The situation at the Seven Islands development site in Cape Coral is getting messy. Neighbors discovered that hundreds of feet of mangroves were suddenly gone, cut right out along the waterfront. This wasn’t supposed to happen. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said no one had permission to remove those mangroves, at least not while the project permit was still under review. Now, everyone wants to know who gave the green light, or if anyone did at all, and if there’s a way to fix the damage.
For years, that stretch of waterfront had been thick with mangroves, forming a natural barrier along Cape Coral’s Seven Islands. No one expected the heavy equipment to show up and start tearing it all away. It shocked residents to see the familiar tangle of roots and greenery replaced by a raw, open shoreline.
The Army Corps says the permit for the project isn’t active. It’s in “withdrawn” status, waiting for a redesign, and absolutely no mangrove removal has been authorized. Yet, the work went ahead. They didn’t file an official stop-work order. Instead, once they caught wind of the clearing, someone representing the developer came out, looked, and told the contractors to stop.
The stakes are high. Losing mangroves doesn’t just change the view. These trees protect the shore, filter the water, create homes for fish and crabs, and help defend against hurricanes. Every lost tree chips away at that protection.
When asked, the City of Cape Coral said it isn’t involved in halting the work and directed all questions to the developer and the Army Corps. For now, residents possess more questions than answers and a very different shoreline.
