The buck stops with the developer
To the editor:
Work has resumed on the Seven Islands development in Cape Coral. It was stopped because protected mangroves were removed without a permit. Nowhere have I seen any arrests or hints of fines. Could this be because the city of Cape Coral illegally removed mangroves not too long ago to help a developer?
You might ask why we should be concerned over the loss of some mangroves. There are very good reasons why. Mangroves play a crucial role in Florida’s coastal ecosystems by:
• Providing habitat for various marine species.
• Acting as natural barriers against erosion and storm damage.
• Filtering pollutants from water, thus improving water quality
To emphasize the seriousness of this act, I went to the following site - Mangroves Legally Protected in Florida: Permits & Penalties — Legal Clarity — to try to present the law without all the lawyer’s jargon.
The following are the possible penalties —
Penalties for Violations
This is where the law has real teeth, and where homeowners who treated mangrove trimming casually have gotten burned.
First Violation
For a first offense, the property owner must restore the damaged mangroves. Restoration isn’t optional and isn’t cheap. The applicant, landowner, and the person who performed the trimming are all jointly and severally liable for the restoration, meaning FDEP can pursue any or all of them for the full cost. The restoration must result in a functioning mangrove community that offsets the damage caused.
Repeat Violations
Second and subsequent violations add monetary penalties on top of restoration:
• Illegal trimming: Up to $100 per mangrove illegally trimmed.
• Illegal alteration: Up to $250 per mangrove illegally altered.
• PMT-specific penalty: A Professional Mangrove Trimmer who commits a second or subsequent violation faces an additional $250 per mangrove, on top of the standard fines.
These per-tree fines add up fast when a property owner has cleared a stretch of shoreline.
Criminal Penalties
Beyond the mangrove-specific fines, Florida’s broader environmental enforcement statute applies. Willfully violating permit requirements or failing to obtain a required permit is a first-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to $10,000 in fines or six months in jail, or both, for each offense. Violations committed through reckless indifference are a second-degree misdemeanor carrying the same $10,000 maximum fine but up to 60 days in jail. Willful violations of the chapter’s substantive provisions can be charged as third-degree felonies with fines up to $50,000 or five years in prison. Each day a violation continues counts as a separate offense.
Civil Liability
The state can also pursue civil penalties of up to $15,000 per offense per day under Section 403.141, plus the costs of tracing the violation, controlling the damage, and restoring the environment. Delegated local governments are not limited to the state penalties and may impose additional fines under their own authority.
It is my opinion that the developer who is claiming ignorance, which is not an accepted excuse for breaking the law, should be punished to the full extent of the law regardless of which contractor removed mangroves at the site.
We certainly have enough problems without a developer flaunting any disregard for the law.
Norman Cannon
Fort Myers