FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Brandy Gonzalez, Lee County Division of Planning
              (239) 479-8316

EIGHT PUBLIC WORKSHOPS TO FOCUS ON COUNTY'S GROWTH BLUEPRINT

FORT MYERS, Fla. (March 17, 2003) - Citizens have a unique opportunity to help shape Lee County's future through upcoming workshops to review and update the county's Comprehensive Plan.

The update - called an Evaluation and Appraisal Report (EAR) - is done every seven years and includes a number of public workshops to be held throughout the county. The process is required by the state's Growth Management Act.

The 250-page Comprehensive Plan is the county's blueprint for growth. It includes sections on future land use, transportation and traffic, community facilities such as utilities and libraries, recreation and open space, conservation, housing, historic preservation and the economy. Each section outlines a number of goals with objectives and policies put in place to accomplish those goals.

Three key questions for citizens during the upcoming evaluation process are:

  1. What issues do you believe are most important to the sustainable development of Lee County?
  2. Does the current plan adequately address those major issues?
  3. What changes do you envision to better direct the development of our county through the Comprehensive Plan?

The EAR is due to the state in February 2004. Lee County's Planning Division hopes to focus the review process on the plan's effectiveness in dealing with major issues that face our county. The citizen input should improve the plan's future effectiveness in addressing these key issues.

Here are the locations, dates and times of the public workshops:

Location Date Time