CAPE CORAL, Fla. — A Cape Coral neighborhood fight against a new car wash's construction in the Mast Canal off of Kamal Parkway and Santa Barbara Boulevard now has the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer's attention - as neighbors worry that if it's built, wildlife populations get hurt.
“We have fish lights so the fish come up, so at night you can just sit down. It’s just peaceful," says Lynn Jenkins, one of those neighbors who lives along the Mast Canal.
“The manatees feed at the end of the canal and throughout the canal and then they have their babies there. So we’re worried for them. Also it’s just encroaching on more canal and waterway space," she says.
“We bought this property thinking it’s the way it’s going to be. we as owners can’t just fill in our canal when we want to. We need to share the canal with everyone.”
Cape Coral District 3 Councilman Tom Hayden says he shares the neighborhood concerns, and wants the developer to talk to those neighbors.
“We always encourage the developer to reach out, keep the neighbors up to date on what’s happening with this particular property," says Councilman Hayden.
“This canal is a brackish canal that can lead out to the Gulf of Mexico - so it’s going to affect everything.”
The public has until next week to submit letters to the Army Corps of Engineers.
