Saturday, February 18, 2017

Wildflower Species submitted by Lori J Haus-Bulcock

Wildflower Species “The Golf Club” 4003 Palm Tree Blvd. Cape Coral, FL 33904 Submitted by: Lori J. Haus-Bulcock Save Our Recreation, Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife, Tom Allen Butterfly House volunteer, SW Fl Audubon As of 02-17-2017 1. Cypress Vine 2. Climbing Dayflower 3. Lantana 4. Mullein: Wand 5. Painted Leaf 6. Passion Flower: Corky Stem 7. Palmetto: Saw 8. Spurred Butterfly Pea 9. Madagascar Perwinkle 10. Oriental False Hawksbeard 11. Pickerelweed 12. Romerillo 13. Sage: Tropical 14. Scarlet Creeper 15. Tasselflower: Florida 16. Wireweed: Common 17. Wood Sorrel: Creeping

Bird & Butterfly Sightings submitted by Lori J. Haus Bulcock

Bird Sightings “The Golf Club” 4003 Palm Tree Blvd. Cape Coral, FL 33904 Submitted by: Lori J. Haus-Bulcock, Save Our Recreation, Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife, SW FL Audubon As of 02-17-2017, the following bird species have been sighted: 1. Anhinga 2. Blackbird: Red-winged 3. Cardinal: Northern 4. Catbird: Gray 5. Crow: American 6. Crow: Fish 7. Eurasian Collared Dove 8. American Coot 9. Dove: Eurasian Collared Dove 10. Dove: Mourning Dove 11. Duck: Mottled 12. Eagle: Bald 13. Egret: Snowy 14. Egret: Great White 15. Egret: Cattle 16. Falcon: Kestrel 17. Falcon: Merlin 18. Flycatcher: Great Crested 19. Gallinule: Common 20. Gnatcatcher: Blue-gray 21. Grackle: Common, Boat-tailed 22. Grebe: Pied-billed 21. Gull: Ring-billed 1. 22. Hawk: Red-shouldered 2. 23. Heron: Great Blue 1. 24. Heron: Green 2. 25. Heron: Tri-colored 26. Ibis: White 27. Jay: Blue 28. Mockingbird: Northern 29. Osprey 30. Owl: Great Horned 31. Phoebe: Eastern 32. Purple Martin 32. Sapsucker: Yellow-bellied 33. Shrike: Loggerhead 34. Starling: European 35. Stork: Wood Golf Course Bird Sightings Page 2 1. Thrasher: Brown 2. Vulture: Black 3. Vulture: Turkey 4. Warbler: Palm 5. Warbler: Yellow-rumped 6. Warbler: Yellow-throated 7. Woodpecker: Downy 8. Woodpecker: Red-bellied 9. Wren: House Butterfly Sightings “The Golf Club” 4003 Palm Tree Blvd. Cape Coral, FL 33904 Submitted by: Lori J. Haus-Bulcock Save Our Recreation, Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife Rotary Park Tom Allen Butterfly House volunteer SW Florida Audubon As of 02-17-2017 1. Cloudless Sulphur 2. Common Buckeye 3. Orange barred Sulphur 4. Dainty Sulphur 5. Giant Swallowtail 6. Gulf Fritillary 7. Julia 8. Long-tailed Skipper 9. Common Buckeye 10. Monarch 11. Red Admiral 12. White Peacock 13. Zebra Longwing 14. Cassius Blue* 15. Ceraunus Blue* Butterflies number in the thousands on a typical Summer or Fall Day

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Police crack down on trespassers at Cape Coral golf club.. Wink News Reporter Adam Wright

http://www.winknews.com/2017/02/15/police-crack-down-on-trespassers-at-cape-coral-golf-club/

Letter to Council

Council Members, .I have written to the council many times about different topics. I have always received answers from some of you, and yet...nothing from others. My interest is in keeping the Old Golf Club as some kind of green space. Over the years, and of course different Councils, I have mentioned the many uses for that property. Included in those uses are theses suggestions: NEW FULL GOLF COURSE, not including the one in North Fort Myers, that Mr. Leon keeps inserting into the equation. CITY PARK, that could include: Public fishing (well stocked), Miniature Golf Course, 9 whole golf Course, Concert Shell, Walking paths, bike riding paths, Horseback riding, Picnic areas, row boats for the many small lakes, public tennis courts, pickle ball courts (very popular lately), special learning areas for Florida plantings, quiet study areas, barbeque areas, learn how to sail, Playgrounds for the children with benches for the parents. This could also provide new jobs under the Parks and Recreation canopy.

I understand the councils, and I mean the several different councils over the years that have had this property as a concern. Unfortunately it seems that the concern is: how can we make the most tax money, not what the people of this community want. At one time, it was planned to have 5 schools built there, another time, condominiums were planned. This last plan even had large charts made up to show us how positively wonderful this would be. The community hasn't thought that any of these ideas were wonderful. The community wants it to remain Green Space....period. What has happened to the CRA that said the entire neighborhood was blighted...where did that go? So many wrong decisions are being made with regard to this property.

Will someone please tell D.R. Horton were there is vacant/large properties that they could build their homes on. Most of these other properties don't even need a zoning change, they could probably start building right away on this other property.

Regarding the current owners: what bad stewards of their property. An individual owner would be fined for many of the offenses that Florida Gulf Ventures gets away with. I know there is supposed to be a mowing schedule, but please tell them that their property still looks bad. Now they have put up "NO TRESPASSING" signs all over the property.

My Grandson is an "A" Student at Island Coast High School. He chose that school because it had courses that could help him in his decision making process for his ultimate goal of becoming a Marine Biologist. Yesterday, he was gathering materials to help him with his project for his Hydo-Pontics class. Yes, he went onto the Golf Club Property to get some minnows for his project. Fortunately, he got the fish before the Cape Coral Police Officer made him leave the property. My grandson said "what will happen if I come back to get more fish"? The officer responded " you will be arrested"! I sincerely hope that the City of Cape Coral is not footing the bill for the City of Cape Coral Police to sit there all day to make sure the no one comes onto the property. The only thing blighted in this area is that property. It is a total disgrace, and Florida Gulf Venture (or whatever the name of the parent company is) is blight on Cape Coral. IT IS MY PERSONAL BELIEF that they bought this property to sell it.

So, since Florida Gulf Ventures (FGV) is having problems selling this property and
 since FGV is having a problem getting the zoning changed, they are going to take it out on 14 year olds that are preparing for college. Like I said before, they are poor stewards of their property. When they decided to sell, they demolished the club house so they wouldn't have to pay taxes on it, they went around the entire golf course property and literally cut out all of the sprinkler system, virtually making it impossible to reuse, and they, after all this destruction, left the property to over grow completely, which apparently became no concern whatsoever for e numerous City Councils involved.
It will totally be a betrayal of the people of Cape Coral, if you allow a zoning change. I don't know how to make it more apparent to you all that this property is valuable to Cape Coral residents not just the local property residents. Finally, will a Council just say NO to this owner.

With all of the projects going on around Cape Coral, why can't the council take this property into it's area of concern. Make that property something great for Cape Coral. Please Tell FGV no deal and tell D.R. Horton, no zoning change. The City of Cape Coral cuts all of the grass in the NE and NW sections of the Cape, which is far more than this little piece of property.

New York City has Central Park, St. Louis has Forrest Park, Fort Myers has Lakes Park, why can't we have something great, too. Naples recently remodeled and updated their Historic Golf Course, so did Fort Myers. Yeah, maybe these courses are privately owned (I don't know), but at least someone has history, beauty and the peoples need in mind. If this property is done right, it will be a benefit for the entire City not D.R. Horton (an outside builder) and FGV (an out of state and out of City, owner).
Please don't betray the people of Cape Coral Keep the Green Space, Don't allow houses to be built there and Don't allow a zoning change from Parks and Recreation.

Sincerely,
Charles H Koller

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Dear Mayor, City Council and City Manager,

As the City looks at the difficult decision for the old Golf Club of whether to permit the single family residential zoning to move forward for the old Golf Club property (175 acres) in downtown Southeast Cape Coral or, I imagine, potentially face legal action from the property owner who wishes to sell his property for single family development, it may be worthwhile for everyone to pause and look at a comparison with the San Antonio River Walk's economic impact and whether there are lessons in it that might be amenable for our very young, 60 year old city. (See the 2015 study of the "Impact of the San Antonio River Walk" at  https://www.sara-tx.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Download-the-San-Antonio-River-Walk-Impact-Study-April-2014.pdf. )



Table 1. Annual Economic Impact of San Antonio River Walk (2014 $)
Impact Type        Employment             Income                                Output
Direct Effect         21,294                      $571,718,278                       1,807,908,085
Indirect Effect        5,086                       $231,329,230                       $690,928,900
Induced Effect       4,698                       $198,146,016                       $597,066,199
Total Effect          31,077                       1,001,193,524                    $3,095,903,185
  •  "...the River Walk attracted about 9.3 million non-resident visitors whose main reason for coming to the area was to visit the River Walk over the twelve-month time period of this study." (2014-2015). The River Walk encompasses a large area. 
  • "They spend about $2.4 billion each year, which supports more than 31,000 jobs. The people in these jobs earn incomes and benefits of over $1 billion. 
  • The economic impact is about $3.1 billion per year, as shown in Table 1. This economic activity results in about $173 million flowing to various state and local government agencies, and almost $201 million in revenues being generated for the federal government.." 
  • "The San Antonio River Walk, also known as Paseo del Rio, contains 2,020 acres of public lands with the San Antonio River running through it. 
  • An ordinance to create the River Walk District: "On March 28, 1962, the City of San Antonio City Council passed an ordinance that created a River Walk District and seven member River Walk Advisory Commission. The ordinance was ... based on similar ordinances from Carmel, California and New Orleans’ Vieux Carre Commission. Following this lead, the San Antonio Chapter of the American Institute of Architects created a plan for the Paseo del Rio. In 1964, the Paseo del Rio Association was formed."
  • This is substantially larger than Central Park in New York City (843 acres), Golden Gate Park in San Francisco (1,017 acres), and the Chicago lakeside parks (1,440 acres). 
  • The River Walk is a mix of restaurants, shops, entertainment venues, businesses, museums, historical sites, and recreation areas." 
So, while relevant, it is substantially larger and more diverse than anything that the City of Cape Coral could  create with the 175 acre Golf Club project combined with the Bimini Basin 48.3 acres and the canal between them, it could indeed create an economic and cultural destination that could put Cape Coral on the map over time.

Questions/Comments for Council:
  • Rather than granting the existing or a potential new owner the ability to divvy up the land into more single family plots or potentially face a costly legal challenge in court, which neither the present owner or future owner or the City of Cape Coral should wish to entertain, can the City begin earnest negotiations to find alternative funding sources, public/private partnerships and/or land grants type funding to create a viable development plan that eventually can creates a much more profitable Destination Project, similar to a San Antonio River Walk?  While tried before, the City's newly contracted Bimini Basin manager could assist in this endeavor, creating a development district.
  • While the city has numerous projects that require substantial amounts of funding, once lost, this valuable piece of property, the old Golf Club, cannot be put back together again.  It and its' potential will be lost forever.  You cannot put Humpty Dumpty back together again and this City desperately needs to maintain and effectively utilize its few large parcels of land, especially in the SE quadrant of the City. 
  • Why should the northern sections of the city care about taking scare financial resources from other worthwhile projects? Consider that waterfront properties that connect with the River, such as Bimini Basin project can have a profound long-term impact on the entire city's financial health and quality of life as an important entertainment area.  We need a more diversified, less single-family tax-based structure as a city.  Connecting Bimini Basin (43.8 acres) with this 175 acres along a canal which links to the river is one such opportunity that once missed cannot be recaptured.  
  • This project could become an economic engine for the city. If this project eventually attracts even one quarter of the the 9.3 million visitors a year to San Antonio Riverwalk and generates even one quarter of the economic benefit of over $3 billion a year that River Walk creates and generates only one quarter of the 31,000 jobs that River Walk creates, it would be worthwhile as an economic engine for the city.
  • This may require a public/private partnership and/or grants and/or eventual rezoning to allow restaurants, shops and higher building heights to populate a portion of these properties, although parks with trails & walkways also have economic value for a city as I noted in an earlier email to you.  There are many examples of positive public/private partnerships, but allowing this land to be divvied up into more single family acreage makes no long-term economic sense.  The long-term benefits that as a City Council you are charged by your constituency to take into consideration cry out for more innovative, long-term thinking even if legal action may be a possibility, but hopefully can be avoided through effective negotiations. What cannot happen is for the owner to keep sitting on valuable property and the city to have its hands tied so that effective negotiations are not possible.  Let's move the dial in a positive manner.
  • Do not allow single family homes to be built on this property.  It would be a long-term economic short sightedness.
  • Do move the dial so effective re-negotiation while difficult becomes possible.
With sincere thanks for your hard work and consideration as you make difficult, consequential long-term decisions for our city.  This is an extremely important one.  PS:  I don't live in SE Cape Coral, but as a long-term resident, I appreciate the economic and quality of life value of SE Cape Coral for our entire community's quality of life and economic viability. 

Carolyn

Carolyn Conant-Adair
2616 SW 51st Street
Cape Coral, FL. 33914

Monday, February 13, 2017

Access to old golf course prohibited Cape Coral Daily Breeze

No trespassing signs posted on private property

February 10, 2017
By Tiffany Repecki   trepecki@breezenewspapers.com

Monday Update

Thanks to all of you who have been supporting our efforts.  Here is the first of our weekly email updates we will be sending out.
·       We desperately need volunteers for the following:
o   Staffing our tables at events like Farmer’s markets, Sunset Celebration, Bike Night, etc. We have all the materials you need including the petitions. Contact Anne Carney at brenanne95@aol.com. 
o   Planning and getting silent auction items for our March 11 Fundraiser at Fathom’s.  We are looking for individuals and business to donate items for the silent auction. Contact Mary Neilson at mary@maryneilson.com
o   Canvassing all the homes in the golf course area.  Again, we have the materials you need. Contact Anne Carney at brenanne95@aol.com. 
·       Sign our petition if you haven’t.  If you have, get two more people to sign.  Anyone in the Cape, whether full-time or part-time, owner or renter, can sign.  Available online at http://www.saveourrecreation.us/.
·       /Donations are needed to cover the cost of our consultants as they prepare for and participate in the hearing process.  Donate online at http://www.saveourrecreation.us/.  Simply click on “click to donate.”
·       Contact council members, mayor and city manager.  The single email to reach all of them has been removed.  For Bcc: Their email addresses are below for your convenience.  If you know them or see them in person, please let them know how you feel.

msawicki@capecoral.net,jburch@capecoral.net,jcarioscia@capecoral.net,mstout@capecoral.net,rleon@capecoral.net,rerbrick@capecoral.net,rwilliams@capecoral.net,jcosden@capecoral.net,jszerlag@capecoral.net

Cartoon by Cathy Cochrane


Monday, February 06, 2017

Letter to Mayor & Council by Carolyn Conant-Adair

Subject: Re: Golf Club & off-road trails

Dear Mayor, City Council, City Manager,

RE: Mr. Frueh' letter about the old Golf Club & actual economic benefits of city neighborhood bike & walking trails

Not allowing a change in land use for the old Golf Course makes economic sense if a park and bike and walking trails are added eventually, especially if Bimini Basin is eventually linked up via the canal to the old Golf Club:
  • In Indianapolis. the value of properties within a block of high-quality biking and walking trails has increased an astonishing 148%.
    • Property values in Uptown since 2006, climbed nearly 80%.
    • Residents and tourists are drawn to this lush greenery and commissioned art work along this trail.
  • In Dallas, restaurants and bars claimed a three fold increase in business since the first day of the new Katy Trail's open.
  • In Atlanta, the Beltline 26-mile loop of walking and biking trails noted that homes near the trail that used to stay on the market for 60 to 90 days now sell within 24 hours and people are willing to pay up to $5,000 extra for a home.
  • Vancouver noted an increase in property values thanks to a nearby bike trail.
  • In North Carolina, property values increased $5,000 or more along the small Shepard's Vineyard greenway in the town of Apex.
  • The uptick in property values and economic development are often attributed to the millennials who have a clear preference for places that provide a range of mobility and transit options, including biking and walking. Note millennials and Gen X are each larger populations than the Baby Boomer population. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/04/25/millennials-overtake-baby-boomers/ .
  • A federal Tiger grant was leveraged by private and philanthropic donations in Indianapolis and we can do the same here.
  • A relatively small investment in trails like Indy's Cultural Trail or the Beltline or Katy Trail in Atlanta and Dallas are smart economic bets that also attract the much larger population of millennials.
The value of holding firm on the land-use designation and eventually creating a park with bike and walking trails will provide a greater return on investment for the City.than allowing a rezoning to single or even mixed-use designation. This City is woefully short of park land even in the SE quadrant of the City.  

IF the Bimini Basin project can eventually be linked up with the old Golf Course via the canal along Country Club Blvd. the economic and quality of life benefits will be similar to the San Antonio Riverwalk https://www.thesanantonioriverwalk.com/ .

Hold tight. I was happy to see D.R. Horton create a small single-family gated community in my neighborhood in the SW at Sands Blvd. and Cape Coral Parkway, but don't lose this valuable large parcel of land in SE, the old Golf Club property. The economic and quality of life value of creating a destination will be so much higher for the City.

The City needs to eventually create a park on the Old Golf Club property linking up via the canal with Bimini Basin.  If it takes 20 years to accomplish that is still better than eliminating a needed piece of open space in SE Cape Coral! 


​Thank you for your thoughtful consideration and hard work on our behalf.​

Carolyn

Carolyn Conant-Adair
​Cape Coral Bike Ped​


Letter To The Editor by Anne Carney

Was this morning’s walk on the old Golf Club in the South Cape between Palm Tree and Country Club Boulevards my last?  Tomorrow, the billion dollar Minneapolis-based construction company, James Henry Ryan’s Ryan Companies and its subsidiary Gulf Venture, will post No Trespassing signs around the perimeter.  It is their right to do so.
I don’t like it.  I feel violated.  And as I walked, I thought about when I have purchased property it was always incumbent on me to know everything there was to know about what I was buying.  Surely, when Ryan purchased the Golf Club he knew that he was buying property that the City of Cape Coral had a long-standing Land Use designation of “parks and recreation.” 
But now Ryan wants to change that.  Despite the rhetoric on his website to partner with communities, this to me is like asking to change our Constitution.  The framers wrote that document to protect citizens of the United States just as years ago Cape Coral’s City Council designated how the land here is best used to benefit us citizens.  It’s the law.  And just like the Constitution, you don’t change it when it doesn’t suit you.  As I see it, the same is true for our Land Use in Cape Coral. 
Ryan has an opportunity to sell the Golf Club property to D.R. Horton, a developer who wants to build 500 track houses on one of the last green spaces in the South Cape, an area where, ironically, recent Parks Master Plan consultants advised the City Council that citizens in this area are underserved for parkland.  
There’s one thing standing in Ryan and Horton’s way, that bothersome designation that the land is to be used as “parks and recreation” for all the citizens of Cape Coral not just the buyers of 500 houses.
I’ve never been a “tree hugger,” but James Henry Ryan and Horton have turned me into one.  Who are they to come into my town and try to change an historic Land Use designation?  We’re open for business but not for invasion.  If you share my view, check out www.Save OurRecreation.us, a nonprofit organized to protect Cape Coral’s citizens.

No Trespass Memorandum

Please see the link near the top right of the website under 2017 Documents

February Event Calendar

Please see the link near the top right of the website under 2017 Documents

Saturday, February 04, 2017

FUNDRAISER March 11th 1:00-4:00 FATHOMS at Cape Harbour

Help preserve the 178 acres in the SE formerly The Golf Club

Donations for the auction needed.  Can be a service, event tickets, or an item.  Talk to the folks in your sphere of influence.  Think outside the box.

Contact Mary or Anne if you can help and to arrange pickup of your donations.

Mary: call or text 239-243-5989 email mary@maryneilson.com
Anne: call or text 708363-5413  email brenanne95@aol.com


When:  Saturday March 11th
Time:   1:00-4:00

Location:  Fathoms Restaurant & Bar
                 5785 Cape Harbour Dr
                 Cape Coral, FL  33914

VOLUNTEER!!!!!! We made it easy to Collect Petition Signatures

A copy of the petition is posted at the top right of this site.  Simply open the attachment and print.  Take it to work or take a walk around your neighborhood and collect signatures.

I would be happy to pick up or you can drop it off.

Call or text me....   239-243-5989

Email...   mary@maryneilson.com

URGENT! New email address for city council

The email address, council@capecoral.net will no longer be monitored or replied to by the city.  As per city request, please email our council, mayor and city manager directly.  For your convenience I have provided a list for you to copy and paste in order to Cc all members at once or you may find their individual addresses by using the link below.

msawicki@capecoral.net,jburch@capecoral.net,jcarioscia@capecoral.net,mstout@capecoral.net,rleon@capecoral.net,rerbrick@capecoral.net,rwilliams@capecoral.net,jcosden@capecoral.net,jszerlag@capecoral.net

Cape Coral Mayor & Council Emails