More developments have unfolded in the Gasparilla Mobile Estates controversy and they are just as strange as the ones that preceded them. Residents have a new eviction notice, a new reason given by the property owner for them to leave and a big difference in appraisal amounts.

Mike Leslie, a resident of the little community just off island, has been watching closely what happens to his southern property while he’s at his home in Michigan. He is doing everything in his power to make sure that the people of the park can be allowed to keep their homes. It is a constant battle, to be sure, as they face a new challenge almost every week.

A new sidewalk and drainage program on Cape Haze will connect the Lemon Bay Conservancy’s Lemon Creek Wildflower Preserve and Charlotte County’s Amberjack Environmental Park. The project, called the Gasparilla Pines Pathway, is slated for completion on March 29, 2024. 

The Pathway’s right-of-way has just been cleared of trash left there from nearby mobile homes and illegal dumping after Hurricane Ian. Irene Slattery, vice president of the Lemon Bay Conservancy, said that the trash was dumped “from the intersection over to our gate.” 

The budget for the Pathway is $727,900, paid for by Charlotte County’s Placida Street and Drainage Municipal Service Benefit Unit, or MSBU. The design engineer and project architect is Johnson Engineering.