Port Charlotte 



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Port Charlotte, a 479 km (185 mi ) subdivison on Florida's gulf coast, 



is the General Development Corporation's (GDC) earliest and largest project. 

 This area lies at the end of Charlotte Harbor, a few miles from the Gulf of 

 Mexico, at a point where the Peace and Myakka Rivers enter the harbor. The 

 site stretches across the largely rural counties of Charlotte, Sarasota, and 

 DeSoto and contain approximately 200,000 platted lots. Today about 85% of 

 these lots have been sold, but only 5% (35,000 persons) has established resi- 

 dence there. This subdivision alone has the capacity for increasing the 

 area's population by some 700,000 residents (Allen et al . 1977). 



Three major conflicts arose since sales began in 1956. The first con- 

 flict concerned a small parcel of land known as Grassy Point at the south end 

 of Port Charlotte's development. GDC began dredging and filling this 61 ha 

 (150 acre) mangrove area in 1970. Because they did not have a permit, GDC was 

 issued a cease and desist order by the Corps of Engineers in January 1971. 

 Final resolution of this conflict came in November 1971 when the Florida 

 Department of Air and Water Pollution Control ordered the developers to 

 restore this area to its original condition. 



A second area of conflict over which GDC encountered legal problems was 

 South Gulf Cove, a mostly swampy and low-lying area with mangroves at the 

 water's edge, which was platted and almost completely sold on the basis of a 

 design that called for extensive finger canals. The developers, realizing 

 that they would have difficulty in obtaining permission to dredge an access 

 canal to this site, modified the original plans to incorporate a navigation 

 lock and interceptor lagoon. This mitigation won GDC approval of the original 

 plan. 



The Muddy Cove area, platted as the Myakka Estates, had development con- 

 straints similar to those of South Gulf Cove and GDC again offered construc- 

 tion modifications to gain development approval. This time there were new 

 regulations for development. The Developments of Regional Impact provision of 

 the Florida Statutes mandated closer review of projects that have regional 

 implications. Since GDC could not show any real need for the housing to be 

 created by this subdivision, plans for it were not approved (Allen et al . 

 1977). 



Water Supply and Demand 



Rapid population growth stimulates demand for new services which, in 

 turn, simulate the economy, but the growth is an added strain on limited local 

 budgets, and a stress on limited water resources, waste treatment facilities, 

 and transportation systems. 



Many homesi tes in the Charlotte Bay area were developed by converting 

 tidal marshes and inland swamps. As this type of development took place, few 

 people were concerned about the future of three million potential residents 

 along the shores of Charlotte Harbor. In the last few years, however, there 

 has been an increased awareness of the environmental consequences of the resi- 

 dential construction boom in the past three decades. Now the major issue is 

 the supply and demand of potable water. 



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