Three Lee County properties move closer to conservation, including Eden Oaks near Sanibel and a parcel near Cape Coral's Four Mile Cove

Three Lee County properties are one step closer to being preserved for the public.

At last week's meeting of a Conservation 20/20 citizens’ advisory subcommittee, members voted to advance two much-in-the-news waterfront parcels toward acquisition: Eden Oaks off Shell Point Boulevard near Sanibel in south Lee County and a Cape Coral piece near Four Mile Cove.

Developers had been eyeing both, to the dismay of neighbors, who'd mobilized in opposition. In fact, so many people showed up – including five Cape Coral city council members – that the meeting had to be moved to a larger room, said Cape Coral resident Jason Pim, who's been advocating for the land's preservation.

Last year, after residents called The Florida Department of Environmental Protection to report unauthorized dredging and mangrove clearing, the agency rebuked the city for more than four possible violations of state and federal rules, ordering it to stop all work and stabilize the area.

Read:Should a developer be allowed to destroy 30 acres of mangroves to build houses near Sanibel?

More:After residents complain, state halts Cape Coral's canal dredging and mangrove destruction

Paul Clinghan, the city's public works director, explained that workers were cleaning invasive exotics along a canal and kept going beyond the permitted 500 feet, “and in the process of doing that there were some mangroves that were removed," Clinghan said. "Typically, staff goes into a small area 80-120 feet with branches sticking over the water  and will clean the bank,” called  shoreline restoration. “The length of the canal that was choked off exceeded that 500 feet; they typically don’t encounter that.”

"Four people spoke in favor of 603 (the land near Shell Point) and 20 spoke in favor of 605 (land near Four Mile Cove)," county spokesman Tim Engstrom wrote in an email. 

A 67-acre parcel in Alva along Bedman Creek, which flooded disastrously during 2017’s Hurricane Irma, also moved forward, though another 10-acre Alva parcel under consideration didn’t.

The advisory committee, called the Conservation Land Acquisition and Stewardship Advisory Committee, had postponed a vote at its December meeting because not enough members showed up to make quorum. The committee reviews and makes recommendations to Lee County commissioners on parcels being considered for purchase, though the commissioners have the final say. 

Before any commission action, subsequent steps include setting two appraisals and beginning negotiations with the property owners. 

"I'm cautiously optimistic now," said Mary Tracy Sigman, who lives near the 306-acre Shell Point site, where 55 single-family homes were proposed. She'd been horrified at the idea that the property's abundant mangroves would be cleared to make way for a development that would put more people in the coastal high hazard zone and further strain the already sometimes-congested Shell Point Boulevard, the area's sole emergency access route.

Pim and others hoping to see the 194-acre Cape Coral parcel preserved were also gratified at the progress. He hopes it signals a growing awareness of the value of preservation.

"More and more people are realizing the importance of conservation," he said. "If you want to improve water quality, you’ve got to do right by the land."

– The News-Press staff writer Bill Smith contributed to this report.