To the editor:

Cape Coral residents, many still recovering from Hurricane Ian, should oppose the Redfish Pointe development in the wetlands directly south of Rotary Park. Current zoning wisely calls for this land to be preserved.

The proposed project would include 800 residential units, 300 hotel rooms, 38,000 square feet of commercial space, and a 200-slip marina on approximately 110 acres of the 350-acre property. The developer envisions another Westin.

My wife and I were first alerted to this development in 2021. Through a records request back then we learned that Cape Coral City department heads voiced great concern about the proposed development.

Our Public Works Environmental Resources Manager General said, “This project seems inconsistent with the City’s Conservation and coastal management GOALS, OBJECTIVES, AND POLICIES.” (Her capitalization, not mine.)

“The potential impacts to critical sawfish habitat and manatee populations with the proposed docks/marina are substantial.”

Besides ecological consequences, “placing infrastructure, residences, businesses, and people in a wetland that has very poor drainage and in the coastal flood hazard zone has potentially extensive impacts financially, for livelihoods, or life in general.”

“Removal of mangroves would weaken the buffering capacity of the mangrove area which protects the City against storms.”

Utilities Department Director Jeff Pearson said, “With the looming threat of sea level rise and climate change, I don’t believe it would be good for community climate change resiliency policy to continue permitting developments close to high hazard zones next to water.”

A recent study supports his concern. It identified Cape Coral as being at particularly high risk from future hurricanes. In fact, only eight other cities in the nation are at such high risk.

Additionally, another report, which focuses exclusively on the benefits provided by coastal mangroves, notes that “annually, across multiple storms, mangroves reduce flood damages by 25.5% to properties behind them,” and that “during Hurricane Irma, over 626,000 people living behind mangrove forests saw reduced flooding in census tracts across Florida.” It noted that “during Irma, mangroves averted $1.5 billion in surge-related flood damages to properties.”

Too many Cape Coral residents, my wife and I included, have firsthand knowledge about surge-related flooding, and the more to be done to reduce it the better. Making it worse by sacrificing yet more acres of wetlands and the storm protection they provide would be profoundly irresponsible.

The city’s own website states, “By preserving the native vegetation consisting of salt marshes and mangrove communities, residents of Cape Coral gain significant protection. The mangroves, in particular, stabilize the shoreline during hurricanes. The mangroves have prop roots, leaves, and branches that offer frictional resistance to flowing water. This reduces storm erosion and decreases the speed of the flow of tidal inundation.”

This development wasn’t a good idea before Ian. It is an even worse idea now. Perhaps the only benefit we can make of that storm is to have learned that we must do all we can to preserve what remains of our natural storm protection. Lee County Commissioners evidently learned this lesson. They recently rejected the proposed Eden Oak development that was much smaller than this one.

Additionally, this area is also a haven for wildlife, including threatened species, such as bald eagles, and the manatees and sawfish already mentioned, but coyotes, bobcats, racoons, foxes, gopher tortoises, and migratory and non-migratory birds live there, too, and Cape Coral residents treasure our city’s wildlife and the city’s natural heritage, in general. The great popularity of Rotary Park is testimony to this fact. This project would harm what we value so highly.

Readers can learn more at https://protectourwetlandsincapecoral.org/. This new website provides further information including photos, illustrations, and videos, and will be updated regularly with the most current information.

I urge Cape Coral residents to talk to their city council members. Write them. Make an appointment to talk personally with them. Tell them publicly during the citizen input period at city council meetings that you oppose the proposed Redfish Pointe development.

Joseph Bonasia

Cape Coral