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To the editor:
In July 2024, attorneys for the property owner submitted a revised amendment request to Cape Coral's Future Land Use Map (FLUM) for their proposed Redfish Pointe development among 350 acres of wetlands south of Rotary Park. The city staff have finished their analysis of the request and have published their recommendations. It bears out many concerns residents have long expressed and recommends denial of the proposed changes to the city's future land use map.
Among other things, staff says it does not meet the city's requirement that the amendment "protects the health, safety, and welfare of the community... Development in this area, particularly the roadway, could negatively impact the protections offered by the substantial wetlands in this area as well as place commercial and residential development for this area in harms' way."
They say more than once that "The placement of a mixed-use development in an isolated upland pocket surrounded by wetlands is wholly incompatible with the protection and conservation of nearby wetlands."
They say that "the current Natural Resources/Preservation future land use map classification that was placed on this property in 1989 was appropriate then and continues to be appropriate today."
Here is a good part of city staff's conclusion: "The historical background of this site fails to show that the applicant had development rights to mixed-use development, or that a reasonable investment-backed expectation for mixed-use development exits. Development of the site as Mixed-use would intrude upon the well-established residential neighborhood and have negative impacts on nearby wetlands. Staff recommends denial of the proposed future land use map amendment."
We urge residents to attend meetings and voice their opposition to the proposed development.
We advise residents to write to their city council members and urge them to heed staff's recommendation when it comes time to vote and to pursue the purchase of the property with county and state funding to be preserved permanently for conservation, our ultimate goal.
Tell city council members that if they permit a change in the classification of this property from "Preserve" to "Mixed Use," the property owner might argue that the property is worth tens of millions of dollars, and taxpayers will unnecessarily pay an exorbitantly inflated price for the property.
Readers can access the full report, obtained through a Public Records request on Match 24, at ProtectOurWet-landsinCapeCoral.org. Please note that the PDF contains a watermark, indicating its status is "Draft" as is policy until a public hearing date is scheduled.
Joseph Bonasia
Cape Coral