The Residences at the Brooks took another step toward approval Tuesday night — not without some complaint — when the Estero Planning Zoning and Design Board approved the 154-unit apartment complex.
The apartments were the first of two projects the planning board moved forward. It also approved a development order for Via Coconut, a mixed-use project with 330 multi-family units and 29,000 square feet of commercial space, including a possible church.
The Residences at the Brooks will be at the northwest corner of Three Oaks Parkway and Coconut Road in the shopping center that housed the Winn Dixie grocery store. The former grocery store will be demolished and the apartments will extend across the parking lot.
The Village and Long Bay Partners LLC, Top-CR Associates LLC and PAC Estero Apartments ended their three-year legal battle last week. The developer sued the Village in June 2020 over how the developer would get final plan approval.
The Village has no control of what can be built on the site. Lee County approved the zoning in 1997 before Estero became a village. Apartments, up to four stories, was one of the uses allowed.
The developer agreed to several requests from the Village to include concrete block construction, improve the landscaping, repaint the rest of the shopping center, and add a wall along Three Oaks and Coconut.
The planning board on Tuesday agreed to the developer’s request to lower the number of parking spots from 437 to 416, despite complaints from Tammy Rose, the owner of A Cut Above barbering service. She said her business dropped by 20 percent between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. because it’s difficult to find a parking space in the center.
Others who spoke during the public comment complained the project would increase traffic on already crowded roads and about the apartments rising to four stories.
Planning board member James Tatooles thought the four stories was too high.
“I see it totally inconsistent with the 20-plus year-old Brooks,” he said. “It’s an egregious violation of the comprehensive plan.”
More on the projects
Final approval plan for Residences at The Brooks
Plans in works for entertainment center off Via Coconut in Estero
Mary Gibbs, community development director, said the Village was constrained on the issue because the four stories were allowed under the zoning of the project in 1997.
The final approval passed six to one, with Anthony Gargano dissenting.
The developer is expected to apply for a development order by the fall.
The board unanimously approved the development order for Via Coconut. The only discussion was about a Village stipulation requiring the developer to make improvements to “maintain water elevations the same or lower than is existing for the 5-year, 25-year, and 100-year storms” in areas impacted by the project’s redirection of water flows.
The site plan shows seven buildings. The 330 apartments will be three and four stories. The commercial buildings will include a restaurant.
One entrance to Via Coconut fronts Corkscrew where there will be a park. Via Coconut Point sits to the east and the railroad tracks to the west.
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