Advisory board urges living shorelines, wider wetland buffers in comp‑plan input

Members of the Fort Myers Environmental Advisory Board reviewed and prepared to transmit comments on the city comprehensive‑plan revisions, urging several conservation changes.

A board member recommended reversing existing language that treats hardened seawalls as the default, instead preferring living shorelines "unless demonstrated infeasible," and proposed increasing the uniform wetland buffer minimum from 25 to 50 feet with the ability to require up to 75 feet for wetlands meeting specific ecological criteria. "Perhaps that should be reversed, and we should be looking at living shorelines," the board member said.

The board also discussed tightening wetland mitigation so offsets occur near the impact site rather than buying distant watershed credits; one speaker warned that buying credits miles away does not protect local wetlands and may contribute to local wetland degradation.

Members debated how specific to be in the comp plan versus deferring technical code changes to the land‑development code. Staff and a board member advised submitting the comments as part of the meeting record; the board voted to include the comments in the minutes so they will be part of the public record forwarded to the planning board.

The board asked staff to forward individual written suggestions to the planning board and to clarify which items should be elevated to code changes later in the review process.