EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was updated to include more details on the proposed amendments to the Lee County Land Development Code. which effect Captiva Island.
by SC Publisher Shannen Hayes
Sanibel and Captiva have come together this week in strong opposition to proposed amendments to the Lee County Land Development Code which would have critical implications to both islands and had no public input.
Last week, the Board of County Commissioners unanimously moved forward proposed amendments that would increase building heights on Captiva from 28 feet above base flood elevation to 35 feet, as well as eliminate restrictions which cap houses at two stories.
Under these changes, South Seas Island Resort would be exempt from rules which apply to the rest of the island and possibly pave the way for increasing density at the resort.
South Seas sits on the north end of Captiva and is a small gated community of privately-owned homes and condos sharing 330 acres with the 434-unit resort overseen by Timbers Group, which purchased it in September 2021 with two partners.
The resort sustained damage from Hurricane Ian on Sept. 28, 2022, and has been closed since the storm Timbers announced a rebuilding project in March, but specific building plans have never been shared publicly.
Captiva Community Panel Vice President David Mintz says there are three issues to understand – building heights on the island, redevelopment of South Seas resort and the process under which these changes were handled without proper public input.
Captiva has no municipal government and relies on the county’s comprehensive plan. But the island has special protections for building height and density under the Captiva Community Plan within the Lee Plan, as well as input from the Captiva Community Panel, an advisory board of island residents and stakeholders.
Under the Lee Plan, “these amendments are required to go to a public information meeting before going to the BOCC,” said Mintz. “That meeting never took place on Captiva.”
Instead, the amendments appeared without much warning on the June 6 BOCC agenda and that is being challenged as a violation to the Lee Plan under the argument South Seas requested these changes and never held the required public meeting.
The county has claimed the changes were initiated by them to streamline its building height codes, increase resiliency and provide relief to build-back constraints imposed by the storm and changes to the national flood program. Therefore, a public meting would not be required.
“A public informational meeting would have revealed the troubling fact that the proposed amendments create exemptions from the Captiva code and provide a path to greater building heights and density for a single resort on Captiva,” stated attorney Richard Grosso in a legal opinion sent to the BOCC.
Grosso wrote the opinion on behalf of the Captiva Community Panel, the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, Captiva Civic Association, “Ding” Darling Wildlife Society and 12 Condominium and Homeowner Associations located within South Seas.
SCCF’s position is these amendments would cause “significant and irreparable harm to our barrier island ecosystem, wildlife, marine life, water quality and overall quality of life,” if they are approved. SCCF also questions the feasibility of limiting these exemptions to one corporation, which could lead to unlimited additional growth by similar companies and industries.
The Sanibel Captiva Chamber of Commerce has added its voice to the opposition. “These proposals would jeopardize our small-town feel, increase traffic and wear on our infrastructure, complicate hurricane evacuation, and have a negative impact on our water quality and wildlife,” the Chamber stated in its letter to the BOCC.
And the City of Sanibel unanimously voted in a special meeting on Wednesday, June 14, to call for an “outright rejection” of the proposed amendments by the BOCC. The city invited county representatives to the meeting, but Mayor Richard Johnson announced County Manager Roger Desjarlais had withdrawn the county’s presence.
Sanibel resident Roger Grogman may have summed it up best for the collective community during his fired-up public comment at the council’s special meeting.
“It has been a universally repulsive attitude toward this significant injustice….No one is questioning if this is wrong. No one has articulated it is OK,” he said in part. “Our message should be clear. We absolutely disagree with these changes…(and) we need to put our foot down.”
Anyone who wishes to speak out on the proposed amendments prior to the final public hearing on June 20 can click here for BOCC’s contact information. SCCF has provided talking points – click here.
The proposed amendments would:
• Eliminate the three-units-per-acre density restrictions inside South Seas, with no restrictions cited to replace them.
• Eliminate the current height restrictions on Captiva (and language in the Lee Plan that references those restrictions). It is replaced in general with restrictions of 35 feet above a distance 12 inches above the average elevation of the adjacent roadways. In areas where development is governed by base flood elevations, height is measured from “the lowest minimum habitable floor elevation for which a building permit may be issued.”
• In the Captiva-specific section, South Seas would be exempted from building heights language, with no replacement restrictions stated.
• Structures in a coastal high hazard area V-zone could increase both the “lowest minimum habitable floor” and the overall structure by four feet without deviation or variance approval.
• South Seas may be seeking a de facto rezoning to Outlying Suburban, which with this new language would allow building heights up to 75 feet “when the applicant demonstrates through a zoning action that the additional height is required to preserve environmentally sensitive land, secure areas of native vegetation and wildlife habitat, or preserve historical, archaeological or scenic resources.”
• Remove any reference to the 2002 Administrative Interpretation governing South Seas density and development, and exempts development inside South Seas from LDC Section 33 regulations.
• Eliminate the 75 percent requirement for condominiums to initiate rezoning, special exceptions or variance, replacing it with initiation allowed by the association’s president or manager when authorized by the association board.
• The county is also seeking a change in the Lee Plan language affecting Captiva that would eliminate references to building height language in the Land Development Code that was intended to encourage building heights compatible with the “one- and two-story” existing structures. That plan revision will be heard by the county commissioners for potential transmittal to the state at a hearing on Wednesday, June 21, beginning at 9:30 a.m.
The proposed amendments could:
• Increase emergency evacuation time for both islands with an increase in density.
• Jeopardize Captiva’s long-planned septic-to-sewer conversion project with increased height and density, since planning has been based on population needs. This project would have a significant impact on water quality, and address the likelihood of, in time, septic systems no longer working efficiently with expected rise in sea and groundwater levels.
• Overburden other already overtaxed infrastructure and services for community members and visitors.
• Lead to more intense development, which will compromise the coverage and integrity of natural wetlands, dune systems, and other native vegetation that provide Captiva, Sanibel, and nearby mainland communities with important wind and wave protection. These systems also provide other regionally-important benefits like improving water quality and bolstering local eco-based tourism.
It’s all about Money!