Lee County Master Mitigation Plan and the Island Park Regional Mitigation Site at Estero Marsh Preserve

• Lee County Master Mitigation Plan

• Island Park Regional Mitigation Site at Estero Marsh Preserve (Master Mitigation Plan's First Project)

Lee County Master Mitigation Plan

The Mitigation Plan is designed to compensate for the environmental impacts of infrastructure projects in an environmentally and economically sound manner. Between the years 2000 and 2020, the growth rate of Lee County is projected to be more than 35%. The addition of over 200,000 permanent residents to the community will necessitate the construction of new and expanded roadways, utilities, stormwater management facilities and other public works projects.

While all public works projects are designed to avoid negative impacts to natural resources, there are times when impacts cannot be avoided. Such impacts, even when minimized, must be mitigated for, and such mitigation cannot always effectively occur on the site of the project. Lee County is proposing the Mitigation Plan to provide consistency and a cumulative accountability for the primary and secondary impacts of its public works program. In addition, the County proposes to pursue restoration and preservation opportunities for water pollution, fire hazards, wildlife and natural habitats as mitigation requirements are addressed through synergistic planning, budgeting and operational efforts.

 A team of representatives of public and private entities developed the Mitigation Plan in 2003 and 2004. Members of the team identified private and publicly owned parcels that could be candidate projects for preservation, restoration, or mitigation activities. These parcels were assessed in a preliminary manner and deemed potentially suitable for such activities. A map series has been created to facilitate the initiation of more detailed analysis. The Mitigation Plan is not intended to provide an in-depth analysis of potential projects. The maps will serve as a starting point for efforts to select appropriate preservation, restoration, or mitigation sites.

The Mitigation Plan envisions modest modifications to Lee County’s Capital Improvements Program (CIP). While capital projects are now identified in the five-year CIP, the Mitigation Plan calls for including a quantification of impacts that will result from each capital project, a listing of mitigation projects that provide the remedy for these impacts, and funding estimates and identification of sources for mitigation. A Capital Improvement Mitigation Plan would capture this information and serve as an addendum to the overall CIP.

Implementation of the Mitigation Plan will be facilitated through the County’s Annual Work Plan. It will draw from the CIP the forthcoming year’s capital needs and identify and fund the parallel mitigation. It will also include the County’s restoration and mitigation targets so that opportunities for synergistic efforts can be identified and included. Successful implementation of the Mitigation Plan will depend on several key elements:

• its adoption as a supporting document to the Lee County Comprehensive Plan

• the partnership of regulatory agencies, and

• a process that ensures ongoing review and updating so that it reflects changes that occur in the restoration and protection priorities of the County, as well as changes to the land and water resources within Lee County.

The Mitigation Plan will allow Lee County to more effectively accommodate the
growth that is occurring and ensure the restoration and protection of the important natural resources that provide the framework for our economy and quality of life.

Click Here to view the Master Mitigation Plan

Island Park Regional Mitigation Site At Estero Marsh Preserve (adapted from the article, Partnership between agencies and the public produces better results" - Harbor Happening, Volume II, Issue 1: 2007)

In February 2006, the Lee County Board of County Commissioners reached a significant milestone when the first project in a cooperatively developed Natural Resources Preservation/Master Mitigation Plan was completed. The Island Park Regional Mitigation Site at Estero Marsh Preserve is the first Lee County Department of Transportation mitigation project on a Conservation 20/20 preserve. Mitigation was required for the unavoidable impacts associated with the expansion of the Three Oaks Parkway Extension South. From the beginning of the process, the Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council, serving as the facilitator, brought all the key agencies and organizations to the table to discuss and plan this major environmental project.The Natural Resources Preservation/Master Mitigation Plan is the product of the Lee
County Board of County Commissioners, Lee County Conservation Land Acquisition and Stewardship Advisory Committee, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, South Florida Water Management District and the Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council, including the Estero Bay Agency on Bay Management. These agencies worked cooperatively since 2002 to establish a plan to efficiently restore wetlands on county-owned and environmentally sensitive Conservation 20/20 land. Conservation 20/20 lands are acquired by Lee County using property taxes approved by county residents in 1997 to preserve biodiversity while conserving and enhancing water resources. The agencies also worked to proactively address potential cumulative impacts to the county’s natural resources, including water supply, water quality and wildlife habitat, due to existing and future private development and public works. This proactive and comprehensive approach results in meaningful environmental mitigation in exchange for impacts to lower quality wetlands and wildlife habitat.

Lisa Beever, Director of the Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program surveys the recent work at the Island Park Mitigation Site

The Lee County Commissioners endorsed the plan in May 2005, allowing mitigation of public sector projects by improving habitat, water quality and hydrology on Conservation 20/20 parcels. This 80-acre project is on the 243-acre Estero Marsh Preserve in Lee County. Exotic vegetation has been removed and replaced by more than 2,000 trees and shrubs such as pines, cypress, buttonwood and wax myrtle and more than 12,000 herbaceous plants such as pickerelweed, bulrush and cordgrass. An additional 130,000 herbaceous plants will be planted during the rainy season.

A rather raw looking Island Park mitigation site. New wetlands being created. Note the line of solid Melaluca trees in the background. The mitigation effort has removed all the melaluca from the site and is working to re-establish water flows, wetlands and native wetland habitat species.

The remainder of the preserve will be restored and enhanced in the next phase. Florida Power & Light granted a right-of-way consent agreement to allow culverts to be installed under the power line easement. This is a meaningful water quality improvement because reestablishing historic water flows and the creation of the filter marsh provide additional water quality treatment prior to discharge into Hendry Creek and Estero Bay, both Outstanding Florida Waters. For additional information on the plan and project, visit www.CHNEP.org, click on Harbor Happenings.

Estero Marsh Preserve, Island Park Mitigation Project - Lee County Cathy Olson and Betsie Hiatt are with Lee County. July 31, 2007 

Articles

• Road dollars restore 80 acres of preserved land -The partnership that went into purchasing, restoring and preserving the land is the first of its kind and could represent the future of environmental preservation and road mitigation
  In the Bonitanews.com, By Julio Ochoa (Contact), Thursday, February 15, 2007
• Public Works at Work, Lee County DOT publication about Island Park Mitigation Site