Updates

It was no surprise to anyone attending the final days of the hearing on the South Seas rezoning application that the Hearing Examiner would recommend approval. The County was working closely with South Seas representatives; the Hearing Examiner was thanking South Seas witnesses for their “helpful” rebuttal testimony; and the professional formality that characterized the public […]

The Hearing Examiner’s recommendation fails to recognize or acknowledge the factual and legal complexities of the case. The recommendation simply rubberstamps the South Seas application, which the County facilitated and supported. The Hearing Examiner does a great disservice to the Captiva and Sanibel communities. The Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) will review the recommendation on Aug. 20 […]

We continue to be optimistic that South Seas and the County will not succeed in their appeals, and the Courts will not permit the County to increase density on South Seas beyond the 912-unit cap regardless of the Hearing Examiner’s recommendation or any BoCC approval. But we need the best legal representation to prevail in our […]

The new owners of South Seas (Timbers Resorts, The Ronto Group and Wheelock Street Capital) have filed a totally meritless lawsuit against CCA and have served extensive and wasteful public record requests upon the Panel and Sanibel. These legal actions are unproductive and seem only intended to increase the legal costs for the Captiva and Sanibel […]

Almost simultaneously with the lawsuit against CCA, South Seas sent public records requests to the Captiva Community Panel and the City of Sanibel. South Seas is seeking any documents, emails, or texts involving its proposed development project and any person on a community board or governmental body — searching for something that might be improper. However, […]

There is no question that the Circuit Court decision limits South Seas to 912 units – including hotel rooms. That’s why both South Seas and the County are appealing the decision upholding the 2003 Settlement Agreement. The South Seas brief has been filed claiming the Settlement Agreement is unenforceable against the new owners of South Seas. However, […]

As discussed in prior Updates, the Lee Plan requires the County to maintain and enforce development regulations that continue the historic development pattern on Captiva and South Seas. The Administrative Law Judge misread the Lee Plan to allow amendments to the County’s Land Development Code that repealed the hotel room density and building height limits at […]

As previously reported, South Seas’ final rezoning proposal has buildings more than 20 feet taller than existing structures on South Seas or Captiva, new condominiums at the north end of the resort where two areas of open space presently exist, a Disney World-type waterpark immediately adjacent to existing condos owned by others, a 175-room hotel […]

The efforts of the Captiva and Sanibel communities to protect Captiva by maintaining our island’s historic density and height limits are causing South Seas serious concern – hence the new meritless lawsuit and needless record requests. But to properly respond, we need to continue to retain the best attorneys. While South Seas may have unlimited resources, the […]

After hearing from 52 members of the public opposing the South Seas rezoning application, the rebuttal case presented by South Seas and the County only served to highlight the ill-advised nature of the South Seas overdevelopment application. Their final proposal has buildings more than 20 feet taller than existing structures on South Seas or Captiva, new […]