To the editor:

The efforts of Lee County and South Seas to push through a radical post-Hurricane Ian expansion of the iconic Captiva resort are rapidly coming apart at the seams. A public records release has revealed that in 2021 the new owners — even before closing on the sale — learned from county planners that the resort’s density and building heights couldn’t be increased. However, that didn’t stop them from having dozens of private meetings with a slew of county officials where they advocated for increases anyway.

The county obliged with an abrupt about-face, becoming strong supporters of dramatic density and height increases at South Seas — and eventually signing them into law in late 2023. Throughout the process, the county never revealed to the public that it was bound by a legal settlement with the Captiva Civic Association, freezing the resort’s density in perpetuity. The CCA is now in circuit court enforcing the settlement.

There are numerous other obstacles for the county and South Seas, such as the state Division of Administrative Hearings reviewing the whole shebang, apparent Sunshine Law violations, unaddressed environmental, open space, utility and traffic issues — and even some clumsy fibbing to the public that the legislation was initiated by the county, not the resort. Whatever happens, we know one thing for sure: South Seas will have to be rebuilt to its prior density and height limits. The pumped-up application it placed with the county is toast. Time to start over.

With the county/South Seas gambit now facing its doom, the question becomes: What is the best outcome here? How should the resort be rebuilt? And how should the county be made to answer for its actions? Let’s start with the rebuild.

– Hotel: The 107-room Harbourside Hotel was needlessly demolished. As photos and eyewitness accounts attest, it was no more damaged than all the South Seas condo and timeshare buildings that have been repaired and reopened. The hotel should be rebuilt to the same height, footprint, total square footage and number of units.

– Employee housing: The county planning document that governs resort development (ADD2002-00098) states categorically: “Employee housing will be provided … “ Yet in 2015, the county — without any mention of this requirement — approved the replacement of all 140 employee housing units with condos. Having quietly violated ADD2002-00098, the approval then falsely assures that the governing document’s terms “remain in full force and effect.” Based on this prior approval, the resort’s current redevelopment application also ignores ADD2002-00098, proposing to replace the now-demolished employee housing units with multi-bedroom condos.

If ADD2002-00098 is anything more than a mere tissue, the 140 employee apartments should be rebuilt. They were purposely allowed to dilapidate over the years to speed their demolition and “redistribution” (planner/developer euphemism) into condos. The pre-Ian resort was served mainly by hardworking Caribbean immigrants, who are now displaced and on a resort’s wage couldn’t find affordable housing within an hour’s drive of South Seas. Both at the resort and in the community, everyone benefits from on-site employees, who not only remove hundreds of daily road trips between the resort and mainland, they provide a crucial reservoir of experienced, trained personnel ready to respond to any calamity that might arise, day or night. They proved their worthiness many times over the years.

– New condos: The 25 unused density credits can be developed into condos somewhere on the resort, but not in front of South Seas Club, as the new owners rudely propose. SSC owners should not have their Gulf views reduced to staring at a parking lot and the backside of a condo complex that stole their unobstructed vistas. There is plenty of Gulf-facing room on the old playfield south of the ninth hole of the golf course, or at the south end of the resort.

– Golf course: The golf course should be rebuilt as it was. The new owners hastily destroyed a classic gem, designed by Chip Powell, a renowned Florida golf architect, based on an earlier iteration by famed PGA golfer Jerry Heard. The challenging nine-hole par-3 track totaled almost 1,400 yards, with five holes over 170 yards. There was also an enormous practice green and surround that stretched a hundred yards in length. The resort has replaced what was once a golf destination with a ridiculous 12-hole pitch-and-putt crammed into a space occupied by less than half of the old course.

– Resort amenities: Other pre-existing resort elements should be rebuilt. The tennis center, in recent years a fairly lonely area, today would buzz with pickleball activity. The reception center was a gorgeous architectural entree into the resort’s fantasy world. And at the north end, tradition should be served by rebuilding the historic King’s Crown, with tables overlooking a moonlit Pine Island Sound and photos on the walls documenting the decades of romance and pleasure.

In sum, the original developers of South Seas in most ways got it right the first time. The “best and highest use,” as Realtors like to say, is a 21st century resort that respects and builds on a rich legacy. But for some reason, the county and South Seas’ new owners are blind to this vision.

The Protect Captiva coalition has gathered something like a half-million dollars from about seven hundred donors, contributions dedicated to compelling the county to follow the law. Protect Captiva and its donors, who are spending their own hard-earned money forcing government officials to simply obey their oaths of office, should be reimbursed by government for every last penny. And when this ugly business is finally put to rest, they should be given a hearty thanks from everyone who loves Captiva, for a difficult job very well done.

Lastly, the state attorney for the 20th Circuit Court should convene a grand jury to investigate the entire affair. Much that has transpired here deserves the kind of legal scrutiny that only a thorough grand jury can provide. If state authority doesn’t reverse-engineer the particulars — including the how, the why, the who — we can expect this sort of escapade to be attempted, again and again.

Don Bacon

Montara, California