COUNTY OFFICES MOVE INTO NEW COUNTY/CITY ANNEX

FORT MYERS, Fla. (November 5, 2003) - Lee County's code enforcement, inspections and contractor licensing offices have moved into the new County/City Annex in downtown Fort Myers.

The $5.7 million, 45,000-square-foot building, 1825 Hendry Street, houses those functions on the second floor. The first floor has the City of Fort Myers Community Development Department, which includes building, permitting and inspections, code enforcement, planning, real estate, development review & licensing and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise and fire inspections functions. And the third floor houses the county's Purchasing Department and Clerk of Courts Internal Audit Department and Human Resources, with room for expansion.

Phone numbers for the county functions will be changing, however the old numbers temporarily will be forwarded in order to allow sufficient time for distribution of new information.

The new phone numbers are:

Inspections 344-5801 (fax) 344-5896
Certificate of Occupancy 344-5801 (fax) 344-5896
Automated Inspections 479-8997 (no change)
Re-Inspections ONLY 344-5855
Code Violations 344-5895 (fax) 344-5880
Contractor Licensing 344-5895 (fax) 344-5877

The building took a year-and-a-half to complete and was funded through a combination of building permit fees, property taxes and payments from the city, which will pay annual installments of $158,393 for 30 years to occupy the 15,000-square-foot first floor.

The County/City Annex not only continues the county's philosophy of co-locating "like" functions to provide "one stop" service centers for residents, it also is a major part of the redevelopment of downtown Fort Myers.