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Spurred by South Seas plans to rebuild a very large resort, Captiva Civic Association takes first step in civil case against county

Demolition has begun on the South Seas Island Resort Hotel on Captiva Island. The new owners presented plans for much higher buildings with more rooms to be built on the land. Local residents, like Ken Suarez, are prepared to fight.
Andrea Melendez/WGCU
The Capitiva Civic Association has filed a petition that if successful would curb South Seas planned growth

Editor's note: This story was edited for clarity on Jan. 11.

The Captiva Civic Association is asking Lee County to repeal controversial amendments to the county’s comprehensive plan that pave the way for South Seas Island Resort to grow substantially.

The petition asking the county to reverse its decision was filed Monday. It is the first step in a civil case.

At issue are the new owners of the badly damaged South Seas Island Resort who want to rebuild what they say will be a state-of-the-art facility. But the problem is there is near 100% opposition from Sanibel and Captiva Island residents who implored the county not to exempt South Seas from restrictions on density and height.

Residents and visitors must drive through Sanibel and Captiva to get to the resort. The resort has been mostly closed since Hurricane Ian scoured the barrier islands 16 months ago.

During county meetings, staff told the Lee County Board of County Commissioners that exempting South Seas would not increase density on the northern part of the island.

Now, no longer shackled by county codes, South Seas wants to raise density from 247 units to 707. That's a 187% increase in units.

But those numbers don't tell the whole story. The resort also wants to add an additional third floor of livable space to its condos. Typically, condos are just two floors of livable space.

South Seas has submitted plans that if approved, allows its buildings to rise some 64 feet from the ground. That's nearly double what was allowed.

“It’s very concerning when a board completely ignores everything that has been said before them," said Lisa Riordan of the Captiva Civic Association. "And when hundreds of people voiced their opposition and 1,000s of people send emails and 10s of 1000s of people signed petitions. It leaves one no choice."

The county has 30 days to respond. It could also petition the state land planning agency to intervene. That agency has already called out the county saying that it had planted false flags in the name of resiliency, when in fact any changes to the code were purely to satisfy the needs of one developer.

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