Reject proposed amendments to Lee Plan, LDC
On behalf of the Captiva Community Panel, we wish to comment on the LPA’s Aug. 31, 2026, agenda items — CPA2026-00005 Future Land Use Element Update and the accompanying Land Development Code Amendments.
The Captiva Community Panel was responsible for recommending and drafting the Goal, Objectives and Policies of the Captiva Community Plan (Chapter 23 of the Lee Plan) in conjunction with the provisions of Chapter 33 of the Land Development Code (Article IX – Captiva Community Plan Area) over a period of decades with deep involvement of the Captiva community and in close collaboration with County Staff and the Board of County Commissioners. The Captiva Community Plan and LDC contain substantive provisions amended over long periods of time to meet the unique environment, needs and challenges faced by a fragile barrier island, with a single, constrained roadway on and off the island, and damaged by three recent hurricanes in the past three years.
With deep respect for the Staff of the Department of Community Development who work at the direction of County Commissioners (and the County Attorney), it is simply unacceptable to propose the wholesale deletion of long-established Lee Plan and LDC language for Captiva on an expedited basis without notice or consultation with anyone from the Captiva community, and without providing the time and opportunity for the community to review the proposed changes. I suspect that the other communities affected by the Plan and Code amendments have similar objections to the process.
It is also incorrect for County Staff to claim that the proposed amendments to the Plan and the LDC simply increase efficiency, reduce unnecessary regulations and “will not change allowable densities and intensities within Lee County.” For example, on Captiva, the proposed amendments eliminate the three-units-per-acre limit on hotel units that has governed and protected Captiva since 1982, and permit building heights in planned developments to exceed Captiva’s the 35-foot limit. Taken together, the Plan and LDC amendments unequivocally change allowable intensities on Captiva.
There are no doubt many more examples of substantive changes throughout these proposed revisions that delete or amend language that Captiva and other communities have spent years considering and drafting. Many of these proposed changes will have wide-ranging impacts that deserve to be explored and explained.
With this proposal, the members of the LPA have been confronted with the very opposite of sound planning and good governance. Serious public input and fair review is absent here. Moreover, the LPA has been unknowingly injected into disputes between the County and the Captiva community over density and intensity of development.
Currently, there are two pending lawsuits where, in one or the other, plaintiffs including the Captiva Civic Association, 20 South Seas homeowner associations, the City of Sanibel, RLR and Royal Shell claim that County-approved densities, building heights and intensities violate the very provisions of the Captiva Community Plan that the proposed revisions seek to eliminate. Also, the proposed revisions in LDC Section 34-1805 (hotel units) and Section 34-2175(a)(2) (building heights) could have a serious impact on a controversial development pending on Captiva. Please understand that these are not “housekeeping, streamlining, obsolete or overlapping regulations” that members of the LPA are considering here.
For the reasons stated above, we urge the members of the Local Planning Agency to reject the proposed amendments at this time, in order to provide County Staff with the time and opportunity to return to the affected communities to solicit meaningful public input and to engage in comprehensive planning review.
David A. Mintz is president and Ken Gooderham is administrator of the Captiva Community Panel. The goal of the panel is to protect the coastal barrier island’s natural resources, such as beaches, waterways, wildlife, vegetation, water quality and dark skies, and its history. For more information, visit captivacommunitypanel.com.