Final vote by county commission on Sanibel Passage set
The Lee County Board of County Commissioners will vote on the county Hearing Examiner’s recommendation to approve the Sanibel Passage entrance/exit zoning deviation at its Oct. 6 meeting, the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation reported last week.
The public may attend the meeting, but county law prohibits anyone other than those who participated in the Hearing Examiner’s process to speak on the item during the final county commission vote.
Sanibel Passage is a proposed 16-story 50-unit condominium on a property on the north side of McGregor Boulevard, adjacent to the Sanibel Causeway. Zoning to allow for 50 residential high-rise units was approved by the county commission in 2006. The current zoning deviation is a narrow request that only impacts the number of entrances/exits the developer must provide.
On Sept. 14, the SCCF reported that the Lee County Hearing Examiner had recommended approval of the zoning deviation to the development. Last month, representatives from the SCCF, city of Sanibel and local residents presented objections to the Hearing Examiner related to the development’s potential impacts to wetlands and adverse effects on water quality.
The SCCF reported that it continues to object to state and federal permits submitted to the South Florida Water Management District and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the grounds that this is an inappropriate development in an unsuitable location.
To view the Hearing Examiner’s recommendation, visit http://www.sccf.org/downloadable-files/613f82bdb6d994854cd4689b.pdf.