Local Planning Agency Purpose of the LPA The Local Planning Agency is a volunteer advisory board appointed by the Town Council to advise the Council on all planning and zoning matters. The LPA makes formal recommendations to the Town Council on every zoning case, including variances and rezonings. In that capacity, LPA members sit as a quasi-judicial body, hearing cases as complex as requests for Commercial Planned Development zoning. During the first three years of its existence, the LPA created the Town's first Comprehensive Plan, which outlines the future vision of the growth in the Town. All requests to amend that plan are also first heard by the LPA; last year the LPA considered three amendments to the Comprehensive Plan. A major undertaking which the LPA will complete in the upcoming year is finalizing the new Land Development Code (LDC), which will contain the rules and regulations to implement the Comprehensive Plan. It will also contain an entirely new zoning map for all property in the town. In the future the LPA will be formally evaluating the successes and deficiencies of the Comprehensive Plan, and then proposing revisions to it. This evaluation will take place simultaneously with a similar evaluation of the Lee Plan by the Lee County Local Planning Agency. The LPA Historic Advisory Board meets every month to discuss the preservation of historic resources, and will be developing a historic narrative which may help to capture the past development of Estero Island. The LPA meets twice a month on the second and third Tuesdays, usually at noon, and the LPA Historic Advisory Board meets once a month on the last Tuesday. The public is welcome to attend meetings. Membership Jessica Titus Hank Zuba Jodi Hester Harold Huber Anita Cereceda Jane Plummer Betty Simpson Bob Raymond Robert Simon History The Local Planning Agency (LPA) was created by the Town Council at its meeting of March 21, 1996. Seven members and two alternates were elected by the Council members. Johanna Campbell and Betty Simpson were elected to three-year terms; Lena Heyman, Dan Hughes and Roxie Smith to two-year terms; John Mulholland and Bill Van Duzer to one-year terms; and Linda Beasley and Ron Kidder were elected as alternates. The LPA held its first meeting on April 9, 1996. At a meeting of the Town Council on September 30,1996, the alternates were given status as regular members with voting rights. On January 21, 1997, the Town Council reappointed John Mulholland and Bill Van Duzer to three-year terms. Marsha Segal-George, Town Manager, is acting as legal counsel for the Agency. After reviewing proposals from several planning consultants to manage the preparation of a Comprehensive Plan , the Town Council at its meeting of October 21, 1996 , following the LPA's recommendation, approved the contract with Spikowski Planning Associates of Fort Myers to coordinate and develop the Comprehensive Plan for the Town of Fort Myers Beach. On January 31st and February 2nd, 1997, the LPA hosted a Community Design Workshop, "Designing Our Town", addressing community design, critical land use issues and seeking input on a vision for the Town. On the first evening, a progressive dinner and trolley tour of the town were followed by a slide presentation on planning for our next generation of buildings and public spaces. The next day in a "hand-on" community design workshop, small groups of citizens and urban design professionals developed and presented their vision of what the future of Fort Myers Beach can be. In addition to looking at the town as a whole, three specific areas were selected by the LPA for particular attention: Estero Boulevard from Pearl Street to the Red Coconut; the older neighborhoods from Crescent Street to Bay Oaks; and the commercial area around the Villa Santini. On March 22, 1997, a second Community Workshop was conducted building on ideas from the first workshop, as well as, focusing on coastal/conservation issues and accessory apartments. Both community workshops were organized by Spikowski Associates and Dover Kohl & Partners. Spikowski Planning Associates maintains a Internet Web Page with a Fort Myers Beach area which inludes documents on work currently underway on the Comprehensive Plan.