News-Press from Fort Myers, Florida • Page 1

Myers News-Press Serving Southwest Florida Since 1884 "There only one Fori Myert and 90 million people are going to find it out." Thomas A. Edison, 1914 The Weather Partly cloudy; low in 70s, high near 90. Details on Page 2A. 93rd Year Issue No. 275 Fort Myers, Florida, Tuesday Morning, August 23, 1977 20c Daily, 50c Sunday Troutman quits fight for Estero development Dr seeking new financial support to keep the Estero Bay project afloat and are modifying the project's plans.

Troutman's son, Bruce Troutman, said Monday his father resigned as president of Estuaries Inc. because of disputes within the firm. "He got fed up. They were having problems and he got out. There are others who came in the thing with other idea's and he didn't firm.

Sources close to Troutman and Estuaries Inc. said Monday that Troutman, an Atlanta lawyer, submitted his resignation in June but the resigantion has not been accepted yet. Sources also said Troutman no longer is involved in attempt's to win approval for a $500 million condominium city along Estero Bay. Meanwhile, officials with Estuaries said Monday they are agree with some of them," Bruce Troutman said Monday. Troutman's exit as the leader in the eight-year struggle to develop 6,500 acres running along Estero Bay east to Hendry Creek was followed Monday by reports from an Estuaries Inc.

offical that the firm has been in financial trouble during Troutman's leadership. Joel Cowan, an Atlanta shopping center designer and consultant Turn To TROUTMAN, Page 5A Gulf of Mexico A profile 5A By LEE MELSEK and BETTY PRICE News-Press Staff Writers Developer Robert Troutman has resigned as president of Estuaries Inc. and has abandoned his struggle to build a condominium city along Estero Bay amid reported and financial problems within his Ammunition i Troutman's now costly By BETTY PRICE News-Press Environment Writer Robert Troutman's efforts to develop the Estuaries project along Estero Bay has lasted eight years. It may go on for years to come, regardless of who's in charge. But already, Troutman's dream development has turned into a costly nightmare.

The fight was in the making about eight years ago, when Trout-man first conceived his condominium city that could accommodate 73,000 people. The officially recorded action didn't start until much later. Here are the key steps in his struggle to develop the community: February, 1973 Lee County commissioners denied Troutman's request for a zoning change to allow the development. That request was made before Troutman actual I i Iiti i mm. nIM i News-Press Photos By MIKE SIERRA Al's Shopping Center in North Fort Myers Vance renews China interests focused II If dream nightmare ly purchased the land.

March 15, 1973 Troutman purchases the Estero Bay land from a Wisconsin group headed by Jack Windsor. Reported price of the land is $9.3 million. April 15, 1976 After three years of intensive planning and studies, Troutman's proposed development plan is rejected by the Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council by a 13-1 vote. Troutman had filed his application for development.approval June 18, 1975, but a month later, the planning council staff asked for more information. Several other information requests were made in following months, and Troutman's consultants filed their final report March 1, 1976.

May 25, 1976 A marathon public hearing on the Estuaries is held in the Fort Myers Exhibition Hall prior to the commissioners' ruling on the project. About 400 people Turn To CHRONOLOGY, Page 5A since then-President Gerald R. Ford came in December 1975. The principal obstacle to U.S.Chinese conciliation is American ties with Taiwan, the Nationalist refuge the United States is pledged under a 1954 defense treaty to protect against aggression. Shortly before Vance's arrival, the Chinese signaled that they remain adamant in demanding an end to U.S.

relations with Taiwan. American officials said Vance hopes in his talks to persuade Peking that a closer relationship can be built on the basis of common political interests in various parts of the world particularly their shared concern over the spread of Turn To VANCE, Page2A The Post, in a story by Maxine Cheshire, said at least a dozen gifts from Iran are in the "missing" category. The story said Mrs. Nixon notified the White House gifts unit two days after her husband's resignation that she intended to keep one particular gift presented by the Shah of Iran. "The gift was described by the gift unit as 'a very fine hand-painted miniature portrait of the President done on gold oval frame on easel back surrounded with golden leaves and branches, many blossoms of single and clustered turquoise and sapphire stones'," the newspaper said.

According to the Post, that item now is listed as "missing." Other Turn To GIFT, Page 2A Nation PEKING (AP) Secretary of State Cyrus R. Vance, renewing high-level talks with China after a two-year hiatus, assured his Chinese hosts Monday that President Carter views relations with Peking as "a central element" in U.S. foreign policy. But Vance acknowledged that Washington and Peking have "different perspectives." Chinese Foreign Minister Huang Hua sounded a similar note, saying, "There are now still problems in the relations between our two countries." The two spoke at a banquet welcoming Vance to the Chinese capital for four days of talks with Chinese officials. He is the highest-ranking American to visit Peking A's shopping center gutted with flames Embers showered her home 2A By SANDRA L.

COMBS News-Press Staff Writer A fire, which ignited ammunition and exploded storefront windows, ravaged the core of Al's Shopping Center on Business U.S. 41 in North Fort Myers late Monday night. The fire, which started shortly after 9 p.m. and was still burning after midnight, gutted the 150-foot-long, 100-foot-wide main building that housed a grocery, bakery and hardware store. The flames also reached into Harold Travis' Jewelry and Watch Repair adjacent to the main Al's building, melting rings and other valuable jewelry.

Travis was able to salvage a cardboard box of diamond rings and watches, which firemen carried from the smoldering store nearly two hours after the blaze began. The cause of the fire had not been officially determined late Monday but initial reports indicated it might have been electrical. Several firemen temporarily were overcome with smoke inhalation but continued fighting the blaze after being treated with oxygen. Traffic across the Edison draw bridge was halted as was traffic south of Pondella Road. Al's shopping complex is located midway between the Calcosahatchee River and Pondella.

AI Hitzing, one of the owners, said he did not want to discuss the complex's value. A family spokesman said Al's two brothers, Lovel and Michel, also were partner's in the complex. "How would you feel sitting her watching what you worked for for 30 years go up in smoke," Hitzing said. He said the appliance store would be open for business this morning. Firemen poured 4,000 gallons of water per minute from hoses on the ground and nozzles on a snorkel Turn To FIRE, Page 2A exploded as flames engulfed tail J- Sports U.S.

seeks Nixon gifts WASHINGTON (AP) The State Department is going to court today to ask permission to search some 200 packing crates left behind by Richard M. Nixon for valuable gifts presented to the former president and his family by foreign dignitaries. The State Department has listed a. number of the gifts as possibly only because of poor record-keeping, and wants to examine the packing crates containing materials from the Nixon administration to see if they are there. The crates are in government storage.

Washington Post said Monday that U.S. Chief of Protocol Evan S. Dobelle asked to examine the boxes after the newspaper pointed out that no one knew what they contained. FIRST FIREMAN INTO THE FIRE IS OVERCOME BY SMOKE Robbie Brown, 22, is treated for smoke inhalation Inside News-Press Today THE BALTIMORE Orioles without much fanfare, have crept into the middle of the American League East Division pennant battle 1C Classified 4-12C Comics 5D Crossword 5D Deaths 4B Financial 8-10A Movies 4D Newsmakers 4A Opinion 9-7A People Section Reader's Line 3D Sports Section TV 6D Weather 2A AN ILLINOIS tornado tossed houses around like match boxes Sunday leaving 5 persons dead and 50 injured 3A Peoph President Carter and his campaign committee will reimburse the National Bank of Georgia for live personal and campaign flights of the bank's private airplane during 1975 and 1976, White House Press Secretary Jody Powell said 2A 1 Local SOUTHWEST Florida Boy Scouts came home from a national jamboree with international friends and an invitation to attend a Boy Seout gathering in Taiwan ID TWO OF Lee County's largest utility companies appeal increases in their tangible personal property assessments IB.