New effort to preserve Florida’s working waterfronts
A valuable coastal community in Florida could disappear without help from the state.
But Florida Fish and Wildlife’s Boating Advisory Board has gathered working waterfront representatives from across Florida to make sure that doesn’t happen.
On Wednesday mornings, Joanne Semmer leads a group of visitors through a hidden world on San Carlos Island.
Conducted through the Ostego Bay Marine Foundation, her tours of the working waterfront have been an attraction for tourists and curious locals alike for years.
They weave through the docks, net shops, and processing facilities tucked away at the end of Shrimp Boat Lane while Semmer explains the ins-and-outs of the industry, which has been a cornerstone of the island community since “pink gold” shrimp were discovered in the 1950s.
The most recent economic analysis done on the waterfront estimated that the industry and all of its related businesses generate 100 million dollars per year, Semmer said.
“We’re the only federal channel between Key West and Tampa that’s deep enough to accommodate these big fishing vessels.”
But she’s worried that the commercial waterfront property could be bought up by developers and the channel delisted.
It’s happened to another deep water channel before, in nearby Boca Grande.
“They used to have huge docks in there, and they brought fuel tankers in there and big ships that take out phosphate. There was a railroad that ended there. The railroad’s gone, all the docks are gone, all the tanks are gone, and now it’s all condos,” she said.
The economic idea of “highest and best use” is a significant threat for these waterfront properties, as municipalities looking for a large tax base see opportunities to capitalize in other ways.
This often results in high taxes that businesses can’t afford to pay, and new commercial projects that move in to replace old fishery buildings.
“Next to Salty Sam’s, where that big restaurant is, that used to be Island Packing, that was a huge docking facility. Village Seafood at one time was the second largest shrimp fleet in the United States, and it got bought out by Key West Express,” Semmer said.
“We need more help to keep it from being converted to other uses.”
Realizing these threats, the Boating Advisory Board under Florida Fish and Wildlife has formed a committee to address the challenges that working waterfronts across the state are facing.
Semmer has joined three other representatives from Florida’s four “traditional” working waterfronts on the 14-member committee, which met for the first time this month.
Working waterfronts are addressed in state law under the Stan Mayfield Working Waterfronts Partnership, which says that the Department of Economic Opportunity should provide them with “technical assistance and support.”
The law also provides 2.5 percent of Florida Forever funds to this program, and a two-year competitive grant cycle.
But Semmer said after the recession in 2008, there hasn’t been much money in the budget to administer this program.
This new committee will investigate what can be done to help preserve working waterfronts, and make recommendations to the DEO.
“A lot of high taxes put the working waterfronts out of business,” said Semmer.
Because of San Carlos Island’s proximity to Estero island, she said, high taxes based on highest and best use, rather than current use, threaten working waterfront businesses.
Under a reduced tax incentive effective Jan 2010, property owners can apply for a special assessment and receive tax relief.
Currently, Lee is one of seven counties that provide this tax relief, with 48 parcels receiving 15 percent savings, according to a report from the Florida Department of Revenue.
Many property owners are unaware of this program, Semmer said.
In addition to taxes, these businesses also have to pay high submerged land leases.
Possible recommendations the committee could make to the DEO include changing the funding cycle for grants, which is currently only available every two years, and raising the number of grants funded.
“We are still working, we are a viable working waterfront. We have our designation from the state. After the recession, there wasn’t a lot of money to administer the program, but we’re trying to step it up again,” said Semmer.
In the meantime, Ostego Bay’s weekly tours continue, in hopes that the public will see value in the working waterfront community that Semmer and the advisory committee are trying to preserve.
Scott Dary, a local resident of Cape Coral, attended a tour with his wife on a recent Wednesday morning.
He said he often drives through the channel on his own boat with his friends and sees the shrimp fleet.
“We show people because it’s cool, and now we know more about it,” he said.
Tours go from the Ostego Bay Marine Science Center every Wednesday morning through season, weather permitting, and cost $20 per adult and $10 for children over 6.