ANNA MARIA – Despite attempts by neighbors to put a stop to mangrove removal at a Gull Drive home under construction, the developer received final approval on Feb. 16 to remove mangroves and construct a seawall.
With the consent of both the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), mangroves have been removed and construction of a 116-foot seawall began along the waterline at 111 Gull Drive beginning the week of Feb. 21.
“I have lost this battle and I accept that, but we haven’t lost the war; we’ve gained awareness of our environment. I’ve pulled the fire alarm on this,” said Ronnie Leto, an environmentalist and self-described whistleblower who lives across the canal from the Gull Drive property. “The sad part is, it’s not a homeowner doing this. It’s a developer doing this for profit.”
The property is owned by Sharp Real Estate Development of Hingham, Mass.
According to the Sharp Development website, “The private lot sits at the end of a cul-de-sac on a wide, open waterway” and has an expected list price of $6,195,000.
The work there had been stalled since December when neighbors reported mangrove removal to the FDEP and the city of Anna Maria.
“I was in my front yard putting up Christmas lights when I heard the machines,” Leto said in December. “I went out back and saw a backhoe ripping out mangroves.”
In a Dec. 18 email from Anna Maria Mayor Dan Murphy to The Sun, Murphy wrote, “The City received a complaint from a resident on Dec. 4, 2023, regarding the extensive removal and alteration of mangroves at 111 Gull Drive. As a result of this complaint, city staff visited the property and confirmed that mangroves had been removed and fill dirt had been added in its place.”
A permit for seawall construction had not been issued by the city and a stop work order was posted on the property on Dec. 6, according to Murphy.
“On Dec. 13, 2023, staff received several complaints from residents that mangroves had been removed yet again, despite the stop work order,” Murphy wrote. “One of the complainants shared a video of workers removing the mangroves and noted that the complainant called the Manatee County Sheriff to the site on the eve of Dec. 12, 2023. City staff visited the site on Dec. 13, 2023, and observed workers actively removing mangroves.”
Murphy wrote the stop work order had been removed and staff reposted it.
“The City of Anna Maria has confirmed that Mason Martin LLC, the contractor for the construction of the house at 111 Gull, was the entity that removed the mangroves,” Murphy wrote in a Dec. 19 email to The Sun.
FDEP issued an exemption on Sept. 19 for the construction of an approximately 116-foot seawall with a 2-foot-wide concrete cap and 815 square feet of backfill to level the property.
Following complaints the agency had received on Dec. 13 about mangrove removal, FDEP inspectors conducted a site visit on Dec. 22.
The FDEP final inspection report on released on Jan. 11 stated in part: “The inspection revealed that construction had commenced and a portion of the mangroves on the property were removed within the exempt activity’s footprint. Erosion control devices were installed upon request after the inspection.”
According to that report, 67 feet of mangroves had been removed, leaving 49 feet of mangrove fringe.
“The canal system is considered Waters of the United States (WOTUS) and is within retained waters. Therefore, additional authorization is required from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE),” the FDEP report stated. “The Department notified the property owner that they should continue to coordinate with USACE and to not continue construction until a USACE authorization is obtained.”
On Feb. 16, the USACE issued the required authorization, according to Army Corps spokesman David Ruderman.
“The authorization included a requirement that the applicant purchase mangrove credits from the Tampa Bay Mitigation Bank before construction of the proposed seawall,” Ruderman wrote in a Feb. 22 email to The Sun. “I don’t have any details on the dollar amount of the credit but have asked for that info and will pass it on if/when I get a response.”
The Army Corps of Engineers mitigation credits can provide wetland mitigation for impacts within its federal wetland mitigation service area, according to the Tampa Bay Mitigation bank website.
“Mitigation banking is a practice in which an environmental enhancement and preservation project is conducted by a public agency or private entity (“banker”) to provide mitigation for unavoidable wetland impacts within a defined region (mitigation service area),” according to the FDEP website. “The bank is the site itself, and the currency sold by the banker to the impact permittee is a credit, which represents the wetland ecological value equivalent to the complete restoration of one acre.”
Mitigation banks are authorized by a state permit, issued by either a water management district or the department, and by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a Mitigation Bank Instrument (MBI), according to FDEP.
“The cost of a ‘credit’ often seems high at first look (initially listed at $100K-$150K per credit); however, the cost is often significantly lower than the cost of designing and permitting on-site mitigation projects taking into consideration land costs, consulting and engineering fees, and delays in project implementation,” according to the Tampa Bay Mitigation website.
