Planning and Zoning Board meeting: Corkscrew Crossing's potential impact on traffic, stormwater flow and the environment.

Meanwhile, Corkscrew Crossing representatives said at least half of the site would remain open space.

Corkscrew Crossing developers have requested a zoning amendment that would reduce the number of homes on the site from 724 to 625 residences.

Developers also seek to focus on single-family residences, said Wayne Arnold, a planner for the project from Q. Grady Minor & Associates, a Southwest Florida engineering, planning, surveying and landscape architecture firm.

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That focus differs from the current plan, which includes more multi-family housing, Arnold said.

“We think (single-family housing is) more consistent with the neighborhood,” Arnold said.

The housing portion of the site is proposed on the northern side of the property, in the area that is closest to Corkscrew Road, according to Tuesday night's presentation. 

More than half of the nearly 400-acre development would be preserve space, according to Corkscrew Crossing developers.

“The preserve is one large contiguous area made up of the highest quality habitats on the property,” said Mike Myers, an ecologist for the project from Passarella & Associates, a Lee County environmental consultant.

The Corkscrew Crossing preserve will connect with all of the conservation land surrounding the project, Myers said.

This includes land belonging to The Preserve at Corkscrew, Bella Terra and Edison Farms, the site that Lee County acquired through its land purchasing program, Conservation 20/20.

A wildlife corridor, running from The Preserve at Corkscrew property just east of Corkscrew Crossing down to the development's preserve acres, was reviewed and approved as sufficient for wildlife movement by a number of organizations, Myers said.

Those organizations include the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Florida Wildlife Federation, Myers said.

Members of the Planning and Zoning Board asked about the movement of wildlife through the area, traffic impact on Corkscrew Road and stormwater management.

The village is concerned about flooding, said Scotty Wood, chairman of the village board.

“I’m just trying to recognize that Estero, for the first time, had serious stormwater management issues with Hurricane Irma,” said Wood. “We’re going to be grinding that into the Land Development Code to be developed in this coming year.”

Michael Delate, an engineer with Q. Grady Minor & Associates, said the project exceeds its requirements for stormwater flow.

“We’ve coordinated very well from an engineering perspective on what those flows will be coming from WildBlue,” Delate said, referring to another new community planned on Corkscrew Road. “I would dare say there’s more capacity in our system that could possibly be utilized. I think, from Estero’s point of view, that there’s some assurance that this project can more than adequately handle the proposed stormwater woes.”

Several Estero residents providing public comment at the Tuesday night meeting expressed serious concerns about the potential for increased traffic on Corkscrew Road and the impacts Corkscrew Crossing might have on nature.

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“I also understand that on their side of the channel or the moat will be a fence,” said Pete Cangialosi, a resident of The Preserve at Corkscrew. “That would preclude large mammals, that are migrating up and down this wildlife corridor, from Edison Farms to WildBlue, from going west into their developed area. It does not prevent them all from going east into The Preserve at Corkscrew.”

Louis Grammas, a resident of The Preserve at Corkscrew, said he is worried about not only citizen traffic, but the heavy equipment traffic that traverses Corkscrew Road while the site is built out.

“Dumpster traffic going excessive speeds cannot stop on a dime,” Grammas said. “I’m seriously concerned there could be fatalities.”

As part of the Estero development process, the Corkscrew Crossing team has to meet with village community development staff to address issues raised during Tuesday night’s meeting.

The developers are expected to return to the Planning and Zoning Board for a public hearing at a later date.

Arnold, the professional planner for the project, said he expects it will take several months for the project to get through Estero’s zoning process. 

“Ideally if we could be in construction in 2019 that would be great,” Arnold said.