Historic Board makes boathouse, solar panel decisions and elects new chair

It was a busy Wednesday morning at the Boca Grande Community Center, as the Historic Preservation Board Meeting was called to order. The first item on the agenda was the Special Certificate of Appropriateness (SCA) Case 7th Street Boathouse and Marina Alterations (SCA2021-00021). “This is a non-contributing property that has been previously approved,” read Peter Blackwell, Lee County Planner and Zoning. “Replace the existing boathouse with a new design boathouse. That construction has not occurred yet, and what the applicant is asking for today is a revision to what was previously approved, I believe, in 2018. The main item that concerns staff or that’s relevant to staff review is the exterior elevations on the South elevation. Staff finds that none of these changes are really a change in the character of the building. It’s maritime industrial design either way, and they’re still keeping the metal siding.”