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Collier commissioners allow North Naples neighborhood to continue mangrove restoration in Clam Bay
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Collier County moved Tuesday to quell an uprising in Pelican Bay over a mangrove restoration project.
Commissioners authorized the North Naples neighborhood to submit a permit application to state and federal environmental agencies to continue the 10-year restoration project in the Clam Bay ecosystem on the neighborhood’s western edge.
The restoration has been the bailiwick of a board of Pelican Bay business leaders and residents who oversee the Pelican Bay Services Division, a semi-autonomous arm of county government.
The board had feared a county takeover of the mangrove project and complained that the county was holding up an application to renew the restoration permit. The permit expires in July, but the county and Pelican Bay have asked for a one-year extension.
Pelican Bay residents urged commissioners Tuesday to let the neighborhood continue the job they started in 1998.
“There’s an old saying, ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,”’ said Alice “Kay” Potter, a founder of the Mangrove Action Group in Pelican Bay.
The decision splits related environmental concerns about water quality and sea grasses in the Clam Bay estuary into a separate permit to be pursued by Collier County.
Commissioner Fred Coyle cast the sole dissenting vote, saying commissioners should vote on a comprehensive plan for Clam Bay before parceling off part of the job to Pelican Bay.
“It really doesn’t make sense,” he said.
A task force convened by Collier County is working on a more comprehensive plan, including water quality, stormwater runoff from neighborhoods south of Pelican Bay and taking sand from Clam Pass to widen the county’s Clam Pass Park.
The task force includes representatives from the city of Naples, the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, the Seagate neighborhood and Pelican Bay.
Representatives from the city of Naples and Pelican Bay pledged to work together on the task force for the benefit of Clam Bay’s ecosystem.
“You can count on that,” Pelican Bay Services Division board member Ted Raia said.
Naples Councilwoman Penny Taylor told commissioners Tuesday that the city is willing to help pay its fair share of Clam Bay restoration.
“It’s time to move to a more inclusive status,” Councilman John Sorey wrote in a letter to commissioners.
Until now, the restoration has been a joint effort of Collier County government and Pelican Bay taxpayers with a one-time contribution from WCI, the developer of Pelican Bay.
The restoration was prompted by a 50-acre die-off of mangroves that scientists blamed on flooding from Pelican Bay runoff. Crews have dug shallow trenches through the mangroves and a channel from Clam Pass into the Clam Bay estuary to reduce the flooding.
The restoration has shown results, but more work is needed.
Earlier this year, Pelican Bay consultants reported that 70 acres of mangroves weren’t at optimum health in Clam Bay at the end of 2007.
The 70 acres include more than 10 acres of dead mangroves, 40 acres of “areas of concern” and 20 acres of the original die-off area that haven’t fully recovered.
The county paid for its own consultant study of Clam Bay’s health after Seagate Property Owners Association President David Buser complained that Pelican Bay’s effort has not paid attention to sea grasses and water quality in southern parts of Clam Bay.
Buser said Tuesday that Pelican Bay’s pursuit of a permit for mangrove restoration is really a bid for control of Clam Pass dredging to ensure Pelican Bay’s beach on the north side of the pass.
“Personally I feel this is a Trojan horse,” Buser said.
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OK so Collier County(we the taxpayers that don't get any say) The Pelican Bay taxpayers(the rich folks who live near there)and WCI(the FatCats that caused all of this to happen) are all paying to fix it. I wonder who is paying the most? Oh yeah, it's those of use that don't live there and didn't have anything to do with causing it to happen! Let's try this next time, I'll type s l o w so all you politicians can keep up. Don't allow places like this to be built near sensitive coastal or wetland areas. And thanks to Penny Taylor for assuring us that the City of Naples will contribute. Of course it's easy to be optomistic since in the next article the same Penny Taylor is tickled pink because the County,(remember kids, that's us taxpayers),is going to give the City 1 million a year for the next 10 years, (for parks and rec., and mangroves). If only I could find a way to sell common sense! Of course I'd have to give it away to the politicians, I'm sure they can't figure change. And I wouldn't forget about you school board folks either.
#1 Posted by ohyeah143 on April 23, 2008 at 1:31 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Talk about a bunch of hypocrits.They live in a community that bulldozed mother nature.Now,out of guilt they want something to hug.
#2 Posted by DeweyCox on April 23, 2008 at 7:55 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Special thanks to City Councilmen Penny Taylor and John Sorey for coming forward and insisting that City residents, and taxpayers, have a say regarding the environment of Outer Clam Bay. The real issue is that Collier County must control the inlet so that it can continue to place sand on the Public Beach. Pelican Bay has tried to control the inlet for years limiting dredging so sand accumulates on the private beach north of the pass resulting in severe erosion of the public beach south of the pass.
The Trojan Horse is that Pelcian Bay asked for more than just the ability to restore mangroves, they also asked to manage the hydrology which means Clam Pass. Commissioners beware! If you give Pelican Bay control of Clam Pass you will loose the ability to get sand for the public beach at Clam Pass Park. The public will suffer while Pelican Bay's "martini beach" at the private beach facility north of Clam Pass continues to grow.
Don't keep giving our taxpayer money to a County Board made solely of individuals of a private homeowners group (Pelican Bay Services Division) which consistantly attempts to manage the inlet to their private benefit at the public's expense. Please work with all concerned citizens regarding issues in the estuary. Remember, Collier County, not Pelican Bay, is the largest landowner in the Clam Bay estuary.
#3 Posted by davidbuser on April 23, 2008 at 8 a.m. (Suggest removal)
My idea of putting a toll booth the exit gate at Pelican Bay will solve all our problems. Charge them 25 dollars every time they want to exit the community. And just to show you what a great guy I am, 4 cents of every 25 dollars collected will go to teacher salaries. The 10% of the money will go to building a barbed wire, electric fence around Pelican Bay with machine gun turrets to keep the residents in line.
The rest of the cash will go to building a 5000 foot pier at Vanderbuilt Beach and a boardwalk on the beach behind Pelican Bay only for the rest of us!
#4 Posted by RadioNews on April 23, 2008 at 8:13 a.m. (Suggest removal)
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