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Committee seeks clearer boundaries, records as Wolford Cemetery nomination stalls
Summary
Planning staff told the committee the Wolford (sometimes referred to as Wilford) cemetery nomination needs a defined boundary and more background before it can go from planning commission to city council; committee members volunteered to dig into library and local records and set a two‑week target for additional material.
The Sanibel Historical Preservation Committee heard that planning commissioners asked for a clearer boundary and more supporting documentation before forwarding the Wolford cemetery nomination to city council. Kim Ruiz, the planning‑department liaison, told the committee that she had taken the cemetery nomination to the planning commission but that commissioners "continue to want me to bring it back with additional information." Ruiz asked committee members to search archives and family records to help establish the parcel boundaries and the list of people interred there.
Committee members raised concerns about site visibility and markers after a commissioner noted difficulty locating the parcel during a site visit. One committee member relayed that planning‑commission Chair Paul Nichols "couldn't even find it without assistance from someone from the golf course and felt ... how could it be a historic site if there was nothing to see." Members discussed discreet options — a sign or small fence and a plaque listing known burials — and agreed to hunt for documentary evidence (maps, library clippings and past research). Ruiz set an informal two‑week timeframe for delivering more background to the planning commission; committee members committed to checking a book and local archives and to sending items to Ruiz by email.
