Harbor master: Fort Myers Beach charter should clarify 1,000-foot boundary around Big Carlos Pass; dredging is county responsibility

Curtis Ludwig, the town's harbor master, told the Fort Myers Beach Charter Review Commission on Dec. 2 that the Big Carlos Pass Inlet Management Plan (Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Oct. 2024) draws a 1,000-foot perimeter around Big Carlos Pass and its adjacent waters. "It literally has a line drawing around the perimeter of Big Carlos Pass," Ludwig said, adding that the perimeter "goes all the way down the island into the gulf, 1,000 feet outside the gulf" and "circles the entire island."

Ludwig said that, while canals inside the perimeter are under town jurisdiction, the management plan assigns responsibility for dredging the inlet to Lee County. "We are not responsible for the dredging of that inlet. That falls under Lee County," he said. Commissioners asked for the harbor master's map and recommended staff and the town attorney research the legal description to make charter language explicit.

Commission members raised practical questions about specific neighborhoods (Laguna Shores, Fairview) and whether town crews' cleanup activity implied dredging responsibility. Ludwig clarified the town can maintain canals within the 1,000-foot boundary but that major inlet dredging has historically been a county function. Nancy, the town attorney, and staff advised the commission that the question of dredging operations is separate from the charter's boundary language and suggested the council could adopt a resolution or an interpretation to clarify jurisdiction without a ballot referendum.

The commission agreed to add the boundary-clarification item to its list of proposed charter edits and asked staff to circulate the harbor master's map and the DEP plan for review before the next meeting. The commission also asked that any draft charter language making the San Carlos/Big Carlos Pass boundary explicit be prepared for discussion at the January meeting.