Troy Killian, a 43-year-old home repairer from Lorain, Ohio, reluctantly makes his way to the Suncoast Community Center after a long day of blistering work.
As beads of dirt-tinted sweat drip down his weary countenance, he waits patiently for the line to inch closer to the tiny glass window on the front wall of the building. There, a food pantry awaits him and his neighbors orchestrated by the Suncoast Neighborhood Task Force Inc., a nonprofit organization that operates the community center.
Killian says he doesn’t let much get to him, doing whatever he needs to do to get through his day. However, he says this is a challenge when confronted with setbacks, one of which occurred a week prior to making his way to the task force’s food pantry.
Killian says he was robbed of about $800 worth of tools, which he depends on for a stable income through home repair jobs. He says he can’t help but “feel violated,” forcing him to stand in line for food he previously had the capacity to buy.
“Normally, I don’t do this (rely on the food pantry),” Killian said. “I don’t need it most of the time. This time, I do.”
Killian says he has lived in Suncoast Estates for roughly 30 years, mentioning that his aunts and uncles have lived there since its inception.
Past maps provided by the U.S. Geological Survey show the development of the census-
designated place (CDP) in North Fort Myers, starting around 1958. Since then, a growing number of residents say they have felt Suncoast Estates has “been forgotten,” citing a lack of its representation within Lee County politics.
“As I’ve gotten older, it’s gotten worse,” Killian said. “It’s gotten to where it’s not a decent community, I think, anymore.”
Killian says he agrees this is due to his community not being noticed as much in Lee County politics as he thinks they should be, adding, “it could be a lot better.” He says now that, as a result, they deal with increased levels of crime as well as other problems.
The Lee County Sheriff’s Office’s 2021 annual report shows a 5.4% decrease in the crime rate for all of unincorporated Lee County. While Suncoast Estates is located within unincorporated Lee County, the report and the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer (CDE) provide no data depicting crime statistics within the community itself.
Killian says he is not the only resident who feels violated and underrepresented living in Suncoast Estates.
A Lee County Sheriff’s Office unit making its rounds in Suncoast Estates. The photo was taken parallel to Laurel Lane.
Scott Hartman, a 73-year-old retired hot rod-builder from Pottstown, Pa., has lived in Suncoast Estates since 2003. He says he’s been burglarized as well and considers crime as one of the main issues in Suncoast Estates.
“I felt violated,” Hartman said. “A man’s home is his castle.”
Hartman says someone broke into his garage three times and stole equipment and “automobile memorabilia” from his time building hot rods. He says when he was burglarized, the Lee County Sheriff’s Department arrived on scene long after he had made the calls.
“The response times for me, when I had my burglaries, were half an hour to 45 minutes,” Hartman said. “And you know if you see trespassers in the middle of the night, why, it takes them (law enforcement) a while to get here.”
Hartman says he believes the absence of a Lee County Sheriff’s precinct or community outreach center in the neighborhood allows these issues to persist. The nearest sheriff’s office is the 1st Precinct, about 5 miles southwest of Suncoast Estates on Pondella Road.
Hartman says it gets even more difficult and frustrating when you’re searching for trespassers in complete darkness.
“The criminals run here to hide in the dark,” Hartman said. “I mean, it is pitch black. You have no idea unless you walk down Hart Drive or Ebson Road at night and there isn’t a light to be had.”
Hart Drive is one of two main roads that connect the community to the rest of Southwest Florida via Bayshore Road. Hartman says for that reason alone, it should have streetlights.
Hartman says another central problem impacting Suncoast Estates’ residents, compounded by the lack of street lighting, is the lack of sidewalks, which would allow for safe pedestrian travel.
“Most places the size of this have some kind of lighting,” Hartman said. “And sidewalks for the children to walk on and pedestrians to walk on. Now, they’re walking in the middle of the street and you gotta be careful you don’t hit somebody by accident.”
Suncoast Estates has a total area of approximately 2.7 square miles. According to the community’s 2020 census undertaken by the U.S. Census Bureau, the total population topped off just below 4,100 residents. This is a decrease of nearly 300 residents (nearly 6.8%) compared with the community’s 2010 census.
Cari Erown, a 53-year-old Miami native and self-employed scrapper, has lived in Suncoast Estates since 1984. She says she has seen some of these accidents as a result of the lack of street lighting and sidewalks, referencing “a joke” she heard, “If you haven’t almost gotten hit, you’re not from Suncoast.”
“There’s been quite a few fatalities, small kids too,” Erown said. “One little girl was very popular in the community. She was, like, 13, and it was devastating.”
Erown is referencing 14-year-old Allana Staiano, who was killed in a hit-and-run accident while walking home on McDaniel Drive, a street in Suncoast Estates, at around 7 p.m. on Jan. 11, 2020. Courtney Gainey, 22, received a 30-year sentence after she turned herself in to authorities two days following the accident.
To prevent more tragedies like Staiano’s from occurring in their neighborhood, Hartman is taking proactive measures by gathering signatures for a petition he drafted advocating for the installation of sidewalks and street lighting. Similar calls for such lighting and sidewalk improvements have been made numerous times over the years.
“I’d like to get more signatures,” Hartman said. “We have probably over 350 signatures already and my goal was shooting for about 500 to 600.”
After acquiring the signatures, he plans on presenting the petition to the Lee County Commission for approval.
Hartman says information about the petition can be found on the “Sun coasters united” Facebook group.
Marleas Rodgers, a 67-year-old Gainesville native, supports the petition after living in Suncoast Estates for about 14 years. She says Hartman is just trying to help shed some light on their neighborhood’s dark situation.
“It’s really dark at night and there’s a lot of people that walk out here… and ride bicycles after dark,” Rodgers said. “I mean, it’s so dark out here you can’t see anything.”
After multiple requests for comment regarding this issue and the petition, Charles Garrettson, the director for the Suncoast Community Center, gave no reply.
Betsy Clayton, Lee County’s communications director, says the County Commission wants residents of Suncoast Estates to know they are actively working to combat these problems.
“Lee County Human and Veteran Services (HVS) works with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office to improve community policing in neighborhoods like Suncoast Estates,” Clayton said.
According to an agreement between the two entities in 2019, the collaboration is meant to improve communication between law enforcement and residents of unincorporated Lee County neighborhoods. These collaborations also aim to reduce the overall number of crime-related incidents in neighborhoods like Suncoast Estates.
Clayton also mentioned how, through the Partnering for Results Program, the county funds 35 local nonprofit organizations, including Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida.
However, even with this support, residents like Killian, Hartman, Erown and Rodgers say they believe more should be done to keep what’s left of their tightly knit community from frogging any further.
“This issue isn’t about me, it’s about the people here in Suncoast, trying to get a little bit of a quality-of-life upgrade for the health, safety, and welfare,” Hartman said. “I mean, we’re voters and taxpayers. It’s a low-income community, but so what? We’re still human beings we’re still members of the social community and I just think it’s very unfair.”
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