05-05-26 Public Comments - Emailed

AI Summary

The City of Bonita Springs Planning Board is scheduled to meet on May 5, 2026, at 9:00 AM to consider a Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) for demolishing two historic buildings: the Goodbread Grocery/Dixie Moon Cafe (over 100 years old, built during the 1912 original town plat) and the Everglades Wonder Gardens restaurant. Longtime residents, the former Historic Preservation Board chair, and members of the Historical Society are opposing the demolition through public comment emails, requesting the city preserve these structures as part of Bonita's heritage. A $500,000 restoration proposal for the Goodbread building has been allocated by the Historic Preservation Board, and an interested restaurant owner (The Stage) has expressed interest in reopening the Wonder Gardens as a themed restaurant.