BOCC takes no action with Mound Key dock
After discussions with its staff and legal council, the Lee County Board of County Commissioners decided not to move forward with an administrative challenge to appeal a permit issued to the McGee Trust by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection regarding a dock and footbridge on Mound Key. The county commissioners consensually agreed to take no action on the issue at the BOCC regular meeting Tuesday, a week after the item was brought forth at the Aug. 17 meeting.
According to County Attorney David Owen, three permits -state, federal and county- are needed before a single family dock and footbridge can be constructed adjacent to the McGee property on Mound Key, a historical, archaeological site in the Back Bay near Fort Myers Beach.
“My preference would be that the board take no action on this this morning, and then we can proceed accordingly to entertain a permit application from the McGees,” said Owen.
The majority of Mound Key’s property was donated to the state by the Koreshan Unity in 1961. The secluded island has no facilities and is known to be the ceremonial center of the Calusa Indians when the Spaniards first attempted to colonize Southwest Florida in 1566. The McGee family has owned roughly nine of the 125 acres on the island since 1914 and, since the beginning of 2009, has farmed the land with a herd of goats roaming on it.
“Because (Mound Key) is a historic site, it would require a review by our historic preservation board and a building permit,” said Mary Gibbs, county director of the Department of Community Development. “That will be reviewed administratively before we issue the permit. Before that would be done, we would probably have to state whether or not to add additional conditions because we have to finish our archaeological review.”
County officials have made efforts to purchase the parcel, which is managed by brothers Ted, Tim and Todd McGee. According to Karen McGuire, the director of the Division of County Lands, the last dollar amount offered by county was $8.6 million and the asking price by the McGees is $20 million. No counter offer has been made.
“In my personal opinion, you cannot place a (monetary) value on it,” said Ted McGee. “We are open to further negotiation. We feel like it should be of public use and would like to see it protected. We’re trying to be better stewards of that island.”
All public comment focused on the Mound Key issue, including each of the three trustees and archaeologist Theresa Schober, who represented the Anthropological Society.
“This permit is absolutely premature,” said Schober, who reported the original dock length was 232 feet and that the state did not yet have the required results of a mitigation and evaluation plan as of Friday, Aug. 20. “Mound Key is the most intact, significant archaeological site in Lee County. Because of its lack of supervision and its relative isolation, (the dock) is a significant threat to the cultural heritage of this community.”