by SC Reporter Emilie Alfino
At the Sanibel City Council’s September 8, 2025, meeting, there was a public hearing on a Shoreline Stabilization Ordinance.
The purpose of the matter is to rename “Alternative Shoreline Stabilization Projects” to “Living Shoreline Projects”; to clarify existing requirements and add example graphics; and to provide an administrative process for amendments to permitted projects.
Native vegetation is the primary component of a living shoreline stabilization project.
Council voted unanimously to approve the Planning Commission’s latest proposed amendments, which will improve resiliency with living shoreline stabilization projects, ensure appropriate design for the specific site conditions, and allow adaptive management of permitted projects to provide long-term resiliency under changing site conditions.
“This is a living document,” said Council member John Henshaw. “We’re going to add to it and improve it. Every so often, we go back and say, ‘Is it working?’ Technology around resiliency is always advancing. This is a great beginning.”
The Planning Commission draft that was accepted unanimously by Council on September 8 included the following provisions:
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, with experience in coastal engineering, and assisted by a professional ecologist or a state-licensed landscape architect with knowledge of Southwest Florida coastal systems.
It 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 feet 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.
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