A proposal from a private corporation, Vent, LLC is under evaluation by the City of Punta Gorda. Essentially, the community of Vivante, a condo/townhouse project that was designed around a freshwater lake, has applied for a special exemption to break through the banks of the Peace River to create a saltwater channel into the lake. The intent is for a navigable channel to be developed in the Peace River that starts in front of the Colony Point condos (where a deep water channel to river already exists) and then heads west then south through what now is a mangrove shoreline which separates the lake from the Peace River.
A 264 boat slip marina is proposed for installation into the freshwater lake which, of course, would become a saltwater lagoon if a channel to the river were created.
In addition to the special exemption additional permitting through the Southwest Florida Management District, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, National Marine Fisheries Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is necessary. It will be interesting to see if environmental concerns will outweigh the benefit to the community itself. From my vantage point, the owners of Vivante condos are the beneficiary and one would have to wonder if their condo fees would go up as they are already quite large.
This project would require seawalls, breakwater rip-rap, bottom dredging and host of other man-made features to make this all work. Interestingly, the proposal from the Engineering Firm that has been hired to facilitate this endeavor hints that there should be little or no concern for local citizens, their property values, boating traffic concerns, etc.
This project has been proposed before and shot down by local property owners and citizens. Time will tell if money is stronger than the concern for the environment.
