Death by a thousand cuts
To the editor:
In the risky world of high-finance waterfront development reputation is everything. The recent mangrove removal at the Seven Islands site without a permit has brought Forest Development’s reputation squarely into the spotlight. Keep in mind they are now likely having to carry a debt load on a property that is going nowhere fast and generating zero dollars as this plays out.
The mangrove “mistake” violation triggers a potentially massive timeline crisis. Resolving a federal environmental violation of this magnitude, negotiating a remediation plan, and completing the multi-year monitoring phase routinely drags on for years. No matter how much spin the developer or the city puts on this, the regulatory gridlock could easily push the project back a year or two. They also have a withdrawn federal application which cannot be re-submitted and approved until this violation is resolved.
Just across the state in Park Lake (the recently completed Nautilus 220 project) Forest Development just got slapped with a massive $11.4 million lien from their General Contractor Kast Construction. They are also involved in a law suit involving the sunshine law that could potentially null their contract to operate a Marina and build a hotel in the same area.
These liens, because they are so large, stick out like a flashing light to all reputable sub-contractors capable of building a complex water front project the size of the Seven Islands. Think about it, why would any quality sub-contractor take a job with a company that has a lien this size against it when so much other work is available?
And we wonder how the mangroves got ripped out in the first place.
With the massive liens, the lawsuit, the mangrove incident, no clear time line for start or finish, no approved permits for seawalls docks or dredging, a soured condo market and several local watchdog groups vowing to fight every permit pulled for the project Forest could be poison to any first-tier bonding or lending companies as well. No one happily wants to get involved funding a project that is under a federal environmental investigation of this magnitude, has an $11 million lien against it and carries so much other baggage as well.
There is really nothing working in Forest’s favor right now outside of the city’s blind support. City Hall has tried to outrun the infrastructure limits of Northwest Cape Coral to ram this grand concept through. The shortfalls the city has glossed over are numerous. Traffic gridlock, parking, noise, lighting, boat safety, canal width, canal depth, wildlife loss, stormwater runoff, evacuation problems, and the environmental destruction we are now having to already live with, none have been seriously addressed with suitable answers to the public. It’s as though no one on council has ever visited the neighborhood, the building site or taken a boat ride down the canal to Matlacha.
With the developer knocking themselves out of commission with a federal environmental violation, independent local taxpayers have been handed the ultimate luxury: time. We are organizing, independent traffic modelers are being contacted, and we will challenge every single right-of-way and local permit this city attempts to quietly slide through. It is time for City Council and NWNA to stop acting as the developer’s PR firm and start serving the taxpayers who actually live here.
This disaster is a rare, unearned second chance for City Hall. A federal squeeze gives this council the perfect opportunity to hit the brakes, review this toxic agreement, and redeem themselves in the eyes of the taxpayers. The city really should consider whether or not they even want to do business with a developer who is in it so deep that chapter 11 could start to look like a reasonable move. Make no mistake, the city and Forest Development have their hands full with the current state of this project.
We have a golden window to modify this overdeveloped, congested nightmare and come up with a much better master plan-one that respects the rural character of the Northwest, installs a real, capable infrastructure policy, and actually protects our environment. The city can choose to be the developer’s accomplice, or it can choose to protect Cape Coral’s future. The clock is ticking, and we are watching.
Emile LeDonne
Cape Coral