Lee County to recast Boca Grande Parking Committee

On Tuesday, Sept. 16, the Lee County Board of Commissioners voted to expand a newly created Boca Grande Parking Panel to 15 members, with each of the five commissioners in charge of nominating three island stakeholders each. 

Commissioner David Mulicka pulled a drafted consent agenda item for discussion at Tuesday’s meeting, asking that each commissioner be able to nominate their own choices for members of the panel. 

“I would like all five commissioners to each be able to nominate one of the committee members,” Mulicka said. “I’d like to have the at-large seats be considered to be dedicated one of the seats to the churches and one to the chamber, so that we have a diverse panel.”

A full discussion of the change, and comments regarding it, can be viewed in the county’s YouTube feed. Speakers included Robin Wilkins, Bette Bowen, Capt. Melanie Gannon and Bart DeStefano and Marco Meola of South Beach Bar & Grille. Also speaking was Gary Cross of the Boca Grande Chamber of Commerce.

While new parking rules passed on Aug. 5, they are not yet in effect until signage, parking passes and administrative code is implemented. An early draft released last week, and reported in the Beacon Sept. 12, had named a number of supporters of the ordinance to the panel.

A summary of what was updated from an initial draft was provided to the Beacon by the county communications office. The changes are:

• Changing the membership from 7 members to 15. Each commissioner gets three appointees. The list of initial members that was included in the draft will be replaced by the 15 individuals that will be appointed by the commissioners.
• Advertisements for the public meetings for the Committee must be published in the Fort Myers News-Press and the Boca Beacon. The draft provided that one or the other was acceptable.  
• The eligibility to serve on the committee was expanded to include individuals who work for companies doing business on the island or from the island (ie docks and boat ramps), employees or volunteers of not-for-profits, church members, as well as the individuals identified in the current draft.
• The draft was amended to include a requirement for a super majority vote (12 Members) of the entire membership of the Committee prior to approval of any recommendation or decision relating to parking regulations on Boca Grande or proposed amendments to the Parking Ordinance. The current draft would have only required a simple majority of the members to propose changes to the Ordinance or parking regulations.

At the meeting, Chairman Kevin Ruane also addressed his conversations with Charlotte County. The full video is below: