Katie Szynal, store manager for Twice The Ice, a franchised business unit out of Jacksonville, will be placed on the Bealls Outlet parking lot north of the Circle K Store on Homestead Rd. Szynal presented the plan to the Lehigh Acres Community Planning Corp. (LACPP) at its June meeting last Wednesday night.
This large structure which will offer ice for sale to customers, at half the price of competitors, Szynal said, will be delivered to the site on a long tractor trailer. It is an already built structure that is 24 feet long and 9 feet wide and 14 feet high, including its roof.
Szynal said the ice producing unit would be open seven days a week, 24 hours a day and customers can fill bags or ice chests and pay on the spot by inserting money into the machine’s pay station. Nobody will be on hand to work at the unit.
But Szynal’s plan caught the wreath of some of the members of the LACPP.
Tami Baker, of the LACPP was the first to object after listening to Szyunal’s presentation.
“The location is wrong. It’s in the center of our downtown planned development,” Bakersaid. “It doesn’t fit in to our plans.”
Edd Weiner, chairman of the LACPP was equally distraught and told Szynal that the business “was not acceptable.”
“It’s not compatible with our mixed use plans for Homestead Rd.,” Weiner said.
LACPP member Mohamid Yassin said he would like to see landscaping around the structure. Others on the board, including Weiner, agreed.
Twice the ice business manager Katie Szynal said landscaping would not be a problem, that she would make sure it is landscaped to be attractive. With that promise, the board voted 5-3 to make the recommendation for landscaping.
The next LACPP meeting is Wednesday, July 11 at 6:30 p.m. at the community conference room at the Lee County Sheriff’s Bravo Station. To attend the meeting, enter from the back of the building.
Please be respectful and courteous when posting your comments on the Lehigh Acres Gazette.
Terms of Service and Privacy Policy of the Lehigh Acres Gazette
http://lehighacresgazette.info/media_kit/terms_policy.html
Regarding the Ice Machine at Beall’s Outlet shopping Center..it doesn’t matter how the landscaping will look, it will still be an eye-sore to our community….if Lehigh is to revamp our strip malls how is this ok, how in our right minds is this ok……not. Plus the fact there is not going to be anyone on site for this machine….I can see break downs, how long will it take to fix and then bringing a truck to replinish the ice……how stupid is that, and maybe residents may have a problem in getting the ice and or losing their money…who is to reburse it…….not a pleaseant picture to visualize…not practical for the area….why not place it somewhere down on Joel Blvd where the automatic car wash is….out of site of our community or how about not having it at all…….We want to beautify our community not trash it…thanks/pat.
Thank you for the opportunity to express our opinions and views here,and believe I understand the article to read this franchise is from out of town and is competing with our local businesses. I feel this is a move that will not contribute to our incoming revenue, or enhance or show support to our existing proprietors of whom we rely on. We certainly want to bring in business, but not an unmanned, impersonal machine. I agree with Ms. Baker and Mr. Weiner regarding the future development of our town, our Lehigh Acres. Let me share a thought or two.
When we talk about bringing in visitors, I think first of giving someone directions to our town. I would not want to say,”…after you past the “Twice the Ice” building take a left”. I would prefer to say something like,”…after you past the satellite VISITOR’S BUREAU take a left”. There you are, I just created a couple of part-time jobs or better yet, a few more if you “man” it throughout the weekend. This visitor’s bureau idea or even a satellite extension office would have more appeal and provide everyone important information and history about our area.
Many of our residents don’t even know how our town got the name and how it became established. While Lee Ratner had Lucky Lee Ranch, I feel we should capitalize on the Buckingham Field Airstrip, and see what could be revived. So many of our residents have served or have members that serve in branches of our military, and that sure would put some pride back into our community. We do have so much history here. It is just not known. And now Leeland Lake – how great is all this. Towns have a “tag” if you will. Peanuts, cotton, lord knows we have orange juice; we need an identifier and those two sets us apart from others.
When I think of beautifying our downtown, I think of meandering walkways, deciduous trees, a few water fountains, wrought iron benches, and memorabilia from the past(like Buckingham’s Air Field-there’s plenty of pieces lying around). There is so much to be proud of – our residents, our community, and the support of our governing boards that continue to provide us hopes for the better future,and the Lehigh Acres Gazette through which these forums may exist.