The Florida Institute for Saltwater Heritage board voted Aug. 3 to oppose a federal permit for a Sarasota Bay development, citing concerns over potential impacts to wetlands and mangroves.
The board agreed to send a letter opposing the permit to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers by the Corps’ Aug. 7 comment deadline.
The permit application filed by developer Carlos Beruff is for a Longbar Pointe/Aqua by the Bay project named Sea Spray, a large residential and commercial development proposed along the eastern shoreline of Sarasota Bay.
Beruff wants fill to be placed on 3.07 acres of wetlands associated with the development. Plans also include an 8- to 10-foot-high gabion wall, a retaining structure made from rock-filled wire cages, along the landward side of tidal mangrove wetlands.
A permit is needed under federal laws, including the Clean Water Act.
Opponents of the plan maintain that the wall would alter water and sediment movement and prevent the mangroves from naturally migrating inland as sea levels rise, squeezing the habitat.
FISH board members during their meeting suggested the development project could be moved farther inland.
“You’ve got 450 acres. Push everything back a little bit so we don’t have to build a 10-foot wall along the mangroves,” Paul Dryfoos said.
He also objected to Beruff’s proposed wetland mitigation.
“They’re going to destroy a mangrove contiguous to our community and they’re going to restore three acres on Pine Island,” Dryfoos said. “I mean, it’s just, it’s insane.”
Board members said the project hits close to home because the development site lies three miles from their FISH Preserve, created on 95 acres on the east side of the fishing village as a buffer against development and to restore the habitat.
Board president David Cadmus pointed to years of work to restore the mangrove and wetlands in the preserve, resulting in a return of starfish, spider crabs, pipefish and seahorses.
“We’ve spent a lot of time and effort in restoring all that,” Cadmus said.
The board says the proposed development plan could damage similar coastal habitat and it unanimously approved sending the opposition letter.
In other news, the board unanimously voted to move forward with a tree-planting project on the preserve, authorizing up to $24,000 for native trees, equipment use and labor.