FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Mary Gibbs
Lee County Community Development Department
(239) 479-8345

PERMITTING GAINS BACK STRENGTH IN LEE COUNTY/
CONTINUES RECORD-SETTING YEAR

FORT MYERS, Fla. (November 8, 2004) - Lee County's Community Development Department issued 641 single-family home permits in the month of October - besting October 2003's mark of 474 and a significant increase from last month's 510.

The county continued its record-breaking year - through the first 10 months of 2004 it has permitted $2.4 billion, surpassing last year's annual total of $2 billion.

Lee County's Community Development Department released its October statistics today. The totals are for unincorporated Lee County, City of Bonita Springs and Town of Fort Myers Beach. Both Bonita Springs and Fort Myers Beach contract with the county to do their permitting services.

The value of the 641 single-family home permits issued in October is $125.9 million. The county also issued permits for 144 duplex units and 304 multi-family units.

Single-family permitting for the last 19 months is:

2003
April - 403
May - 445
June - 365
July - 400
Aug. - 571
Sept. - 423
Oct. - 474
Nov. - 406
Dec. - 419

2004
Jan. - 547
Feb. - 466
Mar. - 570
April - 632
May - 660
June - 666
July - 638
Aug. - 463
Sep. - 510
Oct. - 641

Lee County Community Development oversees planning, zoning, and development services such as permitting, development review, code enforcement and building inspections in the unincorporated areas of the county and for Bonita Springs and Fort Myers Beach. It employs 205 people and has a fiscal year 2004 operating budget of $23.4 million.

To learn more about the department and its services, visit http://www.lee-county.com/dcd/.