Lame Duck Commissioner Trish Petrosky from District 5 Attempts to Assist South Seas Development of Rauschenberg Property
At the BOCC meetings of Oct. 6 and again on Oct. 20, Commissioner Petrosky, who was defeated by Amanda Cochran and leaves office on Nov. 17, proposed motions to sponsor, assist, or expedite South Seas in its efforts to incorporate the Rauschenberg property into its approved Plan Development on the Resort. Petrosky’s Oct. 6 motion was unclear which she later acknowledged and then sought to clarify on Oct. 20. But even a recent staff memo prepared in response to her motion fails to explain exactly how her proposed changes affect the timing or review of applications for Lee Plan and Land Development Code amendments. What is really unclear is why Petrosky, who is from Alva and represents District 5, would be making motions directly affecting only District One and only one landowner — South Seas. Equally unclear is why her proposal wasn’t on the Oct. 20 agenda to allow the Captiva community to have advance notice, why Petrosky brought it up as a “walk-on,” and why she raised it when District One Commissioner Kevin Ruane could not attend and would clearly have had an interest in this matter.
At this time, people are scratching their heads — still unsure what Petrosky was trying to accomplish on behalf of South Seas. However, we now know that South Seas is looking to rezone the Rauschenberg property and make it part of its Resort — possibly for a hotel and more condos. Whether the Board of County Commissioners requires South Seas to apply and proceed through the normal rezoning process, or makes special (and questionable) rules for the Resort, remains to be seen.