FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:    Robert Clemens, Lee County Lands Division, (941) 479-8505
                John H. Hankinson Jr., Summerlin Sands Partnership, (941) 404-401-9621

FORT MYERS, Fla. (August 30, 2001) – One of Lee County’s most significant large tracts of environmentally sensitive land is now in public hands after the county today closed on the purchase of Bunche Beach for $6.38 million.

The 730-acre coastland parcel fronting Estero Bay and the Gulf of Mexico is located south of Summerlin Road and east and west of John Morris Road. It is one of the most important native, natural, and pristine coastland areas in the county that potentially could have been developed.

The Board of Lee County Commissioners unanimously approved going forward with the purchase on Aug. 14.

The county purchased the land from Summerlin Sands Limited Partnership, which at one time considered developing the parcel, but in recent years sought also to protect it. Known for years as the "Troutman Property," the land was at the center of a development rights battle in the 1970s that went all the way to the Florida Supreme Court.

The property was purchased through the county’s Conservation 2020 program, with a temporary loan of $3 million from the county’s general fund until the program receives in more tax revenues next fiscal year. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is expected to reimburse half of the cost of the purchase. The county has purchased nearly 7,000 acres through the Conservation 2020 program.

Jim Jacoby, general partner of Summerlin Sands, said he is "delighted" that the property now will be set aside for long-term conservation.

"It has been a long journey, but I am delighted that this property is now in public ownership," Jacoby said today. "It is a fantastic piece of property, with both high recreational and natural resource value. I am so pleased to have been able to work with Lee County to make this happen."

This will be the third largest tract purchased through the program. In December, the county bought a 1,115-acre tract located on the north side of the Caloosahatchee River just east and west of Interstate 75 that has 3.5 miles of river frontage. And in April, the county purchased a 2,388-acre parcel of environmentally sensitive land in North Fort Myers.

Lee County voters approved Conservation 2020 in November 1996 through a referendum that increased property taxes for seven years by 50 cents for every $1,000 of taxable property value. The increase raises about $12 million a year to buy environmentally sensitive lands.