CAPE CORAL, Fla. — A wetland area could become a new development in South Cape Coral between Rotary Park and Tarpon Point. This proposed development is known as Redfish Pointe and has some people concerned about an increased flooding threat after Hurricane Ian brought a damaging storm surge to the area.
The current proposal for the Redfish Pointe development calls for the development of 110 acres of the 340-acre property with the other two-thirds remaining preserved wetlands. Despite a large portion of the land remaining wetlands, some local residents were concerned about what this development would mean should we get storm surge as we saw during Hurricane Ian, and addressed those concerns at Wednesday’s Cape Coral City Council Meeting.
“We don’t need the land in Piney Point to be destroyed and increase the chance of more flooding when the next hurricane comes,” said Cape Coral Resident.
“Remove the mangroves and we will be endangering the properties of 3,500 people in our neighborhood,” said Cape Coral Resident.
“How can we consider approving this huge development knowing mangroves help protect coastlines when hurricanes hit,” said Cape Coral Resident.
The storm surge in south Cape Coral reached over 7 feet according to a USGS survey after Hurricane Ian. The Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation says this planned development is not only in a coastal high-hazard zone but also endangers the surrounding neighborhoods.
“Right now, it is mangrove wetland, and it is protecting Rotary Park and those adjacent houses,” said Matt DePolis, the Environment Policy Director at SCCF.
DePolis says mangroves played a significant role in protecting neighborhoods during Ian.
“You had two developments, that were almost identical, in the Shell Pointe area,” said DePolis. “One backed up to wetlands in the Eden Oak Area, and one backed up to a golf course. There were feet in difference in the amount of water that went into those houses. And the ones that had more water were actually further away from the coast because they didn’t have those wetlands protecting them.”
The current proposal for this land calls for 17 buildings, including 800 multi-family units, two 16-story high-rises that comprise a hotel resort, retail and restaurant space, and a 200-slip marine.
The realtor group representing this development area told Fox 4 that property owners have been holding discussions with Cape Coral over the past 4 years to discuss the future of the land and conducted a land survey in 2018 to find the best part of the land to develop.
When asked about the possible development the City of Cape Coral gave this statement:
“Development Services staff is currently in the early review stage for this development. We don’t anticipate it going before City Council for months.”
Protect Our Wetlands in Cape Coral will host a community meeting at 9 am tomorrow at Rotary Park to address their opposition to this project. Fox 4 will have a reporter there for the latest updates.
