Toll Brothers’ new plans for a townhouse community along Corkscrew Road is one of the six projects Estero’s planning board will get a look at during a busy meeting Sept. 10.
The national builder asked for more time after the Estero Planning, Zoning and Design Board gave its plans for the 171-until Estero Townhomes community a thumbs down in July.
The planning agency also will vote on giving development orders to High 5 Entertainment, a small retail center on Ben Hill Griffin Parkway, a day care on Corkscrew Road and host a public information meeting for a new building on Tamiami Trail. Receiving the development order is one of the approvals needed before a project can go forward.
The meeting begins at 4:30 p.m. in Village Council chambers.
Planning board member Jim Wallace slammed the Estero Townhomes project at the July meeting, saying he was expecting something more imaginative from Toll Brothers. He said the architecture looked like subsidized housing.
Toll Brothers made several changes to the plans, including decreasing the number of townhomes from 171 to 154, allowing for additional green space, open space and improved landscaping.
The new design moves the lake area with fountains and some green space to the middle of the development from the northwest side, made the roadway network more curvilinear, removed a deviation relating to driveway length and eliminating nine and eight-unit buildings along Corkscrew Road.
Toll Brothers also increased the wall size from 6 feet to 8 feet along the north end abutting the Estates on Estero River.
The planning board staff is recommending approval.
High 5, like the Toll Brothers project, received less than sparkling reviews during an April planning board meeting. The Texas-based company will have pickleball courts, bowling lanes, duckpin bowling, miniature golf, axe throwing, an arcade and a restaurant and bar.
Wallace said the design was too bland and the building design needed to be more iconic.
“I love what the Council is trying to do. With that said, what I’m looking at here, I find looks like a storage facility or distribution warehouse,” Wallace said.
Board members expressed that if this project was going to be dubbed Village Center, it needs to be iconic. High 5 came back with a new design in June.
The other projects at the Sept. 10 meeting:
The developer of the Shoppes at University Highlands II is seeking its development order. Plans call for two 7,800-square-foot retail buildings on the west side of Ben Hill Griffin Parkway south of the Tidewater community. The planning staff is recommending approval with the stipulation of how late alcohol can be sold at any restaurants in the centers.
Celebree School is requesting a zoning change from retail to day care. The day care will take over the Goodwill location on Corkscrew Road when Goodwill moves to its new building.
Most of the changes to the building will be inside, but the school will build a playground where the loading area is now.
A public information meeting where Henning RMS will unveil plans to seek rezoning so it can tear down two buildings on its property to build a 16,000-square-foot office for Henning RMS Design.
