by SC Reporter Emilie Alfino
The Planning Commission unanimously (with Commissioner Kate Sergeant excused) voted to recommend City Council approve amendments to the Sanibel Code regarding Alternative Shoreline Stabilization Projects.
The first revision is to update the title to “Living” Shoreline Stabilization Projects. Also, the proposal would modify the existing Sanibel Code to add language clarifying requirements, remove redundant and no longer applicable language, and add example designs.
Native vegetation is the primary component of a living shoreline stabilization project. The inclusion of rip-rap rock or other grey infrastructure must be designed in a manner that does not resist or redirect wave action or impede sediment accumulation.
An application for conditional use approval shall be prepared by a professional engineer registered in the state having experience in coastal engineering with assistance from a professional ecologist or State of Florida licensed landscape architect with knowledge of Southwest Florida coastal systems and shall include an assessment of the potential for harm to existing structures, both public and private, including roads both on and off the subject parcel.
The application shall also include whether evidence of active, ongoing and/or progressive shoreline erosion is present on the subject lot which is not caused by runoff from the uplands and is not due to the typical seasonal fluctuations in shoreline profile.
Along natural bodies of water, the natural shoreline profile shall be maintained or restored to the extent feasible (if previously altered), but in no case shall the slope be steeper than three feet horizontal to one foot vertical.
Within the Bay Beach Zone, the preferred slope shall be no steeper than 10 feet horizontal to one foot vertical.
Along human-made bodies of water, the bank may be altered to include terraces or a graded slope no steeper than two feet horizontal to one foot vertical; a more gentle slope shall be required if indicated by site specific conditions.
Limerock rip-rap, clean cement grids or pipes, reef balls, oyster bags, natural fiber rolls or mats, or similar material may be integrated into the design in a size and manner where they will not be dislodged, resist or redirect wave action, or impede sediment accumulation provided only the minimum necessary size and quantity is incorporated to create planting areas and stabilize the shoreline through encouraging natural sediment accretion.
Native plants suitable for shoreline stabilization, provision of wildlife habitat, water quality enhancement or protection shall be planted three-foot on centers in areas where no native vegetation exists. A planting plan shall be incorporated into the design drawings.
Revisions to previously permitted erosion control structures, revetments, or living shoreline stabilization projects due to changes in site conditions from storm events, king tides, or other sea level rise impacts may be applied for through a short-term development permit, rather than going before the Planning Commission.
This matter will now go before the City Council.
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