Isles of Capri Plans with Collier Officials on Park Improvements for Children and Adults

Isles of Capri residents had a meeting with Barry Williams, CPRP, from the Collier County Public Services Division/Parks and Recreation and Dayne Atkinson, Principal Project Manager from the Collier County Public Services Department on Wednesday, August 25, 2021, at the Isles of Capri Community Center. 

Regardless of the summer doldrums, the meeting was well-attended, and residents were vocal about their adult needs as well as safety concerns for community children. One of the safety concerns, brought up by John Rogers, was the fact that students sit on the sidewalk bordering the busy Capri Boulevard where traffic exceeds the posted speed limits by 20 to 45 miles per hour, especially because it’s a long straight-away and no local policing there…yet. The usual policing is at the entrance to the Isles where the speed limit drops from 40 to 30, but there are other locations, sadly, on the Isles, that locals and utility trucks are even more prone to speeding. He also advised a crosswalk between the two parks for safety.

This is especially concerning when children are walking down the sidewalks to their bus stop early in the morning when trucks are driving in for their scheduled servicing. There has to be a better, safer location for our children. Several ideas were offered and all it would take is moving the bus stop about a block to a safer location. President of the Capri Community Board, Joyce Beatty, will contact the school district to discuss making that change sooner than later.

Other points discussed were the options for the County acquired vacant lot across from the existing children’s park and the single Bocce existing court. Dayne Atkinson explained the two different plans and the advantages of each. This led to lots of discussion on which plan offers the most beneficial changes for adults and children on the Isles of Capri. Lots of ideas surfaced, including which side of the road to install the Bocce courts and what changes to make to the children’s playground. Many appreciate the trees that presently shade the playground at times during the day and there was no comment about removing them. Barry Williams explained that the Code determines which trees can be planted and added there are shade structures that attach to playground equipment that could provide additional shade

Presently, there is only one Bocce court on the Isles and it’s in great demand. The plans revealed at the meeting showed both plans included three Bocce courts on one side of Trinidad Street or the other. Ann Hall stated that we didn’t need three Bocce courts and after a vote, it was agreed that two would suffice. Good ideas poured forth like a sudden summer rain and included, as an example, RJ Cady who suggested a covered space between the two proposed Bocce courts to provide a shaded area for teams to relax and regroup between their times on the court. Smiles and nods prevailed. Other ideas were to use Astro Turf or pavers around the Bocce courts instead of the crushed shells and use a spongy material under playground equipment rather than mulch. It was suggested that there could be some passive workout equipment on site possibly or maybe a shuffleboard court or cornhole – wow!

Parking was also an issue. The design would include seven parking places. A concern was raised that a charter fishing business across the street encourages its clients to park on the vacant lot. If continued, this would limit parking for the residents using the parks. Signage was discussed along with possibly adding additional parking places. Reduced speed signs along Capri Boulevard might also help. Concerns were also raised about the increasing numbers of Airbnb’s popping up all over Capri. One person I talked to said they come for a weekend or a week, stay up late, make lots of noise and aren’t considerate about the neighbors. However, that could be an isolated incident, fingers triple crossed. 

All in all, it was great seeing people again, bouncing around ideas about a non-controversial subject, (at least for now *wink*) and looking for even more enthusiasm in the weeks to come as the project is refined and brought back to the Capri residents for more input. Stay tuned, join the fun, and bring your ideas when Barry and Dayne return with updates. Barry mentioned that our County Commissioner, Rick LoCastro, is supporting this project and has encouraged the planning duo to share information often.