Updates

As discussed before, the Lee Plan requires the County to limit development to that which is in keeping with the historic development pattern on Captiva. After five days of hearings last August, attorneys for CCA and the City of Sanibel are hopeful that the Administrative Law Judge recognizes that the Code amendments which exempt South Seas […]

The Circuit Court heard arguments on the Motion for Summary Judgment filed by the County and South Seas on Dec. 18. At the close of the hearing, the Judge asked both parties to submit competing proposed orders on the County/South Seas Motion by Dec. 30. In our last update, we attached CCA’s proposed order submitted to the […]

The new owners of 120 acres of the 304-acre South Seas Island Resort have applied to rezone its property in order to build 196 two-to-four-bedroom condominiums and two hotels with 435 rooms. Currently, 272 units are permitted on the 120 acres now owned by Timbers Resorts, the Ronto Group, and Wheelock Street Capital. The application seeks permission […]

The Lee Plan requires the County to “enforce” development standards that maintain the historic low-density residential development pattern of Captiva, to “continue” existing land use patterns, and to “limit” development to that which is in keeping with the historic development pattern on Captiva. CCA claims that the Land Development Code amendments passed by the County to […]

The Circuit Court heard opposing arguments on the Motion for Summary Judgment filed by the County and South Seas on Dec. 18. The County’s attorney did not speak – and left the argument for the South Seas attorney to make. CCA’s attorney responded to South Seas. Both parties supplemented their arguments that were made in the Motion papers. At […]

After successfully opposing the County’s motion to dismiss our State Court lawsuit to enforce the 2003 Settlement Agreement for failure to state a claim, the Judge has now been asked by all parties by way of Cross Motions for Summary Judgment to decide if the Agreement is a valid enforceable contract. Initial arguments are set […]

After 5 days of trial before the Administrative Law Judge, the transcripts have been provided to the parties so that they can draft and submit their Proposed Final Orders to the Judge. We continue to believe that the record of the trial proves that the recent Code amendments which exempt South Seas from the hotel […]

After four failed attempts by the Resort, the South Seas rezoning application to increase density and building heights has been found sufficiently complete by the Department of Community Development to be tentatively scheduled for a public hearing before the Lee County Hearing Examiner commencing on Feb. 26, 2025. See Sufficiency Letter here. As reported earlier, […]

Since our last request for additional donations, our community has given more than $250,000 — getting us over the $1 million mark. We have now received 1,469 separate donations — an amazing show of support to protect Captiva from increased density and building heights. Not only have we again received large contributions from the Captiva Civic […]

Since September 2023, approximately $500,000 of legal work has taken place in our efforts to maintain Captiva’s existing density and height limits. Our efforts have gained momentum on three fronts: Completing an administrative hearing to prove that the new Code amendments are inconsistent with the Lee Plan; Successfully opposing the County’s motion to dismiss our State […]