Staff within Lee County’s government told a hearing officer Thursday it recommended approving a long-fought zoning plan that could substantially increase the scope and size of the South Seas Island Resort at the far end of Captiva Island.
County employee Adam Mendez said the additional units would have negligible bearing on infrastructure. Critics of the zoning request vehemently disagree.
South Seas is among some 300 acres of land on the northern one-third of the island of Captiva. The resort is nestled among some one dozen clusters of private villas.
Collectively there has been a long-standing rule that there could be no more than three units per acre on the land.
Without a zoning change, that would leave 272 units for South Seas to work with as it rebuilds from Hurricane Ian.
Captiva’s David Mintz said he’s not opposed to a re-building the resort, it's just to the extent in which the Timbers Group wants to rebuild that he and many others find problematic.
South Seas would like to replace its 107-room hotel with two hotels offering 435 rooms and build 197 different housing units in place of a 140-room employee housing building.
“It is inconsistent with a historic development pattern on South seas or Captiva, and it should not be approved with respect to density. It's really pretty simple,” said Mintz, a long-time resident and civic leader who's worked very closely with the Lee County government in the past to set building standards for this fragile barrier island.
South Seas appears to be banking on housing and hotels built long ago that do not fall in line with the norm on Captiva Island.
Mintz pointed out that no hotels nor buildings built since the 1980s exceeded the norms and furthermore the long-standing rules in place for density within the South Seas resort have been in place since 1973.
“That's 50 years. On Captiva, outside of South Seas, there's no dwelling units or hotels built since the 1980s at greater than three units per acre. That's more than 40 years,” said Mintz. “You're talking about historic development pattern … And this is important.”
The hearing continues Friday with more public comment. At its conclusion, which could be many hearing days away, the hearing officer will make her recommendation. The Lee County Board of County Commissioners will have the final say on the zoning, though any future decision could be thwarted by a judge.
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