History of Pelican Preserve
Pelican Preserve is located in Fort Myers, Florida, on Treeline Avenue at the intersection of Colonial Boulevard, one mile east of I-75 and minutes from Fort Myer’s Regional Southwest Airport. It’s also close to two Spring Training Centers for the Boston Red Sox and Minnesota Twins and many nearby shops and restaurants. What’s more, Pelican Preserve is only 20 miles from the Gulf, making its beaches readily accessible for sunbathing, fishing, sailing, cruising, shell collecting, and watching incredible sunsets.
When the original developer, WCI, started planning the development in 2001, it had a vision to create a community distinctive from the other planned developments in the area. That meant going beyond the usual sports offerings of lap pools, gyms, and tennis and pickleball facilities, to include a full-sized softball field, lawn bowling, horseshoes, billiards, ping pong, and an indoor pool for water volleyball and exercise classes.
Pelican Preserve is a Perfect Home for Active Seniors
As a result, no other community in this area that offers such a variety of sports activities, making Pelican Preserve a perfect home for the active 55-and-better adults. More recently, Pelican Preserve added Bocce Ball courts and increased the number of tennis and pickleball courts to meet the growing demand for these popular activities. Members can also participate in any one of the offered exercise classes – as many as 60 per week - as health and fitness are key components of life at Pelican Preserve. Then, for the walkers, joggers, and bicycle enthusiasts, the miles of roadways throughout the community offer unlimited routes.
Pelican Preserve is more than just a sports-centered community. It also features a variety of daily arts and crafts programs and card game opportunities – another vision of the original developer. The result is a fully equipped sewing room, woodshop, and multiple art rooms for stained glass, pottery classes, and many others. Another recent addition is a performing arts room where instrumental, choral, and theatrical groups can practice their art forms.
Even beyond this, Pelican Preserve was designed to encourage members to create their own social activities and clubs. As a result, Pelican Preserve now has 30 special clubs open to all residents, including everything from a book club, photography club, and poker club to a writer’s club, trivial pursuit club, and singles dining-out club.
The original developer ran into financial difficulties during the recession of 2008, halting construction of the property. The company was eventually purchased by Lennar, a major national builder that was able to complete the construction of the 2498 housing units in 2022.
Pelican Preserve is part of Gateway Service Community Development District
Unlike some planned communities that own and maintain their infrastructure, much of Pelican Preserve’s assets are owned, operated, and managed by the Gateway Services Community Development District (GSCDD), a governmental entity established for the purpose of planning, financing, constructing, and maintaining assets in both our community and the neighboring Gateway Community. GSCDD also provides water and wastewater utility services to many of its residents, including approximately 800 Pelican Preserve residential units.
For Pelican Preserve, GSCDD owns most of the preserves, ponds, stormwater management system, landscaping, roads, sidewalks, streetlights, guardhouse, fountains, neighborhood monuments, and cul-de-sacs.
Pelican Preserve Became Owner Managed in 2019
As is typical of planned communities, as soon as the developer sells a certain portion of the properties, management of the community is turned over to the owners of that community. This occurred in June 2019, at which time five residents were elected board members to lead Pelican Preserve. Within the first 18 months, they:
- Amended and updated the governing documents to be the basis for rules and regulations of the member-controlled HOA known as the Pelican Preserve Community Association, Inc.
- Purchased the Town Center from the developer.
- Continued the in-place contracts with two outside management companies to assist in the management of the facilities and activities.
- Developed an annual budget to manage the complex community and its facilities, as well as reserve funds to enable future funding of identified contingencies.
- Designed a comprehensive plan for expanding and updating amenities and buildings in the community.
- Upgraded the Town Center infrastructure and IT and, with residents’ approval, converted all homes to the state-of-the-art fiber optics technology for television and internet services from Hotwire Communications.
- Created opportunities for members to help define and execute board programs through special committees, including communications, financial planning, architectural review, facilities planning, compliance, and food and beverage, to name a few.
Major Programs Back on Track Following COVID-19 Delays
During 2020 and most of 2021, the Board fulfilled its responsibility to manage its multiple facilities in accordance with ever-changing and evolving government mandates and public health agency advisory guidelines. To manage the community during COVID, the Board established a committee of residents with backgrounds in epidemiology and the application of standards promulgated by the American Sanitation Institute to help identify appropriate protocols for the community’s Town Center and other amenities. The result was no serious outbreak of COVID-19 in Pelican Preserve.
The year 2021 was a pivotal year for Pelican Preserve. Most notable was the establishment of an $8 million comprehensive plan to expand and enhance the buildings and amenities that make up the Town Center.
At the beginning of 2022, the members approved adding an amendment to the Association’s Declaration for the collection of a Resale Capital Fee to be paid by new buyers of property within the community. The funds collected are maintained in a separate account, adding to existing Reserves to be used as determined by the board for future aspirational improvements to the community. Once the current planned renovations and expansions are completed in 2023, Pelican Preserve will be an even more desirable community for active citizens of age 55 and better!