Lee County staff recommend approval for temporary Pine Island EMS station amid neighbor noise and access concerns

Amanda Rivera, the Lee County hearing examiner, heard arguments May 21 over a special-exception request to operate a temporary emergency medical services station at 5525 Avenue B in Pine Island Center.

Benjamin Abus, director of public safety, told the hearing the site would host Medic 10 with one ambulance and two crew members while a permanent station is designed and built. “This facility is a temporary EMS facility,” Abus said, adding that the operations would move to a new station on Stringfellow Road near the Winn Dixie once construction is finished.

Nikki Blipo, a senior planner with the county’s planning section, said staff reviewed zoning and plan consistency and recommended approval with two conditions: that the Local Development Order conform to the submitted site plan and that the EMS use not remain on the property after the lease ends. “Staff recommended approval with conditions,” Blipo said.

Why it matters: County officials said a centrally located EMS facility will better serve Pine Island residents. Abus said the design contract for the permanent station will go before the Board of County Commissioners on June 16, with an anticipated 12-month design phase and up to 18 months for construction; the temporary station would be vacated once operations transition to the new facility.

Neighbors raised two central concerns. Jay Johnson, who owns commercial property on Stringfellow Road, said he was not notified of the Feb. 3 community meeting and argued a residential lot on a dead-end street is not the best location for an ambulance base, warning that a blocked Avenue B could prevent an ambulance from exiting. “I feel there's a much better location for a temporary EMS station than in a residential neighborhood,” Johnson said.

Ron Horace, who lives across the street, said the crews have been “pretty good neighbors” but complained that a continuous backing alarm from the ambulance regularly sounds at night. “Every time they back their unit up, they've got that beep beep beep all hours of the night,” Horace said.

Abus responded that new ambulances are equipped with a safety backing alarm that cannot be silenced by a simple button, but that Lee County will work with Fleet and Captain Hansen to retrofit a control to reduce nighttime disturbance and will remind staff of practices to avoid using lights and sirens until reaching major thoroughfares when safe and permitted under Florida law. “Captain Hansen is gonna work with Fleet to get that button retrofitted onto the truck, and we'll get the message out to the staff,” Abus said.

Staff and the examiner also discussed operational impacts. Abus estimated Medic 10 runs about six to eight calls per day in peak season and fewer in off season, and said additional ambulances sometimes come to the island when demand is high. Blipo told the hearing that county DOT determined the requested use would not have a substantive impact on the road network, and that required buffers and parking would be demonstrated before a Local Development Order is issued.

Rivera said she may add a standard condition to require that warning devices not be engaged until ambulances reach an arterial roadway to provide extra protection to neighbors. The hearing record was then closed; Rivera said she would issue her decision in short order and notify those who appeared.

Next steps: The hearing record is closed and the hearing examiner will issue a written decision. The county expects the board to consider the design contract for the permanent EMS station on June 16; the lease currently in place was approved by the Board of County Commissioners on May 20, 2025.