Article
and Video Courtesy of Channel 2, NBC
By George
Solis
Published
October 18, 2013
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VIDEO
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FORT
MYERS, FL -- A group of homeowners' associations and businesses has
filed a lawsuit to stop trucks hauling sand to a Collier County beach
renourishment project from using Corkscrew Road to get there.
The
plaintiffs are the Grandezza Master Property Owners
Association, Bella Terra of Southwest Florida, Wildcat Run
Community Association, University BP, Miromar Outlet West
and International Design Center - all on or near Corkscrew
Road.
The
defendants in the suit are the companies hauling the sand
and Collier County.
Collier
County's existing plan is for the trucks to run from a mine
off SR-82 to Corkscrew Road, then |
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make
a left onto southbound I-75 on their way to the Vanderbilt Beach area.
Planners expect to run 400 trucks a day, six days a week on the route for
four months.
All
that work on the $9.5 million project would happen during the day.
But
the plaintiffs say that plan causes both safety and economic issues, and
they have asked the judge to do one of three things:
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Reroute
trucks to Alico Road, which they say is a less populated route, to
minimize the economic and safety impacts of hauling the sand using
Corkscrew Road.
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If
they are sticking with Corkscrew Road, the suit asks the judge to
force the trucks to work overnight - from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. - so as
not to impact business at the shops and the activities of residents.
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Finally,
they'd like the trucks to use roads in Collier County, which an
engineer hired by the plaintiffs says
is the best solution anyway.
"It's
been voiced before - our main objection is the safety of
our customers and residents in the surrounding communities
and all the 47 school bus stops that these trucks are
going by every day," said Jeff Staner, the
vice-president for Miromar Outlets.
Collier
County says it chose the Corkscrew route because it is
$700,000 less expensive than the alternatives. |
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