It’s not looking good for a proposed Perico Island development.
Harbor Sound, the proposed development, got a green light from the city of Bradenton and Manatee County more than a year ago. In August 2014, the Southwest Florida Water Management District delivered its notice of intent-to-issue a permit.
Then came the stop signs.
The intent-to-issue notice allows time for challenges, and local environmentalists lined up against the intent for approval, which now awaits judgment from an administrative hearing judge.
And, most recently, a March 19 letter from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers indicated the corps, and three other federal agencies oppose the project.
The letter by Kevin O’Kane, Tampa section chief of the corps, said, the corps could not recommend issuing the permit.
O’Kane said in the letter sent to a land trust operated by developer Pat Neal and his family that the plan is not in compliance with the Clean Water Act. He added that it is contrary to public interest and reasonable alternatives were not considered.
Under the Clean Water Act, the federal agency in charge of protecting wetlands is the corps.
The letter included comments from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Environmental Protection Agency and National Marine Fisheries Service. The agencies scrutinized the plan and determined the project would destroy vital mangrove habitat for a non-water dependent purpose.
Neal wants to fill 1.05 acres of mangrove wetlands for the construction of a residential subdivision. Four homes built on nearly 3 acres are proposed on the northwest side of Perico Island, fronting Anna Maria Sound.
The project area rests on 40 acres owned by Neal on Perico Island, adjacent to the Harbour Isle development. The sizes of the homes are described in the corps letter to be between 9,000 and 12,813 square feet.
According to the letter, NMFS designated the area as an essential fish habitat. The EPA noted mangrove wetlands are one of the most biologically diverse ecosystems and are an “aquatic resource of national importance.”
The EPA designation is partly due to the decline of mangrove wetlands in western Florida because of development.
Officials from FWS visited the site and reported “abundant wildlife” in the area.
“This is precisely what FISH, ManaSota-88 and Sierra are worried about with the SWFWMD permit — the precedent this would set,” Cortez environmentalist Jane von Hahmann wrote in an email.
“Though this may seem small, only 1.05 acres, that equals 43 percent of the site. Now take that percentage and apply it to say Long Bar Pointe or the undeveloped shoreline in Terra Ceia. That impact of up to 43 percent would be huge.”
Von Hahmann is a Florida Institute for Saltwater Heritage board member and former Manatee County commissioner. FISH is one of three environmental organizations challenging the Swiftmud permit.
Former Manatee County Commissioner Joe McClash also has challenged the permit.
The developers had 30 days to respond to the letter, making their deadline April 19.