BY BRAIN HAMMAN,
LEE COUNTY COMMISSIONER, DISTRICT 4
L
ee County continues to rank among the
nation’s job growth leaders, yet several
communities including North Fort Myers, the
MLK commercial corridor, and Lehigh Acres
have lagged behind the ongoing economic
recovery. The Horizon Council and the Lee County Economic
Development Office formed the Commercial Revitalization
Task Force with business and civic leaders to proactively
stimulate development, promote investment, attract
businesses, and encourage higher wage jobs in those areas.
The initiative, called “DevelopLee,” promotes the many
opportunities that exist in these areas and initially focuses
on promoting development and job creation.
In the November/December issue of Connect Magazine,
we began a series about redevelopment plans for parts
of Lee County. Lee County Commission has approved
a program to jump-start that redevelopment. This is
part two of that series.
website (www.developlee.com) where available properties,
demographics, and other information on North Fort
Myers, MLK Corridor, and Lehigh Acres can be accessed.
DevelopLee can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, and
LinkedIn.
“This initiative gives us an avenue to market the opportunities
that exist in North Fort Myers, MLK Corridor, and Lehigh
Acres on the web and social media platforms,” said Dan
Eveloff, Commercial Revitalization Task Force Chair.
Another exciting new change that is being marketed through
the DevelopLee initiative is the Mixed Use Overlay. It is a
designation of areas in Lee County appropriate for more
dense and intense development. These designated areas
are in close proximity to public transit routes, education
facilities, recreation opportunities; and existing residential,
shopping, and employment centers.
“Lee County’s Economic Development Office has done a
tremendous job identifying existing valuable resources in
North Fort Myers, Lehigh, and Fort Myers, and it will be
great to see that information shared through DevelopLee,”
said Lee County Commissioner Brian Hamman. “These areas
have incredible potential, and through this initiative we can For more information about these regulatory incentives,
hopefully highlight opportunities for people to come in and please visit www.muo.developlee.com or to learn more
start a business, or grow an existing one.”
about DevelopLee please contact Rachel Busch, Lee County
Economic Development Office, [email protected].
To support the initiative, the Lee County Economic
Development Office has built out the “DevelopLee”
18 RPCRA.ORG | JAN/FEB 2018