Keewaydin shuttle plan draws sharp criticism

A proposal that aims to remove the “barrier” from one of Collier County’s most environmentally sensitive barrier islands is drawing fire from county environmental advisers.

A shuttle would ferry visitors on a 20-minute trip from Bayview Park on Naples Bay to a lagoon on the northeast side of Keewaydin Island. That’s if a plan that county commissioners set into motion last summer becomes final.

But unloading so many people onto an island that’s home to an array of fragile wildlife could cause an ecological disaster, members of the Collier County Environmental Advisory Council warned Wednesday.

“The island doesn’t have the ability to support a large daily population,” said advisory board member Judith Hushon, adding that people will need adequate restroom facilities and a water supply.

“They haven’t thought of any of these things,” Hushon said.

County parks and recreation officials insist their plans are in the conceptual stage and that details will be hammered out later. The county’s first priority is to secure an agreement with the state-run Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, said Amanda Townsend, a county operations analyst.

The county is eyeing a spot owned by the research reserve for a docking area. Townsend said the facility also would include a rain shelter, composting restroom and a dune walkover.

About 85 percent of Keewaydin Island, nestled between Naples and Marco Island, rests in the public’s hands. Although no roads touch the skinny island, about 30,000 people visit each year by boat.

In response to the growing demand for beach access, county commissioners agreed last June to explore the prospect of opening up Keewaydin with a shuttle service.

Environmental Advisory Council members said Wednesday that they need more information before they can decide whether the service would square with its pristine surroundings.

Hushon said she had asked the county to make a presentation on the shuttle proposal after reading about it in the Daily News. On Wednesdays during the season, she leads a boat tour to the island through a program offered by The Conservancy of Southwest Florida.

The trips have a minimal effect on the island because visitors are only allowed to stay for about an hour, Hushon said. In addition, the restroom is aboard the boat, not on the island.

William Hughes, another board member, told Townsend: “If it’s a nature thing, I think we’re with you on that, but (the size of the crowd) must be controlled.”

Several members compared the proposal to a plan they unanimously rejected recently that calls for shuttling people to a private beach club on the island. Basil Street Partners, a partnership that includes prominent developer Jack Antaramian, is seeking to a delay a hearing scheduled for today before the county planning commission.

“After our comments to a private landowner, I’m surprised the county would even bring this to us,” said board member Michael Sorrell.

If the shuttle facilities ever reach the permitting stage, the decision will go before city of Naples, not the county. The lagoon drop-off site is a few yards north of the city’s southern boundary.

The Conservancy’s president, Andrew McElwaine, said the beach club and county shuttle service proposals both represent steps in the wrong direction for Keewaydin.

“The issues will be the extent, the numbers of people, the maintenance of the beach, what they’re going to do for septic. We just have a lot of questions and concerns,” he said, adding that he would like to see the service shut down during the summer sea turtle nesting season.

The state Department of Environmental Protection, which manages the island’s preserve areas, is considering what’s best for the environment and the public, spokeswoman Dee Ann Miller wrote in response to Daily News inquiries.

“This agreement, when finalized, will give the reserve the mechanism to better manage the reserve while giving the public the opportunity to explore and learn about the reserve,” Miller wrote.