What is (or should be) the most important issue facing Captiva over the next five years?
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We are against any attempt to widen Captiva Drive. The Safety Shoulder project should be renamed the Death Shoulder. With all the driveways and vegetation, any biker is in danger when cars and trucks pull out of the driveways. When pulling out of a driveway you don’t expect to be confronted with a bike path, especially the out of town folks and their children that are renting. It is an accident waiting to happen. There are plenty of bike paths in Sanibel for families to bike and walk, and rollerblade. If one wants to bike or walk to the Village, they can walk along our beautiful beaches. Our family does this often. Safety is a major concern.
What about the liability issues if there is an accident — is hte Captiva property owner responsible and not the County? This is a critical issue that must be addressed.
The next concern is privacy and crime. The driveways and properties are very tempting and more vulnerable for anyone biking or walking to explore. When we were making dinner one night, a strange woman arrived IN MY KITCHEN and said she was sorry — just wanted to see the house, didn’t see a car and the door was unlocked. Quite a few times we have seen bikers urinating and also doing more than that in the bushes on the gulf side (nicer landscaping, we guess). The shoulder would give people more opportunity to go down the driveways to the homes.
We have had squatters in our current home, and at our former Captiva residences on multiple occasions over the past 25 years. A Safety Shoulder may tempt people to stop & looky-loo in front of residences and possibly increase the incidence of squatters.
The third main concern is our landscaping and vegetation. How quickly we all forget how beautiful and lush and charming Captiva Drive used to be before the previous widening and the hurricane. We have lived on the island for over 20 years and the landscaping was so incredibly beautiful and tropical. The hurricane devastated our Captiva Drive landscape. Many of us have already started to beautify and relandscape our properties. Why rip it up?
A super-wide road on such a tiny island is so unnecessary. Please do not pave over paradise just because the County has funds to do it.
Our concerns are safety. liability, privacy, crime and landscape beautification. Please do not add a safety “Death” Shoulder.
-Leslie and Tim Wolff
The most important issue facing Captiva is water quality.
Recreation, property values, etc. will continue to be adversely affected if we continue to swim in questionable waters and have doubts about the matter floating by: red drift algae, dead aquatic flora or fauna or worse.
Everything we do on this barrier island will continue to be devalued if we can’t clean up our water and if we continue dumping waste water and worse into the surrounding waters because of failing septic systems.
The second most important issue is the failure to replace the canopy. Thanks to the Panel, we have been given subsidies to plant native vegetation in the canopy area. I have placed a number of native trees on my properties in the appropriate area, but I have to ask: what more will be done by the Panel and property owners to help restore our wonderful vegetative canopy?
Safety Shoulders, Water Quality, or Tree Canopy are all chump change compared to the overriding issue: Captiva’s ambivalence about any and all strategic or tactical issues which affect the community. A couple of dozen or more Captiva residents and businesses go to the meetings, participate in the decisions, understand any of the surveys or show an interest in helping get anything done. As such, virtually nothing gets done and the “power brokers” presiding on Chapin Lane foister their wills on Captiva and impede progress at every turn.
Indeed, unless and until more Captivans get involved, we deserve whatever the crazies decide to shove down our throats; after all, we offer little objection as we take whatever is thrown at us.
We need to greatly reduce fertilizer utilization in order to improve our ground water and decrease nutrient loads in surrounding bodies of water. Provided we gain substantial compliance from the public, fertilizer regulations being applied throughout SW Florida and proposed for Lee County will seriously help. However, valued plantings (“pets” to some of us) cannot become the victims of fertilizer regulations/restrictions or the plans won’t work, as such is highly dependant on voluntary compliance.
As an avid gardener, I have long considered the fact that our barrier island soil condition (especially pH) is too sweet (alkaline) for most ornamental plantings. This is a consequence of unusually high calcium levels (shells, etc.), with contributing factors from well water (mine tests at pH 8.2) and even town water which can be sweeter than required, etc. I have gotten some ideas from Stephen Brown, Lee County extension agent, re the use of acidifiers such as elemental sulfur, iron and acid forming fertilizers such as ammonium sulfate. These products help amend the pH to be more neutral to slightly acidic when applied in accordance with the label directions.
Creating a proper pH (neutral to slightly acidic) resulted in many of my own specimens getting more out of the available nutrients while decreasing fertilizer applications. In a more neutral to slightly acidic soil condition, many acid loving plants require considerably less fertilizer than otherwise. Many such plants: bougainvillea, ixora, croton, hibiscus, gardenia, and certain palms, etc. cannot properly utilize required nutrients including trace minerals in our more typically alkaline (sweet) soil condition, thus the tendency is to add fertilizer, rather than understand the problem. Some, such as the Sabal (cabbage) palms, yucca, and sea grape thrive in our more alkaline environment. A soil test is essential and will help you determine the conditions appropriate to nurture your own prized plantings.
I think much more pH and soil condition education must be made available to help local gardeners, landscapers, growers and other practitioners of horticulture with better understanding of pH balance and it’s impact on nutrient utilization for specific species. This may enhance the effectiveness of fertilizer regulations as compared to implementing restrictions alone. Essentially the goal is to help practitioners and homeowners to get a more effective bang from any fertilizer application, thus requiring less fertilizer and fewer applications. This is necessary to gain greater compliance with what would otherwise be difficult rules to enforce.
Effective January 15, 2008; South Florida Adopts One-Day-a-Week Watering.
South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) Governing Board Chairman Eric Buermann, said of the new watering restrictions “… they represent the most stringent landscape irrigation measures that this agency has ever had to impose…”
About two years ago, with guidance from Captiva homeowner, Stephen Cutler, I started converting irrigation systems on my properties to make use of “drip form” and “micro-jet” irrigation systems which apply water in a very targeted fashion directly to the roots. Such systems avoid inefficient overhead spraying. Why this is better is that they conserve valuable water, discourage weed growth, save money AND are NOT restricted! According to SWFWMD, “Low-volume irrigation, including the use of drip and microjet systems that apply water directly to plant root zones, is not restricted…” In addition to such water conservation measures, I have
We need to follow the new restrictions and/or convert to “Low-volume irrigation, including the use of drip and microjet systems …”
“Time and tide wait for no man,” says the old proverb. Without doubt, neither will wait for Sanibel and Captiva to come to grips with dangerous sewage in our waters.
We well recall this year’s repeated beach closings. And last year, visitors became ill from eating local shellfish. Once again, E-coli was found, waters and beaches were closed. At the time, Sanibel Mayor Mick Denham and other politicians protested the problem. Fingers were pointed, wheels were spun, and an allegedly “offending” package plants was purchased by the city. As is wont to happen, the tide turned, washing away the symptoms along with the resolve.
Time, if not the tides, will tell whether concrete steps will have been taken to address our underlying water quality predicament.
As to the meeting discussed in the December 22, Captiva Current article, re Sanibel/Captiva water quality cooperation: some of us had been informed that Sanibel had spare sewage capacity. We were quickly disabused of this notion on December 14 when Mayor Denham announced his earlier notions of sufficient capacity were wrong.
In essence, the meeting revealed that Sanibel is positively encouraging: that is, positively encouraging Captiva to help itself.
In addition to offering unspecified cooperation, the Mayor stressed that Captivans consider adopting voluntary measures regarding septic maintenance and inspections. Alas, the severity of the “e-coli” message seems to have gone out with the tide and we can expect to see little action about this until the next beach closure headline and consequent frantic political protestations. When that happens, and it WILL happen, we should expect zero recognition that today’s actions (or inactions) will have only represented a Pyrrhic victory.
How many beach closings or sick visitors will it take for our governments–both Lee County and Sanibel–to do more than just create an appearance of action? We all claim to recognize the obvious risks of poor water quality to health, economy, and quality of life. But, do we?
I’m tempted to say politicians too often choose to put their heads in the sand, but perhaps in this case, doing so is precluded by the fact that the sand may well have been polluted by gratuitous effluent.
June 27th, 2007 at 11:44 am
We are against any attempt to widen Captiva Drive. The Safety Shoulder project should be renamed the Death Shoulder. With all the driveways and vegetation, any biker is in danger when cars and trucks pull out of the driveways. When pulling out of a driveway you don’t expect to be confronted with a bike path, especially the out of town folks and their children that are renting. It is an accident waiting to happen. There are plenty of bike paths in Sanibel for families to bike and walk, and rollerblade. If one wants to bike or walk to the Village, they can walk along our beautiful beaches. Our family does this often. Safety is a major concern.
What about the liability issues if there is an accident — is hte Captiva property owner responsible and not the County? This is a critical issue that must be addressed.
The next concern is privacy and crime. The driveways and properties are very tempting and more vulnerable for anyone biking or walking to explore. When we were making dinner one night, a strange woman arrived IN MY KITCHEN and said she was sorry — just wanted to see the house, didn’t see a car and the door was unlocked. Quite a few times we have seen bikers urinating and also doing more than that in the bushes on the gulf side (nicer landscaping, we guess). The shoulder would give people more opportunity to go down the driveways to the homes.
We have had squatters in our current home, and at our former Captiva residences on multiple occasions over the past 25 years. A Safety Shoulder may tempt people to stop & looky-loo in front of residences and possibly increase the incidence of squatters.
The third main concern is our landscaping and vegetation. How quickly we all forget how beautiful and lush and charming Captiva Drive used to be before the previous widening and the hurricane. We have lived on the island for over 20 years and the landscaping was so incredibly beautiful and tropical. The hurricane devastated our Captiva Drive landscape. Many of us have already started to beautify and relandscape our properties. Why rip it up?
A super-wide road on such a tiny island is so unnecessary. Please do not pave over paradise just because the County has funds to do it.
Our concerns are safety. liability, privacy, crime and landscape beautification. Please do not add a safety “Death” Shoulder.
-Leslie and Tim Wolff
June 27th, 2007 at 12:37 pm
The most important issue facing Captiva is water quality.
Recreation, property values, etc. will continue to be adversely affected if we continue to swim in questionable waters and have doubts about the matter floating by: red drift algae, dead aquatic flora or fauna or worse.
Everything we do on this barrier island will continue to be devalued if we can’t clean up our water and if we continue dumping waste water and worse into the surrounding waters because of failing septic systems.
The second most important issue is the failure to replace the canopy. Thanks to the Panel, we have been given subsidies to plant native vegetation in the canopy area. I have placed a number of native trees on my properties in the appropriate area, but I have to ask: what more will be done by the Panel and property owners to help restore our wonderful vegetative canopy?
July 30th, 2007 at 10:23 pm
Looking Ahead for Captiva.
Safety Shoulders, Water Quality, or Tree Canopy are all chump change compared to the overriding issue: Captiva’s ambivalence about any and all strategic or tactical issues which affect the community. A couple of dozen or more Captiva residents and businesses go to the meetings, participate in the decisions, understand any of the surveys or show an interest in helping get anything done. As such, virtually nothing gets done and the “power brokers” presiding on Chapin Lane foister their wills on Captiva and impede progress at every turn.
Indeed, unless and until more Captivans get involved, we deserve whatever the crazies decide to shove down our throats; after all, we offer little objection as we take whatever is thrown at us.
October 24th, 2007 at 12:13 pm
We need to greatly reduce fertilizer utilization in order to improve our ground water and decrease nutrient loads in surrounding bodies of water. Provided we gain substantial compliance from the public, fertilizer regulations being applied throughout SW Florida and proposed for Lee County will seriously help. However, valued plantings (“pets” to some of us) cannot become the victims of fertilizer regulations/restrictions or the plans won’t work, as such is highly dependant on voluntary compliance.
As an avid gardener, I have long considered the fact that our barrier island soil condition (especially pH) is too sweet (alkaline) for most ornamental plantings. This is a consequence of unusually high calcium levels (shells, etc.), with contributing factors from well water (mine tests at pH 8.2) and even town water which can be sweeter than required, etc. I have gotten some ideas from Stephen Brown, Lee County extension agent, re the use of acidifiers such as elemental sulfur, iron and acid forming fertilizers such as ammonium sulfate. These products help amend the pH to be more neutral to slightly acidic when applied in accordance with the label directions.
Creating a proper pH (neutral to slightly acidic) resulted in many of my own specimens getting more out of the available nutrients while decreasing fertilizer applications. In a more neutral to slightly acidic soil condition, many acid loving plants require considerably less fertilizer than otherwise. Many such plants: bougainvillea, ixora, croton, hibiscus, gardenia, and certain palms, etc. cannot properly utilize required nutrients including trace minerals in our more typically alkaline (sweet) soil condition, thus the tendency is to add fertilizer, rather than understand the problem. Some, such as the Sabal (cabbage) palms, yucca, and sea grape thrive in our more alkaline environment. A soil test is essential and will help you determine the conditions appropriate to nurture your own prized plantings.
I think much more pH and soil condition education must be made available to help local gardeners, landscapers, growers and other practitioners of horticulture with better understanding of pH balance and it’s impact on nutrient utilization for specific species. This may enhance the effectiveness of fertilizer regulations as compared to implementing restrictions alone. Essentially the goal is to help practitioners and homeowners to get a more effective bang from any fertilizer application, thus requiring less fertilizer and fewer applications. This is necessary to gain greater compliance with what would otherwise be difficult rules to enforce.
Mike
December 15th, 2007 at 11:46 am
Effective January 15, 2008; South Florida Adopts One-Day-a-Week Watering.
South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) Governing Board Chairman Eric Buermann, said of the new watering restrictions “… they represent the most stringent landscape irrigation measures that this agency has ever had to impose…”
About two years ago, with guidance from Captiva homeowner, Stephen Cutler, I started converting irrigation systems on my properties to make use of “drip form” and “micro-jet” irrigation systems which apply water in a very targeted fashion directly to the roots. Such systems avoid inefficient overhead spraying. Why this is better is that they conserve valuable water, discourage weed growth, save money AND are NOT restricted! According to SWFWMD, “Low-volume irrigation, including the use of drip and microjet systems that apply water directly to plant root zones, is not restricted…” In addition to such water conservation measures, I have
We need to follow the new restrictions and/or convert to “Low-volume irrigation, including the use of drip and microjet systems …”
Mike Mullins
https://my.sfwmd.gov/portal/page?_pageid=3074,20103213&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL
http://www.lee-county.com/utilities/Autopage_T2_R162.htm
December 24th, 2007 at 4:34 pm
It’s Deja “Poo,” all over again
“Time and tide wait for no man,” says the old proverb. Without doubt, neither will wait for Sanibel and Captiva to come to grips with dangerous sewage in our waters.
We well recall this year’s repeated beach closings. And last year, visitors became ill from eating local shellfish. Once again, E-coli was found, waters and beaches were closed. At the time, Sanibel Mayor Mick Denham and other politicians protested the problem. Fingers were pointed, wheels were spun, and an allegedly “offending” package plants was purchased by the city. As is wont to happen, the tide turned, washing away the symptoms along with the resolve.
Time, if not the tides, will tell whether concrete steps will have been taken to address our underlying water quality predicament.
As to the meeting discussed in the December 22, Captiva Current article, re Sanibel/Captiva water quality cooperation: some of us had been informed that Sanibel had spare sewage capacity. We were quickly disabused of this notion on December 14 when Mayor Denham announced his earlier notions of sufficient capacity were wrong.
In essence, the meeting revealed that Sanibel is positively encouraging: that is, positively encouraging Captiva to help itself.
In addition to offering unspecified cooperation, the Mayor stressed that Captivans consider adopting voluntary measures regarding septic maintenance and inspections. Alas, the severity of the “e-coli” message seems to have gone out with the tide and we can expect to see little action about this until the next beach closure headline and consequent frantic political protestations. When that happens, and it WILL happen, we should expect zero recognition that today’s actions (or inactions) will have only represented a Pyrrhic victory.
How many beach closings or sick visitors will it take for our governments–both Lee County and Sanibel–to do more than just create an appearance of action? We all claim to recognize the obvious risks of poor water quality to health, economy, and quality of life. But, do we?
I’m tempted to say politicians too often choose to put their heads in the sand, but perhaps in this case, doing so is precluded by the fact that the sand may well have been polluted by gratuitous effluent.