News Press

November 23, 2011

Cape Coral weighs benefits of canal-basin hookup

By Don Ruane

http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011311230022

Project could cut boating time to Gulf by an hour. City officials want to know how much it will improve property values.

A consultant needs to measure the financial benefits for property owners and the city before Cape Coral moves forward with a plan to connect the Rubican Canal with Bimini Basin, a city official said Tuesday.

Such a link could increase property values and taxes for the city by making it easier for boaters to reach the Caloosahatchee River.

The city wants to know how much waterfront property values will increase along the Rubican and what it will mean for the city’s property tax collections, before it moves on to detailed engineering studies and cost estimates, said Community Redevelopment Agency Executive Director John Jacobsen. His board of directors told him this month to work with the city to find the consultant.

“When you decrease travel time to the Gulf of Mexico by 45 minutes to an hour or more, and also increase quality of the water, you’re going to dramatically improve property values,” Jacobsen said.

“There’s no question it would be a major benefit for properties at least a mile up the canal,” said resident David Headd, who lives on the east side of the canal. Boaters have to go about a mile north before they find a canal that leads to the Caloosahatchee River by the Cape Coral Bridge, he said.

The proposed 450-foot link has to cross Cape Coral Parkway’s six lanes and the two-lane Southeast 47th Terrace to reach the basin, where the city’s annual Christmas boat parade assembles for the trip to the river. The Rubican stops now at the edge of Southeast 47th Terrace.

A preliminary study puts the cost of the link at between $3.7 million and $30 million. The city could use a fixed bridge, drawbridge or a tunnel, according to the study by Chandler French, an engineering intern hired by the CRA for $5,000.

While the link is a CRA goal, it has to work with the city, Jacobsen said. The project will impact city streets and traffic flow.

“We don’t have a lot of money,” Mayor John Sullivan said.

A bond issue might be needed, but it’s all too sketchy at this point, Sullivan said.

The city will have to answer water quality questions from the state Department of Environmental protection before it can build the link, Sullivan said.

The Rubican’s dead end often collects vegetation, litter and other debris. Opening the link would reduce that problem.

“We’re going to have trouble with the environmental people on this,” Sullivan said.“Many years ago, somebody used to throw their diapers in there,” said Marion Usset, who owns a condo overlooking the dead end.

“They’ve talked about this for years. I see nothing wrong with this,” Usset said. “It doesn’t bother me. Whatever is best for everybody.”

The link is part of the CRA’s vision for the downtown’s future. The CRA was formed by the city to help develop the downtown area. It has its own board of directors and a budget of about $3.3 million provided by property taxes collected within the district.