Some of the questions had answers, and some of those answers didn’t sit well with many of the almost 100 people present for a Matlacha Civic Association meeting with Lee County government officials as guests.
Some shouting between Matlacha property owners and Lee County government employees and District 1 Commissioner Kevin Ruane ensued in the parking lot of the RE/MAX Sunshine office off Pine Island Road in the middle of the island the evening of Oct. 28. The civic association’s previous meeting place was destroyed by Hurricane Ian two years ago.
“Matlacha is the gateway to Pine Island and we are restoring its beauty again,” civic association President Carol Scott said in her opening remarks. “We will capture Old Florida in a more, safe and resilient way.” She talked of partnering with Pine Island’s association and possibly forming a special district to help streamline government assistance in the future.
“The civic associations together are helping rebuild business and bring back the novelty, unique cultures of these islands,” Scott said.
The shouting matches began a few minutes later, after the county did not give a clear timetable as to when all storm debris would be cleared. That prompted association Vice President Stephen Longest to intervene. He grabbed the microphone and told the crowd to take their figurative pitchforks to the voting booths or go home, at which point some did.
“There’s no need to be rude,” Longest said.
Lee County Manager Dave Harner attempted to explain some of the holdup to Matlacha’s post-Ian cleanup from Sept. 28, 2022, let alone hurricanes Helene and Milton.
“During Ian, we had worked with [the Federal Emergency Management Agency],” Harner said. “We thought we were in compliance (with the flood insurance codes). About a year later, they were concerned about how we were in compliance. We started a corrective action plan.”
“FEMA writes the checks,” Ruane said.
The meeting did not end without encouraging news. Lee County Transportation Director Rob Price said the westbound lane of Pine Island Road is contractually scheduled to be completed by Jan. 31, 2025.
The eastbound lane is operational, but for now traffic has to be stopped each way for cars to pass before being reversed.
The entire stretch of Pine Island Road from Stringfellow Road on Pine Island to Burnt Store Road in Cape Coral will be resurfaced. That project is scheduled to be finished by the end of 2025, Price said.
Plans for a shared-use path for walkers and bikers alongside Pine Island Road had to be shelved because the state’s Department of Transportation decided not to fund it. But the Matlacha bridge will be equipped with a shared-use path in the future.
“We have put 60-foot sheet piles into the ground,” Price said of the road portion Ian had washed away. Gone is the base of shells, replaced with an asphalt and rock base.
“We have resiliency,” Price said. “We have restored and protected the entire roadway, so we won’t see it like with Ian the entire road being washed away.”
The county also tweaked the timing of stoplights, allowing more traffic to get off the island earlier in the day and more to return at the end of it.
The Historic Preservation Board’s guidelines conflict with modern-day, hurricane-resistant building codes. For property owners to rebuild to modern codes, they first have to go through the Historic Preservation Board. Lee County Community Development Zoning Manager Anthony Rodriguez said work classified as ordinary maintenance and repair or work that does not otherwise impact the character of historic building or property are reviewed and approved through the building permit application review process. All other work must be reviewed and approved by the Historic Preservation Board through the issuance of a Special Certificate of Appropriateness.
Earlier in the afternoon of Oct. 28, the county’s Historic Preservation Board met in downtown Fort Myers and agreed to allow Matlacha and other historic district property owners to elevate their buildings up to 10 feet above current ground levels without Historic Preservation Board permission to help avoid the storm surges that inundated Matlacha following hurricanes Ian, Helene and Milton.
Matlacha resident Kathleen Walsh joined the Historic Preservation Board four months ago in part to give her neighbors a voice. She noted a property owner who was not allowed to build a modern building on Matlacha and another who was not allowed to elevate her home, only to have it destroyed by Helene and Milton.
“Our goal is for the Historic Preservation Board to make it easier for Matlacha,” Walsh said. “We want for people to not only raise their homes, but we want them to be able to park underneath.”
Walsh said she wants the island to be able to rebuild with resiliency while still maintaining its historic charm.
“I don’t think you have to sacrifice one for the other,” Walsh said. “I think we can achieve both.”
Scott said she envisioned a day when elevated Matlacha art galleries would be connected by an elevated community boardwalk.
“I don’t know if that’s going to happen,” Scott said. “But it’s a dream of mine.”
Scott also advocated for creating a special district, a step that falls short of incorporation but would give Matlacha a bigger voice.
“We need to pull ourselves together,” Scott said. “We need to get more voices. More voices create more strength.”
Matlacha resident Michael Gajor, who owns his own web design business Domain Masters, walked his mini golden doodle Kiwi to the meeting. Hurricane Ian filled his nearby home with storm surge, and since then, he has been living in the driveway in a camper. Only earlier this month, two years later, did Gajor receive money from his insurance company.
“I’m in talks with a builder, and I’m in talks with a demolition company,” Gajor said. He has yet to decide whether to refurbish the existing structure or demolish it and start over with fresh construction.
“It’s a fuzzy budget,” Gajor said. “I’m keeping my fingers crossed.”