The controversy over a proposed road through Corkscrew Swamp Sanctiary appeared to be resolved.
It wasn’t.
Weeks after announcing he would no longer pursue an evacuation road through Audubon’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, Kingston developer Joe Cameratta is raising new questions about the future of a historic easement across the sanctuary.
The change comes weeks after widespread opposition to the proposed evacuation road through the preserve, internationally famed for its ancient bald cypress trees, Florida panthers, ghost orchids and wood storks. Cameratta said publicity surrounding the proposal undermined efforts to resolve the easement dispute.
A search of Lee County official records found no release or termination of the 1968 agreement.
Cameratta said he is reconsidering returning the right-of-way because he believes media coverage and statements by Audubon damaged discussions over the issue. He also said his family had received threats.
“Audubon has not received any notice from the Cameratta Companies or their representatives that they are pursuing vacating their easement across Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary,” Audubon Florida’s executive Director Julie Wraithmell wrote in an email.
A decades-old easement at the center of the dispute
The dispute centers on a 1968 easement the National Audubon Society granted neighboring landowners when the area was still largely cattle country.
Audubon says the easement was intended to allow herds to cross the sanctuary and is no longer valid because the original circumstances no longer exist. Cameratta argues the document created a road easement that remains in effect.
When Cameratta acquired part of the original neighboring property, the easement came with it.
In April, representatives from the company met with the South Florida Water Management District to explore using the easement for a potential hurricane evacuation route. The developer contends the easement was designed for a road, not a cattle trail.
Pointing to the language of the 1968 document, which refers to it as a road, Cameratta attorney Charles Mann wrote in an email: “This was originally intended to be a fairly major road or highway … I believe that the cattle drives were all over with by the time of this road easement.”
Evacuation routes would fill wetlands, cross miles of preserved land
The developer proposed two potential routes through the sanctuary, one spanning 5.7 miles and the other 6.4 miles. Both would require filling more than 60 acres of wetlands, presuming a 100-foot right-of-way.
For more than a month, The News-Press/Naples Daily News has requested the public records relating to the meeting from the district, which has not produced them.
The month after the pre-application meeting, Lee County assistant manager Dave Harner wrote a letter to Blacksmith: “Due to recent hurricanes impacting South Florida, Lee County is very aware that evacuation routes are critical for safely moving residents out of danger zones, particularly during hurricanes .… Lee County has limited alternatives for evacuation routes moving from the south. A route east of I-75 has the potential for easing congestion on I-75 during evacuation times.”
Public opposition followed a News-Press/Naples Daily News report about the potential routes.
People took to social media to express outrage and wrote letters to the editor in hopes Cameratta would not go forward with the route.
Less than a week after the report, Joe Cameratta told The News-Press/Naples Daily News, “We are not going to pursue it,” he said. “I’m going forward and releasing it on my own … The attorneys are working on that as we speak.”
But Audubon got no word of a change.
In emails sent July 15 and 16, Cameratta said he was reconsidering releasing the easement because he believed media coverage had damaged discussions over the issue. He also said his family had received threats and referred further questions to his attorneys.
In a July 22 email, attorney Chenè Thompson said Cameratta continues to receive threats that have been reported to law enforcement. Because of the threats, the family and company would decline further comment, she wrote. “Out of concern for the safety of the Cameratta family and the company’s employees, we will respectfully decline to comment further.”
Amy Bennett Williams is a senior reporter. Reach her at awilliams@news-press.com.
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This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Kingston’s Corkscrew Sanctuary controversy may not be over after all. Here’s why.
Reporting by Amy Bennett Williams, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News / Fort Myers News-Press
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By Amy Bennett Williams, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News | USA TODAY Network
