The focus of the Greater Pine Island Civic Association\u2019s January general meeting was an update from the zoning committee on pending projects, as well as an invitation to the general public attending the meeting about topics that could possibly be discussed in the future.<\/p>\n
GPICA board president Chris Blum Began by inviting members to share these ideas with the group.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re gonna throw some ideas around of maybe what we want to see in 2026 \u2014 who do we want to see? Who do we want to hear from? If we can think about that, before we get to that and have some ideas to share,\u201d Blum said.<\/p>\n
GPICA board secretary Steve Eldredge shared with members that he last shared a Pine Island\/Matlacha development and zoning update in November 2025. Since that meeting, he said, a few people came forward to help him do the research, which he admits is a great deal of work. With the help of others, the team was able to get to the bottom of many projects, that may have been overlooked or miscalculated otherwise. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is an update, it\u2019s a work in progress, I\u2019m sure a year from now we\u2019re gonna be able to say, \u2018hey, we\u2019re even better at this,\u2019 but the truth is, at this stage of the game we\u2019ve made good progress in the past couple of months,\u201d Eldredge said.<\/p>\n
He gave an overview on the Orchid Cove Multi-Family project currently undergoing the construction of 94 low-rise dwellings in 13 six-unit commercial buildings and four four-unit commercial buildings.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a long time since anyone knew anything about that, so I just put that in there in November to kind of bring everybody up to speed,\u201d Eldredge said.<\/p>\n
The next update was on Bokeelia Pointe, formerly known as Bokeelia Harbor Resort. A new Development Order (DO) was issued for this property in 2024, he said. This project includes single phase construction of infrastructure to support a 48-unit mobile home park with direct access to Main Street. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis development order came in 2024\u2026at this stage of the game it\u2019s just trying to keep everybody kind of up to speed in terms of what\u2019s going on because there\u2019s no opposition that can be developed,\u201d Eldredge said.<\/p>\n
He then updated members on Atlas Lakes in St. James City, which he said is 111 single-family lots, which is part of Terra Nova Land Development. This venture, he said, is coming soon. It\u2019s important to keep an eye on the project as it moves forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t even know who the developer was until the other day\u2026now we have a name and a face, in theory,\u201d Eldredge said.<\/p>\n
Pine Island Open Storage, located at 5361 Pine Island Road, in Bokeelia, has been approved for the single phase construction of infrastructure to support an 80,000-square-foot outdoor storage use for boats and RVs with direct access to Pine Island Road.<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing is really going on there, except a development order has been issued,\u201d Eldredge said.<\/p>\n
Terra Blue Aquaculture Farms, located at 10289 Stringfellow Road in St. James City, has been approved and is constructing effluent management ponds. This is a U.S.-based company that designs and builds land-based sustainable fish farms. The company focuses on sustainable fish farming. This project has been an active venture since, at least, early 2020.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese people have plans for what looks like 11 ponds\u2026I followed the trail for about two weeks trying to get them to come out and just talk to us and tell us what they\u2019re doing\u2026They\u2019ve got a consultant on staff here in Fort Myers and I talked to him and said we\u2019d like them to come out and speak. I think they\u2019re from Madison, Wisconsin, if I\u2019m not mistaken and that\u2019s the last I heard,\u201d Eldredge said.<\/p>\n
Other items included Pine Island Fire Department Station #2 in St. James City; Way Assembly of God, located at 5990 Cubles Drive, Bokeelia; and the Upper Captive Carriage Club, located at 9101 Stringfellow Road, St. James City<\/p>\n
\u201d I can\u2019t quite figure it out. It looks like everything has been agreed to between the hearing examiner and the people that want to do it \u2014 the Wainwrights but the hearing examiner still hasn\u2019t issued the final okee-dokee,\u201d Eldredge said.<\/p>\n
Another topic was the Bokeelia Tower located at 7645 Barrancas Avenue in Bokeelia. A public hearing has been scheduled for this project on March 11, 2026 at 9 a.m. <\/p>\n
\u201cI will have quite a few people out there,\u201d Eldredge said, regarding the public hearing.<\/p>\n
Blum circled back to her invitation at the beginning of the meeting, asking if anyone had an idea for future speakers at the GPICA meetings. She shared that Parks and Recreation is scheduled for the February general meeting <\/p>\n
To watch and or listen to this meeting in its entirety, visit the GPICA Facebook page <\/p>\n
The next GPICA general monthly meeting will be at First Baptist Church 5363 Avenue D, Bokeelia, Tuesday, Feb. 3, at 6:30 p.m.<\/p>\n