Floodwater challenges and tentative park plans: Residents get update on the old golf course site
Trending
Cape_Coral_Golf_Course_Concept_Presentation_4.8.26
Residents following plans to turn the old golf course acreage into a park learned Wednesday that concepts are on hold while Kimley Horn conducts more stormwater analysis.
While residents who packed the Cape Coral City Council Chambers turned out to see tentative concept plans, the presentation focused more on challenges related to potential flooding and how that potential could be mitigated.
"We will be collaborating with them and integrating their work in our design and coming back in the fall with the final concept," said Rachel Cotter, a landscape architect with Weston & Sampson, during the second public meeting the city has scheduled.
The work is being done parallel with the stormwater analysis, residents were told.
"At the beginning we did a lot of data collection to understand the existing condition and surrounding neighborhood," said Kellie Clark, professional engineer with Kimley Horn.
The analysis is being done to understand what happens when rain falls -- where it goes, how it is connected, and what alternatives could be incorporated to improve the flood conditions.
"We took that information and put it into a model and that is our existing condition analysis," Clark said.
From there, she said she can simulate rain falling as a science-based analysis to understand the best solution.
"What we are beginning to work on is alternative analysis - three different stormwater scenarios to maximize the benefit to the community. When we get those results we compare the cost versus benefits gained," she said.
Clark said they will look at the options to see what makes sense financially. They will look at funding opportunities for those projects to move forward as well.
The study may expose that more storage may be needed on the site while still considering the recreation elements desired.
"Their layout has been pushed back, so our data can be used to help inform that final what they are doing moving forward," Clark said.
Parks and Recreation Director Joe Petrella said he loved the turnout.
He said he also enjoyed both tentative concept plans, which are a result of public input from both an online survey and public forum.
"These are conceptual designs to get us to one design to meet the public need," Petrella said. "Right now, we are talking about amenities and if we are on the right track with the public."
Tentative concept plans
Cotter presented two designs for the 175-acre property, which she said is land equivalent of 130 football fields. From the tip to tip the property is more than a mile long, so they had to be mindful of all ability levels and distances of walking.
The two concepts -- anchor, and drift -- both include elements that incorporate public feedback.
The anchor concept is organized around a central core of activity where visitors will be able to experience a community and nature center, small amphitheater, and event space. The actual size has not been determined yet.
The concept also includes an open lawn area for unprogrammed play, centralized parking area, play areas with playground spaces, comfort stations with shade, restroom facilities and potable water, and a system of multiuse paths that would be accessible for many different purposes and uses.
"There are almost five miles of trails," she said.
The drift concept has program elements dotted throughout the site with light touch roads with few vehicular access points to get people to the far reaches of the site easily. This concept also includes a golf experience, some sort of community center, play area, nature center, event and gathering space, and dog park. This concept also included 5 miles of trails.
The concepts were developed from seven guiding principles -- safe public access, flood relief, water quality, constructed ecology, thoughtful land use, consideration of existing wildlife and develop standards around 10% impervious surface.
"In both of these concepts, we do honor all those guiding principles. Both concepts really focus on the natural environment, ecology, and stormwater principals," Cotter said. "Both of these are subject to change based on results of the stormwater study. These are very preliminary results."
Cotter said the process began in October with information gathering and site visits, so they not only understood the local context and physical site, but also the adjacent land uses.
"We take community engagement into consideration and priorities of the public, site restraints and opportunities, what it can bear and what resources the city has available and policy and regulations here locally," she said.
Clark shared more information about the stormwater opportunities, as well as increasing water quality on site with nature-based systems. She said an existing condition model allows them to look into the future, with current onsite information.
A large, and small stormwater event can be simulated, as well as canal conditions, surges, and tidal influences during high tide.
"We look at alternatives and how beneficial those improvements are during various conditions," Clark said.
They took an actual storm that occurred, as they had data and photos associated with Hurricane Debby, which occurred in 2024. The amount of rainfall was about 5.71 inches and the peak tide was 2.47 feet.
Also conducted were a 5-year storm and 100-year storm simulations.
These were used, Clark said, so they could plan for and get ahead of the flooding in terms of mitigation.
"This is more for us for planning purposes to look at the peak so we can plan for it," Clark said.
Richard Kampf, who attended the meeting, and lives close to the golf course, said the problem that he saw was the stormwater issue came out of what he thought was nowhere.
"The project is going to be delayed until the stormwater contractor does their work. Their work consists of, in my opinion, at looking at the overall 175 acres of capacity for maintaining the 100-year flood," he said.
Kampf said if they are looking to use the stormwater model as a basis for the design of what the citizens want, he does not believe there will be much room left to put anything there.
"Our citizens are being led to believe we are going to get all these amenities for a golf course - boardwalks, picnic areas, amphitheaters, restrooms, dog park - all the while that may never happen," he said.
Another issue Kampf had revolved around how is the project was going to be funded. He said he asked how the "real nuts and bolts of how the project is going to be built" will be funded and was told it would be determined by future council members.
"The city council members who are not in place right now are the ones that are going to decide what happens to the golf course. That's just not right," he said. "The parks and recreation director has done a nice job in including us with the plans for the design. I don't think it will come to fruition, especially if the stormwater study will leave no space available for any type of use that would benefit the citizens."
Kampf said he hopes to see honesty from the city's administration and have what the citizens want included, while having the money to pay for it.
It was reiterated at the end of the meeting that feedback was welcome from the community, which will be available for submission on the city's parks and recreation page at capecoral.gov.