HISTORICAL BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW OF PLAN 

 FOR RESTORING FRESHWATER INFLOW TO AN ESTUARY 

 IN CONJUNCTION WITH URBAN DEVELOPMENT 



Paul Larsen 

 Larsen and Associates 

 Miami, Florida 



ABSTRACT 



The Marco Island development 

 proceeded concurrently with changing 

 wetland regulations. Permits to con- 

 struct sold lands were denied. The 

 developer has proposed a substitute 

 plan calling for development of 1,500 

 acres of uplands and 2,500 acres of 

 wetlands located near the estuary. A 

 key feature of the new plan is the 

 proposed restoration of freshwater 

 inflow to fringing estuarine wetlands 

 impacted by prior construction of 

 roads and drainage works. Technical 

 reports upon which this plan is based 

 are presented. 



BACKGROUND AND STATUS OF 

 ORIGINAL DEVELOPMENT 

 PLANS 



Marco Island is located in a 

 mangrove estuarine area on the south- 

 west coast of Florida approximately 

 10 miles south of Naples, 100 miles 

 due west of Miami, and 20 miles 

 northwest of Everglades National Park 

 (Figure 1). When the Marco Island 

 project started in 1964, State and 

 Federal regulations encouraged the 

 development of waterfront communities 

 in mangrove areas. Initial plans 



called for dredging and filling large 

 portions of the 19,500 acre original 

 ownership area (Figure 2) . The ini- 

 tial phase of the overall 19,500 acre 

 plan consisted of Marco Island itself 

 (7,000 acres). Dredge and fill per- 

 mits to construct the first 22 per- 

 cent (1,550 acres) of the island were 

 routinely granted in 1964 by State 

 and Federal agencies. In 1969, the 

 Corps of Engineers approved the com- 

 pletion of the next 31 percent (2,200 

 platted acres) of the community. 



Because in 1969 over 75 percent 

 of the Marco Island lots were already 

 sold, the Corps acknowledged the con- 

 tinuing sale of lots on the remaining 

 47 percent (3,300 platted acres) of 

 the island. They also acknowledged 

 continuing sales in a 2,500 acre new- 

 ly platted mainland area known as the 

 Collier-Read tract. To accomodate 

 new regulatory concerns, however, the 

 Corps and the developer agreed that 

 no additional lots would be sold on 

 10,000 additional unplatted acres 

 until after all development permits 

 were obtained. 



In 1972, according to new State 

 regulations, the Governor and Cabinet 

 of the State of Florida formalized an 

 environmental agreement with Deltona. 

 In return for State approvals to com- 

 plete the development of Marco Island 

 the developer agreed to deed over 

 4,000 acres of mangrove wetlands and 



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