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Fort Myers staff and consultant outline comprehensive‑plan update process, public survey results and timelines
Summary
City staff and consultant Calvin Giordano reported draft recommendations for the comprehensive plan update, preliminary survey responses (491 general, 166 youth) showing jobs, housing and transportation as top concerns, and a transmittal timeline that could go to the state in spring with final adoption targeted for summer.
City staff and the consultant working on Fort Myers’ comprehensive plan update presented a status report on the city's 14‑element plan and the public engagement process.
Steve Velling, the city’s community development director, told council staff are working through future land use and other elements and will return to council with a 0.1 draft and one‑on‑one followups to confirm priorities. He emphasized a mix of aspirational policies and action‑oriented regulations and said staff will translate policy priorities into the land‑development code as appropriate.
Consultant Luis Serna of Calvin Giordano reported preliminary public‑engagement numbers: 491 responses to the main survey and 166 responses to a youth survey targeted in partnership with local colleges and youth organizations. "No surprise... jobs and affordability are huge factors and, younger people deciding where they want to live," Serna said, noting housing and transportation ranked highly in responses.
Staff outlined timing that would allow a transmittal to the state for review in April or May and potential final adoption in the summer, subject to state review processes. City legal staff and the consultant also flagged Senate Bill 180 (referenced in the meeting) as an ongoing constraint: the statute, currently codified in state law, imposes time and scope limits on local comprehensive‑plan actions after hurricanes and has ongoing litigation and proposed legislative fixes that could affect the city’s schedule and discretion.
Councilmembers asked for the raw survey responses, a look at future‑land‑use map implications (noting concerns along Cleveland Avenue, Colonial and US‑41 corridors), and assurance that the CRA’s redevelopment plan will align with the comp‑plan policies. Staff committed to distributing survey responses to councilmembers and to meeting individually with council to refine priorities before drafting transmittal documents.
