In an entirely predictable vote of 3 to 1, the Board of County Commissioners yesterday approved the South Seas rezoning application. They did so based seemingly upon a single reason – increased development on South Seas will provide jobs and economic growth for Lee County. There was no concern for the current or future residents of Captiva or Sanibel.
The majority of the Board ignored the public’s testimony about public safety, traffic and evacuation concerns, environmental impacts, and the inadequate capacity of the sewer plant at South Seas to process increased wastewater.
The Board also failed to address the requirements of the Captiva Community Plan to maintain and enforce the longstanding 912-unit density cap on South Seas, the due process violations in failing to allow the South Seas property owners to fully participate in the hearings before the Hearing Examiner, and the request to stay a final Board vote until the County’s appeal of the Circuit Court order limiting development on South Seas to 912 units is heard and decided. The County Attorney’s office also refused to provide timely correspondence outlining these issues from attorneys for CCA, the South Seas Associations and RLR to the Board for its review prior to the hearing.
All of these procedural and substantive issues will be presented to the Court in an appeal of the Board’s decision to be filed within 30 days. This new court action, in conjunction with the ongoing appeal in the DOAH case, and the County’s appeal of the Circuit Court order limited density to 912-units, makes this dispute about development on South Seas long from over.
Everyone knows County Staff and the majority of the Board of County Commissioners have been supporting South Seas’ efforts to increase density and building heights on the Resort. Everyone also knows it will be Florida’s appellate courts that will make the final determination about what can and cannot be built on South Seas. That’s why the trial and appellate lawyers for CCA, Protect Captiva, the South Seas Associations, the City of Sanibel and RLR have been working so hard on behalf of the Captiva and Sanibel communities. These cases can be won.