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Mention the newly incorporated Village of Estero to builders and developers and at best you'll get a roll of the eyes.
Since it became a municipality last year, the small town between Fort Myers and Naples has earned a reputation as a thorny place to do business because of the vocal not-in-my-backyard crowd. Some landowners and builders believe the town created a de-facto moratorium on development.
But Estero recently approved the rezoning request by a continuing-care retirement community operated by the nonprofit Volunteers of America to build a 340-bed community and 15,000 square feet of medical office space on what was to be a 200,000-square-foot office building and shopping center. It's the first rezoning approval by the city, and construction is scheduled to start next year.
“If you go through the due process and everything makes sense, you'll get approved,” says Adam Palmer, managing director of office and investment services for LandQwest Commercial, who brokered the deal.
Although every new municipality experiences growing pains, Palmer says the rezoning didn't take long because of capable staff. That includes Mary Gibbs, former director of community development for Lee County, and land-planning consultant Bill Spikowski of Spikowski Planning Associates. “They've got really good people working for them,” Palmer says.
Palmer hopes the rezoning will dispel the perception that Estero has shut the door to any new business. “I think it's a big accomplishment for the city,” he says.
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