That area would be called the Entertainment District in Big John’s Plaza, Lafayette, Market Square, Club Square and near the main road, appropriately called The Parkway.
It’s a resurgence of the traditional downtown, different from strip malls and big box store layouts. It’s meant to be quaint, mom and pop and unique, where business owners see customers walk up and down the street and interact alongside each other. Most importantly, it’s meant to encourage people to go for a stroll instead of driving from one location to another.
These plans are laid out in the land development regulations given to the city’s attorney office on Wednesday by the Cape Coral Community Redevelopment Agency.
“The vision plan is what we (Cape Coral) want to be when we grow up,” said John Jacobsen, the agency’s executive director. “Cape Coral needs to be authentic…creating walkable urban destinations is the wave of the future, what people are yearning for.”
In three weeks, the document will be drafted into an ordinance that will go before the planning and zoning commission. The goal is to see this come before the Cape Coral City Council by August, Jacobsen said.
If approved, this official document enables development by a specific blueprint that addresses such things as parking, street networks, lot size and land use.
Business owners along Cape Coral Parkway are skeptical.
Tom Rosanio, who owns Zak’s Jewelry, said he likes the paint jobs and modern work the city has been doing on building facades but isn’t sure there’ll ever be foot traffic or a decent night scene, enabling businesses to stay open late. His business has been based in the area since 1977.