Upper Captiva Community Panel

--WEB BASED VERSION OF UPPER CAPTIVA PLAN FOR WEBTV USERS--

GOAL 25: NORTH CAPTIVA (Upper Captiva). The North Captiva Community seeks to preserve its character, scale, fragile environment, and way of life by guiding future land use; transportation and roads; conservation and coastal management; Safety Harbor; shore and water quality, water and waste management; open space, recreation, and quality of life; and citizen participation and community education.

OBJECTIVE 25.1: FUTURE LAND USE. Preserve the traditional character, scale, and tranquility of the North Captiva community by continuing to limit the densities and intensities of use and development to sustainable levels that will not adversely impact the natural environment or overburden the existing infrastructure.

POLICY 25.1.1: The owner or agent for any rezoning, variance or special exception request within the North Captiva community must conduct at least one duly noticed public informational meeting on North Captiva where the owner or agent will provide a general overview of the project and answer questions from interested citizens. Lee County encourages zoning staff to participate in such public workshops. This meeting must be conducted before the application can be found sufficient. A minimum of ten days written notice of the public meeting must be given to the officers of the Upper Captiva Civic Association. The applicant is fully responsible for providing the meeting space and providing security measures as needed. Subsequent to this meeting, the applicant must provide County staff and the Upper Captiva Civic Association with a meeting summary document that contains the following information: the date, time, and location of the meeting; a list of attendees; a summary of the concerns or issues that were raised at the meeting; and a proposal for how the applicant will respond to any issues that were raised.

POLICY 25.1.2: Variances should be limited to unique, specifically authorized circumstances and be allowed only in situations where unnecessary hardship would otherwise occur; i.e., where all of the following criteria are met:

(a) the hardship cannot be corrected by other means allowed in the ordinances;

(b) strict compliance with the applicable regulations allows the property owner no reasonable use of the property;

(c) the variance will not constitute a grant of special privilege inconsistent with the limitation upon uses of other properties located on the same street and within the same Future Land Use category, unless denial of the variance would allow no reasonable use of the property;

(d) the applicant did not cause the need for the variance, and;

(e) the variance is not contrary to the spirit of the Land Development Code.

POLICY 25.1.3: The North Captiva community will draft and submit regulations or policies for Lee County to review, amend or establish as Land Development Code regulations applicable to North Captiva, based upon the unique nature of the community, its status as a bridgeless barrier island, the limitations on supporting infrastructure, and the seasonal nature of the demand upon public facilities.

POLICY 25.1.4: The location of North Captiva provides a view of the night sky that is virtually unparalleled in Lee County. Lee County and the North Captiva community will adopt and maintain land development regulations applicable to exterior residential and commercial lighting as a means to limit light pollution, light trespass and its potential detrimental effects on wildlife.

OBJECTIVE 25.2 TRANSPORTATION AND PATHWAYS. Ensure that the character of North Captiva is retained while providing adequate facilities for ingress, egress, and intra-island transportation consistent with property rights.

POLICY 25.2.1: Lee County will cooperate with the North Captiva community in the location and provision of public boat ramps, access facilities, and parking for the purpose of providing access to North Captiva from Pine Island and the mainland. Access should be both convenient and cost-effective for residents and their guests. Any costs to island residents must be minimized.

POLICY 25.2.2: Lee County will collaborate with the North Captiva community in maintaining its pathway system.

POLICY 25.2.3: Except for emergency events, public purposes, approved community needs, and permitted heavy construction equipment, internal combustion powered vehicles are banned from all pathways on North Captiva. Lee County will provide enforcement for this ban.

POLICY 25.2.4: The North Captiva community will collaborate with Lee County to develop, maintain, and enforce pathway, fire, safety standards.

OBJECTIVE 25.3: CONSERVATION AND COASTAL MANAGEMENT. Preserve, protect and enhance the natural resources, wildlife habitat, and natural beauty of North Captiva, by maintaining diverse and healthy native vegetation, clear offshore waters, diverse and abundant native marine life, wildlife resources, and by minimizing harm resulting from human activity.

POLICY 25.3.1: The North Captiva community will work with Lee County to support the efforts of the Federal and State authorities to preserve, protect, and enhance its positive environmental qualities. Lee County will involve the North Captiva community organizations in the planning process and will enforce these policies through land development regulations, if necessary.

POLICY 25.3.2: The North Captiva community and Lee County will cooperate to support the State of Florida’s efforts to protect and preserve the distinct environmental resources on North Captiva to the greatest extent possible, while addressing the other defined needs and objectives of the community. These resources include but are not limited to:

• · mangroves
• · the beach dune system, beach dune vegetation, and beach dune wildlife
• · coastal dunes, beaches, and coastal scrub vegetation
• · beach dune wildlife, including shorebird nesting habitat and sea turtle habitat
• · the marine habitat, including sea grass beds and fisheries

POLICY 25.3.3: It is the intent of the North Captiva community that, except for emergency events, public purposes, and human powered vehicles, vehicular traffic be banned from all beaches on North Captiva.

POLICY 25.3.4: The North Captiva community and Lee County will cooperate to stop the proliferation of exotic vegetation and nuisance pests.

OBJECTIVE 25.4: WATER AND WASTE MANAGEMENT. Ensure a high quality of living by managing natural resources and waste products in a way that is sustainable, cost effective, and agreeable to island residents and island taxpayers.

POLICY 25.4.1: The North Captiva community and Lee County will cooperate to conduct a feasibility study of cisterns and other water conservation systems, the long-term development of an island-wide potable water system, and the development of an island-wide wastewater treatment system. The feasibility study will include, but not limited to, costs estimates, new or innovative technologies, and funding assistance.

POLICY 25.4.2: The North Captiva community and Lee County will cooperate to conduct a potable water hydrology study to support potable water planning.

POLICY 25.4.3: Lee County will review, document, and compile a report on existing solid waste management practices and future options for the North Captiva community. This report will focus on residential, commercial, construction, horticulture, and special waste. Following this report, Lee County will present programmatic options that could be implemented to provide the North Captiva island community with a more comprehensive and uniform solid waste management system.

OBJECTIVE 25.5: OPEN SPACE, RECREATION, AND QUALITY OF LIFE. Lee County will seek to promote, protect, and enhance existing and potential open space, minimal recreational facilities and the quality of life for residents and visitors to North Captiva. The intent of these efforts is to enrich the island's aesthetic qualities while preserving its fragile barrier island character. At the same time, Lee County will consider the demands on a the island’s limited infrastructure.

POLICY 25.5.1: The North Captiva community and Lee County cooperate to preserve, protect, and enhance open space, passive recreation areas, and beach access points, regardless of size on North Captiva. This may be accomplished by Lee County acquiring property or conservation easements on private lands or vacant lots.

POLICY 25.5.2: The North Captiva community and Lee County will cooperate in the community’s efforts to obtain an accessible community facility and library for the purposes of meeting, recreation, and community education.

POLICY 25.5.3: The North Captiva community will work with Lee County, the State of Florida, and the National Parks Service and other agencies to provide appropriate new or enhanced greenways, ecological corridors, or recreational trail systems. These opportunities may include passive parks or nature and pedestrian trails, and may be developed through public/private partnerships.

OBJECTIVE 25.6: CITIZEN PARTICIPATION AND COMMUNITY EDUCATION. The North Captiva community will seek to enhance the community character, sustain natural resources, and involve the public in decisions that affect them, by providing educational and participation opportunities.

POLICY 25.6.1: Lee County will work with the North Captiva community to establish an electronic Document Clearing House, where copies of selected documents will be available. These documents will include permit applications, variance requests, staff reports, Hearing Examiner recommendations and resolutions, administrative variances, and changes to the Lee Plan and Land Development Code for any development on North Captiva, barrier islands, and Pine Island Sound. The county’s failure to provide or to provide in a timely manner a document to the Document Clearing House, or failure of the Document Clearing house to receive documents, will not constitute a defect in notice or bar a public hearing from occurring as scheduled.

POLICY 25.6.2: Lee County will involve the North Captiva community in planning processes that relate specifically to North Captiva and generally to barrier islands, island ingress and egress, and other changes that may affect the island and its environment.

POLICY 25.6.3: Through the Document Clearinghouse Lee County will provide notice to the North Captiva island community of proposed actions (i.e. zoning, construction projects) to be considered or undertaken by Lee County that will impact the island.

POLICY 25.6.4: Upon request Lee County will collaborate with the North Captiva island community to develop an understanding of natural resources by providing educational programs on energy conservation, solid waste management, hazardous waste, surface water runoff, septic maintenance, water conservation, xeriscaping, green building, harbor management, cultural resources, and history. The site for these programs will be located on North Captiva

OBJECTIVE 25.7: PUBLIC SAFETY. Preserve the character of North Captiva by providing for a law enforcement presence on North Captiva island.