Island Info Central: The Old Station 10 Property

Saturday, August 26, 2023, hosted by Mike Riley and Linda Cotherman (Bocilla Islands Conservancy, Inc.), Meryl Schaffer (Palm Island Estates Association, Inc.)

30 Islanders gathered on a hot, sunny morning for a town hall meeting on the old fire house property. Island Info Central kicked off with a welcome greeting from PIE President Meryl Schaffer. She introduced special guests Eddie Diaz (Charlotte County Firefighter), Deputy Billy Prummell and Battalion Chief Matt McElroy.

 

Her first topic was the special place the old Station 10 had in the community. Past uses for all Islanders included:
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• Lending library/reading room
• Medical closet for equipment (walkers, crutches, etc)
• Volunteer firefighters office
• Social events i.e. Halloween Kids Pizza Parties, spaghetti dinners, etc.
• Town Hall Meetings
• PIE and other Island organization meetings
• Demonstration gardens for native and Florida-friendly plantings
• Memorial trees, benches and plaques

​These uses came to an end after the building was remodeled for paid firefighter coverage approx. 10 years ago.

​Next came the question of why PIE was not seeking ownership of the property.

• PIE is a 501(c)4 organization. Donations are not tax-deductible which would be an impediment to fundraising.
• PIE’s by-laws restrict the Board from encumbering future Boards with debt without the approval of 2/3 of the membership.

Mike Riley, BICI Treasurer, addressed two items: What is BICI’s fundraising target and what is the Conservancy planning on doing with the property if purchased?

• BICI can’t reveal capital campaign target numbers publicly because it would give competitors an unfair advantage.
• So far BICI has received support from over 120 donors.
• Donations for this project are restricted to Station 10 purchase and will be refunded if BICI does not acquire the firehouse property.
• Multiple options are being explored based on funding availability:
  1. Building remodel restoring entire building
  2. Building remodel without the enclosed bottom level
  3. Demolish building and replace with open pavilion
  4. The grounds will become a “mini-park” consistent with the Charlotte 2050 Plan and the County Parks and Recreation updated parks concept.
• Needs engineering inspection to determine structural integrity of the building.
• Building will likely exceed 50% damage and have to be brought up to current code.
• None of these options are cheap. It will be a substantial financial commitment requiring a lot of community support.

Question: Does the use of the property as a community hub violate any zoning restrictions?
Answer: Linda Cotherman told the group that the County modified zoning regulations in 2014 and established the BBI (bridgeless barrier island) designation for our Islands and Little Gasparilla. There are no special exemptions needed at this time for using the property as proposed for the community.

Comment: An audience member expressed concern that removing the property from the tax rolls might impact other Island owners’ taxes and deprive a future owner of an Island home.
Response: Robin Madden said that the loss of one property will not impact the County as they bring in a large volume of tourism taxes from the Island. Linda Cotherman explained that it will not impact other Island owners since our property taxes are County-wide which will minimize the impact to the tax rolls.

Question: If PIE owns the beach easements, why can’t they purchase the fire house?
Answer: The beach easements are guaranteed access for all Island owners as set down in the plat maps of the Palm Island Estates development. They are established rights in perpetuity regardless of who owns the land beneath.  Simply having PIE own the fire house would not provide the same guarantee. As a 501(C)3 organization, the Conservancy would not only preserve the property for community use but if for any reason BICI had a future dissolution their assets would be guaranteed to transfer to a comparable, non-profit land trust.

Comment: An audience member pointed out that the last-minute notice by the County was not by deliberate design.
Response: Correct. BICI and PIE were initially told that the sale of the fire house was a low priority, which was true. However, when the estimates for the 2024 Fire & EMS taxes were released Charlotte County got a lot of pushback from property owners. Their response was to try to reduce the $54/year tax increase by selling off the excess fire house properties. That is what speeded things up. In addition, the Fire Advisory Committee is restricted to quarterly meetings which slowed down the process.

Question: What is the Island Fellowship Church’s involvement with the property?
Answer: This was addressed by Pastor Sammie Brooks of the Island Fellowship Church.

• IFC wants ownership to have a building for their church to be able to guarantee their need for use on Sundays and control management of the space.
• There are obstacles that they need to resolve before bidding on the property. Houses of worship have strict regulations related to parking. The IFC is trying to get the regulations adapted for golf cart parking. NOTE: “mini-park” use does not have these parking restrictions.
• Demolishing the building would not serve their needs.
• Too many contingencies to make a decision now.