Business owners and residents affected by a temporary closure at the intersection of Veronica Shoemaker Boulevard and Dora Street in Fort Myers worry the road has been permanently closed for one resident, before a public hearing has been held.
The closure, they say, raises a legal question as well as wider issues of safety and incompatible uses that have grown over years of city inattention and lack of care.
"If they close Dora Street, a business that's been here for decades will lose customers, and people for blocks around will have to go to Hanson or Canal," said Todd Chrisp, a long-time resident of the area. "The family that complained, they haven't been here more than a year. This affects a lot more people than them."
Scott and Cherrie Hamilton moved to the neighborhood last year thanks to a donation of Trinity Commercial Group, which bought and rehabbed a home for their non-profit, Jonathan's Place, a residence for special needs kids.
After three accidents where cars ran off the busy roadway - one hitting a fence surrounding their property, Scott Hamilton said - the family asked the city for a guardrail on their side of the high-speed boulevard.
"If our little one had been outside when the car hit the fence, he could have been hit, too," said Hamilton, showing a photo of the accident.
The children's home sits close to the road in an area zoned for intense commercial uses. The traffic danger is created by a blind curve north of the property.
Behind the home, several Dora Street auto mechanics including G and W Auto Body owner Lee Fleming want open access to the thoroughfare.
"I would lose business and everyone else around here would lose business if they close off the access,"Fleming said. "How would you operate if they can't get to you?"
The city responded to multiple News-Press queries, calls and a public record request with an email from its spokeswoman:
"The closure of Dora Street at Veronica Shoemaker Boulevard is a temporary closure, and as such the signs are temporary. Public Works is evaluating safety concerns from residents and motorists and is in the process of issuing an update to the traffic flow configuration."
On Friday it opened traffic one-way from Veronica Shoemaker onto Dora so cars can access the auto body shop. Fleming said a city planner told him it might make the one-way change permanent, which would be OK with him.
On the other side of Veronica Shoemaker, residents of Beecher Habitat Village can only enter and leave their neighborhood via the heavily trafficked boulevard. A guard rail offers some protection there.
The city didn't mention putting a guard rail next to the Hamiltons' home or explain how a one-way traffic pattern would protect them from cars crashing into their fence.
The safety concern comes as giant developer MacFarane Group recently won a bid to add over 100 affordably priced condos to Towles Garden, a parcel behind the auto body warehouses also on the boulevard.
"We would never think of shutting down any streets," said MacFarlane engineer William Baker on learning of the possible road closure. "Those (east-west streets) are viable feeder streets into the neighborhood. I would push to have a traffic light there."
MacFarlane Group is currently looking to buy surrounding properties to create a mixed use corridor of retail and condo residences along Highland Avenue, from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard south to Dora Street.
A signal at Dora Street might be a greater benefit to the developer's eventual plans, Baker said.
"I agree, a signal would slow down the traffic and make it safer, and the residents could have their access to Veronica Shoemaker," Chrisp said.
Asked if the city can change the traffic pattern without a hearing, the spokeswoman didn't respond.
Questions or concerns can be addressed to Fort Myers' Public Works Director Richard Moulton at rmouton@cityftmyers.com or City Manager Saeed Kazemi at skazemi@cityftmyers.com.
Follow this reporter on Twitter @PatriciaBorns.