WINK LISTENS: Port Charlotte boaters say decades-old canal decision still slowing access to open water

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. (WINK) — For Jerry Chiderster, living on the water doesn’t mean easy access to it.

Chiderster brought his concerns to WINK News anchor Liz Biro at a recent WINK Listens event in Port Charlotte, hoping to get answers.

From his backyard along Manchester Waterway, what should be a quick boat ride to open water can take up to an hour at idle speed.

“This boat hasn't left in a year. That boat hasn't left in a year,” Chiderster said. “There’s a sailboat that's been down there for four years. I haven't seen it move because it can't get out.”

Chiderster said the issue dates back decades, when a canal connection was plugged during the installation of a boat lock in the late 1970s.

The lock was later removed in 2007 after being deemed unnecessary, but the canal connections remained closed.

“They pulled the lock out, that’s fine, but they won’t do anything about this one,” Chiderster said.

At an October 2025 Charlotte County Commission meeting, Commissioner Stephen Deutsch said those closures may have been a mistake.

“The State goofed up, or we goofed up because it should have been part of that original project,” Deutsch said.

The idea of reopening those connections is not new. A feasibility study was completed in 2019, and in 2022, the county issued a request for proposals to design and permit possible cut-throughs at Christopher, O’Hara, and Como waterways.

Despite those efforts, the project has not moved forward. At that meeting last year, commissioners voted not to pursue the project, citing cost, fairness and lack of public support.

A county survey found about 25% of respondents supported the project, while roughly 75% opposed it.

“It wasn't an objective survey… it scared the heck out of everybody,” Deutsch said.

Commissioners also raised concerns about whether it would be fair to charge thousands of property owners, including those who may not directly benefit.

“It just…it was not equitable to me,” Commissioner Joseph Tiseo said.

There were also questions about environmental impacts and whether the project would receive necessary permits.

For residents like Chiderster, the decision leaves the issue unresolved.

“There’s no water flow through here, it’s only what washes down to us,” he said.

Neighbors say reopening the canal could improve water flow and reduce long travel times to open water.

For now, however, the project remains off the table.