Clearing the air on November town council hearing
To the editor:
In your publication on Nov. 27 there are several statements made during a town council hearing in the article titled “In Split decision, town votes to protect critical wildlife area” that are incorrect pertaining to the proposed walkover at 8150 and 8170 Estero Boulevard.
As the owner of the property at 8150 Estero Boulevard where a proposed dune walkover has been proposed, I am writing to clear up the facts.
First, there would be no irreversible damage to the nesting birds because there are “no nesting birds” on the property where the walkover is located. This has been studied extensively by the FWC and the FDEP and the documents can be provided at the DOAH website.
Second, there is “no question” as to the location of the walkover. It is “not” located inside the Critical Wildlife Area. The walkover is outside the boundaries of the CWA. This also can be seen at the DOAH website.
Joanne Shamp stated “She stands with the FWC”, when in fact the FWC’s concerns were completely satisfied by us conforming to their requests, this also can be seen on the DOAH website.
Joanne Shamp also referenced a letter from DEP “stating the construction and use of the walkover would significantly disturb the environment. Again, check the DOAH website, no such statement was ever made by the DEP.
She also states that there was a letter from the FWC that the elevated walkover would discourage the nesting birds. She neglects to tell the rest of the story, the concern referenced by the FWC was addressed and satisfied to the FWC’s satisfaction by lowering the elevation of the walkover.
Rexann Hosafros stated “this is not the place to build something like this,” when in fact walkovers exist all over the state of Florida, many in critically sensitive areas. You, the reader, have seen them and know this. Walkovers provide a benefit to sensitive areas by concentrating foot traffic in one path thereby protecting the vegetation and wildlife from widespread damage. Walkovers are actually “encouraged” by the DEP in sensitive areas all over Florida.
Martha Collins, the attorney for the Audubon states that Kurt and I “claimed we own the land but could not prove it.” We never made a statement that we own the land. Kurt and I have a signed and executed lease with the State of Florida for the land which gives us ownership rights under the law.
In response to Gayle Crabtree-Pergoli’s comments, our walkover is not in the CWA, therefor no precedent is being made, any other attempts at permitting walkovers to the West of our property would be in the CWA and would not be allowed by the FDEP. And our walkover will not be open to the public, so her suggestion that there would be a sign out front “we have a walkover come on in” was comical.
Kurt and I had beach access when we purchased our properties. We lost our beach access in 2014 when Lee County moved the Mean High Water Line (MHL) in 2014. Our solution is a low-impact minor structure to restore beach access to our beachfront property.
The Town Management and Council are being influenced and manipulated by the special interests of the local Audubon members on the island. The Town and Audubon have lost every lawsuit they have filed to stop our walkover thus far, but the Audubon continues to perpetuate misinformation and twist the facts to gain public support.
You should be concerned! When will you be next! This could happen to you! Visit our website for our story of what really happened at www.beachaccessmatters.com. Get all the exact facts here. Read it for yourself. Every document pertaining to our walkover can be found by looking up Case No. 18-1451 at the website of the Florida Department of Administrative Hearings.
Ed Rood
Fort Myers Beach