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Panel prepares to survey community; special meeting to be held April 27

3 min read

The Captiva Community Panel met on Tuesday to discuss changes to the land development code and make preparations for surveying the community, but a lengthy debate ensued over whether rental properties should be regulated to a rental period of no less than seven days.

“This is a very controversial subject. I would suggest we have another workshop so that everybody has a chance to voice their opinion,” said panel president Sandy Silverglide.

Panel members agreed, and Nathalie Pyle motioned to schedule a special meeting to discuss the seven-day rental stipulation in the land development code.

The motion carried, with panel members Mike Kelly, Rene Miville and Jim Boyle dissenting.

The special meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 27 at 9 a.m. at South Seas Island Resort.

Later, Kelly motioned that the panel adopt five of the seven proposed land development code changes, which include water quality and mangrove protection. The motion was unanimously approved.

To prepare for surveying the community on the changes to the code, Ken Gooderham and his wife Kate Gooderham addressed the panel about authoring an electronic survey.

“A survey is required by your bylaws, but the basic philosophy that the panel has had since the day it was born was that there was going to be transparency in the process of public input. This is consistent with the history of the panel,” Kate said.

The Gooderhams suggested mailing out a post card informing residents about an online survey based on the changes, while also providing a paper-version of the survey for residents who aren’t computer savvy.

An online survey will also facilitate compiling, analyzing and cross-referencing results and it will also be less expensive and time consuming than a strictly paper-based survey.

In order to move ahead with the survey, the panel had to alter their bylaws to include electronic surveying as an additional method for surveying the public.

After some discussion, Miville motioned to approve the bylaw amendment, which carried unanimously.

However, in order to comply with existing bylaws, the panel must wait 60 days to actually vote on the new amendment.

Because of the requisite delay, the panel decided to move their June meeting from June 8 to June 15 so as to combine their regular meeting with the end the 60 day period.

For more information about the Captiva Community Panel and to view drafts of the land development code, visit www.CaptivaCommunityPanel.com.

Residents with comments, questions or concerns about the land development code can e-mail panel administrator Ken Gooderham, KenGooderham@comcast.net.