The proposal submitted by the property owner at 161/181 Gilchrist Ave. to the Boca Grande Historic Preservation Board earlier this year, one that was rejected by the Board, will be heard by the Lee County Hearing Examiner’s Office in September. The reason for the hearing, called for by the property owner, 161 Gilchrist, LLC on May 5, is to challenge the rejection based on the allegations that the Board failed to apply the correct law to the matter and did not provide “competent, substantial evidence” to support the denial. On May 17 the Hearing Examiner accepted the appeal and requested the county attorney to prepare a written submittal to explain why the request was or was not valid.
There were several reasons cited by the property owner’s attorney to argue the local board’s decision, most of which the Hearing Examiner said were irrelevant or outside their authority. However, they did say, “the only remaining issue raised in the Notice of Appeal for which the HEX does have authority is the question of whether there is competent substantial evidence on the record to support the denial, and any hearing on this matter should be limited as such.”

The Gasparilla Island Bridge Authority (GIBA) adopted a 2024 budget of $3,827,064 at their Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023 quarterly meeting, which also included drainage issues, salary and investments.
Board Chairman Ginger Watkins began the meeting by moving up a public comment from a customer regarding the expiration of her toll account funds. Non-agenda public comment is traditionally at the end of the meeting. After the comment, Watkins reminded that all 7,700 accounts and customers are treated exactly the same, and thanked the customer for coming. (Toll passes expire after one year.)
Executive Director Kathy Banson presented members with updated traffic and revenue figures for the first nine months of the 2023 fiscal year. Toll revenue was down by comparison with last year by 3 percent for discount passes and 12 percent in cash nondiscounted tolls. Overall traffic was down by 5 percent. Bridge openings were down 21 percent.

Mostly forgotten 1970s teen idol Leif Garrett is reputed to have told Justin Beiber not to believe his own publicity, as every “chicken hawk wants a piece of you.”

That might be an apt warning for the nation’s newest media travel darling destination, Boca Grande, which seems to have an endless supply of effusive travel writers highlighting the island in the last few months.

A new housing development has sprung up near SR 776 and Gulfstream Blvd., just west of the Home Depot. It is a temporary solution to continued housing problems for people in the area, due to Hurricane Ian.

The approximately 40 single wide mobile homes have been put in place and people have been moving in over the last two weeks. Only 18 families have been placed there so far, but according to a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) spokesperson, grass is beginning to replace bare dirt, and personal household items are visible on the small porches by the front doorways.