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Lee County hearing reviews special-exception request to remove 57,146 cubic yards for filter marsh
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Summary
At an April 15 quasi-judicial hearing, Lee County staff and the applicant described a plan to excavate 57,146 cubic yards of spoil to build a freshwater filter marsh on a 33.25-acre parcel; staff recommended approval with conditions including FDOT coordination and a protected-species plan.
Lee County Hearing Examiner Amanda Rivera heard evidence April 15 on a special-exception request (SEZ202500023) to remove 57,146 cubic yards of excess spoil from a 33.25-acre site to create a freshwater filter marsh intended to improve water quality in the Caloosahatchee River watershed.
Amanda Martin, a certified planner with Johnson Engineering, presented the application and said the excavation area is limited to about 8.52 acres of the larger parcel and the county-owned recipient site would use roughly 17.9 acres to store the excess spoil. "We are requesting the removal of 57,146 cubic yards of spoil material," Martin said, adding the project is intended to "remove nutrients, improve water quality, and have an ecological benefit to the surrounding area." She told the examiner the work is expected to take about 26 weeks and would require "about 33 trips per day or 4 trips per hour" of truck traffic.
Staff recommended approval with conditions. William Lang, a planner in the Department of Community Development, told the hearing that the request meets Land Development Code criteria for relocating more than 20,000 cubic yards off-site and that "staff recommends approval of the request with conditions." Lang said the haul-route map shows "residential exposure along State Road 31 and North River Road is minimal," and that ongoing Florida Department of Transportation construction has reduced speeds on portions of State Road 31, which staff said helps mitigate impacts.
The county and applicant described proposed controls to limit off-site impacts. Martin said trucks will be covered before leaving the site and tires will be sprayed to reduce debris. Danny Nelson, the project engineer introduced by the applicant, confirmed a tire-wash area will be provided prior to site exit and described the post-construction surface as a limerock (not paved) area that could be used for maintenance parking. The examiner and staff discussed a typical hours-of-operation condition for similar cases; Rivera suggested an 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekday window as an appropriate mitigation for nearby residents.
Martin and staff described the project's regulatory coordination: an environmental supplement supports the ERP permit application, and the project team is working with the South Florida Water Management District and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on required permits. The applicant's excess-spoil removal plan is under review as LDO2024-00282 and the receiving-site development order is LDO202500760; Lang said the recipient-site LDO cannot be approved until the special exception is resolved.
Staff recommended conditions to ensure compatibility with the surrounding community, including requiring documentation of FDOT coordination for haul operations within FDOT construction project limits, a protected-species management plan if protected species are present, and provision of required state and federal permits prior to development-order approval. Lang also noted the special exception is temporary and the project will not begin until completion of repair work on the Wilson Pickett Bridge.
No members of the public spoke at the hearing. Rivera closed the record and said she would "try to be expeditious" in issuing a decision so the pending development-order review is not further delayed.
