{"id":7464,"date":"2025-10-16T23:37:06","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T23:37:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/7464\/"},"modified":"2025-10-16T23:37:06","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T23:37:06","slug":"captiva-island-beach-project-divides-locals-over-new-sand-dunes-impact-lee-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/7464\/","title":{"rendered":"Captiva Island beach project divides locals over new sand dunes&#8217; impact | Lee County"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A massive beach renourishment project is underway on Captiva Island, bringing tons of sand to its shoreline.<\/p>\n<p>This initiative aims to build tall sand dunes to protect the island from future storms and erosion.<\/p>\n<p>The Captiva Erosion Prevention District emphasized the importance of these barriers for long-term coastal defense. However, some residents have expressed concerns about the height and placement of these man-made mounds.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The dune height is maxed out to and approved by the Department of Environmental Protection state authorities to 12 feet,&#8221; said John Wade, chairman of the Captiva Erosion Prevention District. &#8220;Historically, the dune height has always been around 10 feet.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Wade explained that the island has been hit by three major storms since 2022, necessitating efforts to catch up on protection measures. The dunes are part of a multi-million dollar project to safeguard the shoreline and replace what previous storms have washed away.<\/p>\n<p>Andreas Bieri, owner of The Mucky Duck, expressed dissatisfaction with the dunes, stating, &#8220;If you sit in the restaurant, or even outside on the patio, there&#8217;s no view. We&#8217;re looking at sand. You can&#8217;t even see the water anymore.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We are known for being on the water, looking at the beach, looking at the sunset,&#8221; Bieri said. &#8220;So everybody is upset with what they are doing.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Despite these concerns, others on the island, like Will Oliver, general manager for Tween Waters Resort, understand the necessity of the dunes. &#8220;The beaches got beat up bad by the storms, Ian and then Milton and Helene,&#8221; Oliver said. &#8220;It&#8217;s definitely, absolutely necessary to keep the beach healthy for the ecosystem, and for tourism.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Wade acknowledged the concerns and assured that there is still time to consider the dune height near properties like The Mucky Duck.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We always take into account the property owners and how the dunes interact with their coastal frontage,&#8221; Wade said. &#8220;By all means, if there&#8217;s any sort of concern, they know that the CPD is local and ready to address those concerns.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The project is expected to conclude by mid to end of November. The next phase will be presented to affected property owners, and suggestions are welcome.<\/p>\n<p>Stay with WINK News for updates on this project.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A massive beach renourishment project is underway on Captiva Island, bringing tons of sand to its shoreline. This&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7465,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[209,211,210,3837,325],"class_list":["post-7464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral-headlines","tag-cape-coral-news","tag-collaborator_gen_stories","tag-lee"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7464"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7464\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}