Remove angle of light from Code

Nov 20, 2023 1 min read

To the editor:

Angle of light should be removed from the Sanibel planning Code. It was not in the Code when we moved here over 35 years ago and was put in as an unreasonable disingenuous spite tactic. It is not protected by any proclamation from above.

Angle of light belongs in high-rise markets like New York City with skyscrapers. On Sanibel, it is inappropriate where a home meets sideline and height requirements. It was designed to be punitive and penalizes attractive home functional design.

Now in reality what is happening is homes are being built in the opposite direction from normal, instead of sideline to sideline. Homes wind up built as narrow, very deep, awkward, massed structures, lot frontline to lot backline, like you would see in zero lot line developments.

The result is less light and views to natural beauty in the homes and a strange arrangement within homes, frankly, that are not as attractive as they could be, plus awkward as to day-to-day usefulness and functionality. This will come up and bite everyone eventually — be aware.

Simple solution: If a home meets sideline and height requirements, angle of light should not apply.

Vincent Martin Wolanin

Sanibel