It’s two steps forward and one step back for development on Perico Island.
Three petitions have been accepted to review a permit issued by the Southwest Florida Water Management District for development on Perico Island.
The petitions filed with the Florida Division of Administrative Hearings challenge the permit issued for four single-family homes in August to developer Pat Neal.
The land on Perico Island owned through a trust by Neal and his family consists of 40 acres of waterfront property. Neal plans to build four homes on four of the acres.
The petitioners — former Manatee County Commissioner Joe McClash, the Florida Institute for Saltwater Heritage and ManaSota-88 — assert the permit allows for insufficiently mitigated destruction of wetlands.
FISH is a nonprofit established in 1991 that is dedicated to preserving the cultural, historical and ecological resources of the Cortez fishing community. ManaSota-88 is a local environmental watchdog group founded in 1968.
The three petitions consolidated Oct. 31 request an administrative review of the Swiftmud permit. McClash said the Manatee County chapter Fishing for Freedom and the local Sierra Club have indicated they also will join the effort.
The Sierra Club is an environmental group involved in activism on local and national levels. FFF is a group comprised primarily of commercial fishers. It focuses mainly on sustainable commercial fishing practices.
McClash attended FISH’s Nov. 3 board meeting to speak to members about going forward. He said they could hire an attorney or he could, if they agreed, serve as the “qualified representative” on FISH’s behalf.
After brief discussion, FISH members agreed unanimously to have McClash represent the group. He was accepted Nov. 13 as the representative by DOAH.
McClash also urged FISH to send a letter to the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is considering a permit for the development.
The U. S. Fish and Wildlife reviewed the Army Corps of Engineers’s pending permit and in June sent a letter recommending denial of the permit because of the sensitive wetland areas to be affected and the project being non-water dependent.
“I’ve had good conversations with the Swiftmud attorneys. This is fact-based and it’s better than letting it go through without challenging it,” McClash told FISH board members.
He said he enlisted a water-quality specialist to serve as an expert witness and solicited other possible expert witnesses from FISH.
John Stevely, a FISH board member and former agent for the Florida Sea Grant Extension Service, offered to help compile factual evidence for the case.
And factual evidence is key.
The land trust filed a motion to dismiss Nov. 3 citing a lack of factual evidence, proof of substantial interest or injury of fact.
The motion to dismiss asserts that the evidence supplied thus far isn’t sufficient to rise above “a speculative level.”
The motion states the only allegations establishing standing are that McClash owns property in the “undefined and unidentified ‘drainage district,’ uses the ‘area adjacent to the area impacted’ for recreational activities, has been involved in the protection of wetlands and waters in the area, and that he would suffer an economic injury by alleged increased insurance costs.”
The motion claims that the “alleged injuries are remote, speculative and lack immediacy” and McClash “does not have standing merely because he uses the area for recreational activities.”
The land trust filed another motion to dismiss Nov. 19 challenging FISH’s standing.
McClash responded Nov. 6 to the challenge from the Neal trust, saying that, as the representative for FISH, he is preparing a response to the challenge of its standing.
“I really feel they’re setting a stage for future mangrove destruction,” McClash said, referring to planned developments in the area. “With the destruction of these mangroves, we might as well kiss Long Bar and Terra Ceia goodbye.”
The homes planned by Neal on Perico Island would be for his immediate family members, Neal said. The Bradenton City Council approved the site-plan for the project — now called Harbor Sound — in June.
Neal said in an earlier interview he has no plans to develop the remaining 36 acres of the Harbor Sound property after the four homes are built.
“Harbor Sound was always intended to be just four homes for our family,” he said.
A hearing has been set for Feb. 16-20 at Swiftmud’s Tampa Service Office, 7601 U.S. 301 N., Tampa.
More Perico development
Minto, the company developing Harbour Isle on Perico Island, is adding amenities to its project.
An Oct. 2 news release announced construction had begun on its beach club — a two-story, 23,000 square-foot building on the shore of Anna Maria Sound, an amenity for homeowners in the gated community.
Vegetation on the waterline was removed and will be replaced by a retaining wall to create an “unobstructed view” of the sound for clubhouse users. The project is expected to be competed by September 2015 and will include a beach area, 4,200-square-foot fitness center, second-floor lounge and bar, pool and a kayak launch, the release said.
Perico Island has seen its share of development plans.
Once farmland, the area was acquired in the late 1990s by Arvida Corp., which proposed an 886-unit condominium project with several 10- and 12-story structures. The land was annexed into the city of Bradenton and the project was approved by the city.
The approval was met with lawsuits alleging the site plan didn’t meet the requirements of the city’s comprehensive plan. Manatee County — which recently denied waterfront development on property owned by Long Bar Pointe —was one of the plaintiffs.
The development was whittled down to 668 units and Arvida changed its name to St. Joe Corp. By the mid-2000s, the developer lacked buyers for the $500,000 condominiums it planned to build. St. Joe had paid $2 million for the land.
The company sold the property in 2009 to Minto Communities LLC of Toronto and Fort Lauderdale for $8 million.
Minto submitted a site plan for Harbour Isle that included a series of “coach-home” complexes and Bradenton approved the plan in 2010.
According to Brady Woods, Bradenton development services and zoning manager, Minto is approved to build four midrise buildings at six-stories and two 10-story highrise buildings in Harbour Isle.
Minto senior vice president William Bullock said the height allowances were in place when Minto bought the property and plans are still being discussed. He added there is no time table for construction and plans are dependent on the real estate market.
The company began selling units in December 2010. Prices started around $225,000 when Harbour Isle opened its first community, Mangrove Walk, in 2011. Home prices now start at approximately $463,000.