Many Southwest Cape Coral residents plan to take to the streets on March 1 to protest the proposed development of 110 acres near Rotary Park.
“Anything that's going to possibly increase the risk of flooding in the area, we don’t want,” said Paul Bonasia, lead coordinator of Protect the Wetlands of Cape Coral.
Residents fear losing natural hurricane protection after homes flooded during Hurricane Ian in 2022.
The property owner, represented by Miloff Aubuchon Realty’s Annette Barbaccia, said they have conducted numerous studies to ensure the environmental impact is not too severe.
“We have drones that we will present at the upcoming hearings that show how the water surge came in from Ian,” Barbaccia said. “And they came from the west. So the people, for example, in Rose Garden were not protected by this mound. They were protected possibly by some of the wetlands and mangroves here.”
The property owner is seeking the city’s approval to change the land use to mixed use for only 110 acres of their 350-acre property. This could allow for hundreds of homes, a hotel, and a boardwalk along the riverfront south of Rotary Park and El Dorado Parkway.
“So the mangroves, where they're a little thick and lush, are not being touched at all,” Barbaccia said. “The area in the middle is like a pine with flats area.”
But Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation Environmental Policy Director Matt DePoalis said that is a difficult promise to keep.
“I think that the county and city’s approaches to building and wetlands don’t necessarily reflect the best science and our understanding of how wetlands work,” DePoalis said. “I think you're taking away a lot of the value of those systems if you're trying to squeeze in development into areas that, really, for the benefit of the wildlife, the environment, the water, and the communities around them, should be left in their wetland state.”
Residents like Bonasia plan to march in protest on March 1, ending near the potential Redfish Pointe entrance.
The next Cape Coral planning and zoning meeting is set for March 5.