Robert Troutman
A Man With A
Dream
William Hammond met Robert Troutman in Lee County in 1969 when Troutman first moved to the area and was scouting for the best marine biologists and ecologists to hire for his idea of developing land on Estero Bay. Troutman worked fast upon arriving in Lee county; he met with with Hammond who was then current president of the Audubon Society and a well-established Marine Science teacher at Cyprus Lake High School.
Hammond
described Troutman as a shrewd individual who came from a
wealthy family and influential friends. Troutman was a
clever man who was used to getting his own way. He had
previously bought up the air rights over downtown Atlanta
and benefitted from the royalties paid from those who built
the high rise buildings.
Troutman and Hammond were friends who regularly met in the school's cafeteria for birthday parties and other social occassions. Troutman always had a stenographer follow behind him and record every word that was said.
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Troutman's plan was to develop the wetlands of Estero Bay into a community development that allowed people to live on the water overlooking the bay. Only the mangroves were in the way of the view. The mangroves served an important purpose in the life cycle of the marine life in the bay. If the mangroves were destroyed it would have been detrimental to the commercial fishing industry. |
Opposition first came from the students of Cyprus Lake High School. Students took out a full page ad against Troutman's idea. Troutman wanted to publically answer to the ad so, to accomodate the large crowd, he rented the Lee County Exhibition Hall. More than 1000 people showed up to hear what Troutman had to say. He respected the chance to speak to the public so that they could hear first hand his plans for the development.
Troutman faced further opposition from the County Commission. He needed 3 votes to approve his development plan and in six years, he could not receive approval. The commissioners were too concerned with the long-term environmental effects of the project. Many of the commissioners had friends in the environmental community.
Troutman took his case to court and was confident of winning because he hired the best biologists and planners that he could find. Troutman had rewritten a lot of their work to make his project appeal to those who were concerned about the long-term effects of the project. The Regional Planning Council matched his experts and found errors in their work.
Troutman was
defeated in court and was completely amazed that the people
of southwest Florida weren't interested in his dream of a
community development on the water. Troutman was so upset
that he was later found destroying the mangroves with his
lawyer in an act of frustration.
Troutman never saw his dream of a development community on Estero Bay. After the court case, he was able to acquire Sandpiper Cove, Siesta Isles, and Bay Beach which are now small developed communities.
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