CAPE CORAL, Fla — Wetlands or waterfront development? That’s the debate stirring up in Cape Coral. Fox 4’s Austin Schargorodski was at Rotary Park, where protesters gathered to fight against the proposed Redfish Pointe development, while city leaders answered questions about its future.
Watch what protesters and city leaders told Austin:
Chants of “Stop Redfish Pointe!” echoed through the park as protesters rallied Saturday morning to oppose plans to rezone the wetland area at the mouth of the Caloosahatchee River. The proposed development would bring hundreds of homes and a resort to the site, but opponents believe that comes at a cost.
“It would destroy the hydrology, the ponds,” one protester said. “This area is really important for the small-tooth sawfish,” another added. “It doesn’t work to say let’s develop every square inch and lose all the wetlands and all the protection,” a third protester said.
While Redfish Pointe isn’t on the next zoning agenda, rally organizers said they want their voices heard before it returns.
“We want to make sure they know right now that there’s a huge opposition to Redfish Pointe,” said Paul Bonasia with Protect Our Wetlands, the group that organized the rally.
The rally wrapped up, but the conversation continued just steps away, as city leaders held a town hall at Rotary Park to answer questions about the development. Under a pavilion in the park, residents shared their concerns.
“We did flood during Ian, we had six inches of water,” one resident said. “Wetlands like this buffer storm surge and help keep it away from our homes,” another added.
But city leaders said developers have options when it comes to mitigation. “The developers typically have a path toward mitigation. They’re able to mitigate wetlands elsewhere or on site, creating a mitigation easement on their site,” said Bill Corbett, Cape Coral’s Deputy Director of Public Works.
Corbett said the permitting process for a project like this falls to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the state - not the city. However, he acknowledged the importance of preserving natural spaces.
“We all know this is a nature type of area. So preserving that is a goal of the city, the state, the feds. We want to mix environmentally sensitive philosophies with our development philosophies,” Corbit said.
Fox 4 will keep you updated when the Redfish Pointe rezoning application returns to an agenda.
