IKE misses Florida and Naples Waterfront

IKE was pushed south by the strong Bermuda high and kept in check by wind sheer. this kept Naples and South Florida, even the KEYS, from the hurricane winds. All Naples had was another small surge in tide levels.
On the Real Estate front a few foreclosures in Royal Harbor are starting to sell in the area showing that most think we have reached the bottom of the market. Good news for buyers not so good for those wanting to sell.

Formation of East Naples Bay Advisory board

The newly appointed East Naples Bay advisory board met today for the first time. they were updated by the engineering firm hired by the city council to do the research on the area. they elected a chairman, Ted Toybe and V. Chmn Jim Doan other members are Bonnie Mattieo, Terry Green, Harold Oldak and chip Harris (who was not present.)
The meeting was an organizational one. One public speaker (me) spoke to the new committee regarding funding and the 4 separate areas to be dredged. Royal Harbor, Oyster Bay, Golden Shores and Naples Bay. It was suggested each fund its own area. The committee asked the engineers to break out the costs by these 4 areas and to have them ready for the next meeting Oct 6.

When Gustov passed a few hundred miles to the West of Naples it caused a 3 foot increment in the tide. See the photo of my canal just after high tide. Many areas went over the sea wall. (this is storm surge) It caught us really by surprise as we did not think it would have that much effect. A few streets along the beach flooded due to overloaded storm drains.

Foreclosure home in Royal Harbor?

No one ever thought that you would see a home go to foreclosure in Royal Harbor, yet here we are. This week 2 homes popped up with foreclosure signage that the home was Bank Owned. These homes are on the market now at prices about 1/2 of peak price a few years ago. Yes these foreclosed homes have already influenced the market as there were 4 list price drops in Royal Harbor this Thursday and Friday.
These homes will sell because banks need to sell them. If you were waiting then wait no more. Look, pick, buy...

Prices bottom out in Royal Harbor

Royal Harbor prices keep going lower. Is this the bottom of the Market Drop? Many REALTORS and investors must think so as traffaic here sarts to heat up with more showings.

Here is an example of one of our new listings just on the market today at under 1.3 million. Lot values a few yeaars ago started at 1.5 here is a beautiful 2000+ SF home with pool and deep dock at this price. Other values here start as low at 800's for a lot ready for your dream home.

This is a rare opportunity to turn back the clock and buy the home of your dreams. Start your search now this season will be a busy one.

Naples Royal Harbor

Boat Theft in Royal Harbor
For nearly a year we have been theft free in boats. Now it seems that the target has changed from the long range go fast boats to luxury cruisers. It was in the paper that a 40 foot Sea Ray was taken from a dock on Tarpon road this week. No details from the owners yet but the newspaper says that police think it is human smugglers again. These people set off go to Cuba , pick up people and smuggle them into the US using these large long range cruisers. More on this as we hear more.
Posted by Terry and Rhonda at 1:03 PM

Naples bay full of debris

Living on a canal in Royal Harbor we get a lot of debris float in from the bay. The bay gets most of it from the gordon river flowing in to the North end of the Bay at Tin City and Naples Bay Resort. Today I was out in the boat and had to dodge the large plant islands floating all over the bay. The canals from golden Gate East are all flowing water choaked with weeds and floatsom into the bay. The water looks like brown glop.
I guess we can thank Tropical Storm FAY for this.
Still, all the work to revive the Bay over the past year can be undone by all this fresh water and "crap" that is floating in.
I know the city has and is working on plans to stop or eliminate some of this but until then we just have to live with it. Phooey...

Spoil Islands idea scrapped in Royal Harbor area

Yesterday over 50 residents with properties along the East of Nales Bay attended the East Naples Bay taxing district meeting at City Hall. All, it appeared, were against the formation on spoil silands along the East side of Naples Bay. Although the engineer hired to do the study told the audiance of the benefits of the islands none there wanted them in thier view.
At the end the advisory board voted to scrap the idea of the islands but to go forward with plans to dredge even at the higher cost involved.
No one spoke about the different subdivisions doing their own dredging programs.

Dredging in Naples Royal Harbor

Dredging Royal Harbor

Last month the taxing district was talking about dredging costs and spoil. One of the ideas was to take the spoil and increase the volume of material in the shallowest areas of the bay and form islands in Naples Bay. These were to provide habitat and help with the water quality of the Bay. It was also to be somewhat cheaper than trucking away the spoil.

Now I hear some people are concerned this spoil is contaminated. I also see in the Naples Daily News that some bay front residents are concerned with these islands spoiling their view of the water. At all the meetings I attended, contamination was not a concern since we were told the canals were surveyed for not only depth but contaminates. As to the view, well, I suppose to some an island may not be as attractive as the water without one. No one can speak for another’s preferences. It does appear that there will be some opposition to the islands.

Doesn’t this seem like another reason for Royal Harbor to do their own dredging project separate from Golden Shores and Oyster Bay? From the data I have seen, Royal Harbor will not have the bulk of the spoil or rock. Most of it will come from the canals on the north end of the bay. All but one of the proposed spoil islands will also be located in that area north of the No Wake zone. The only proposed area affecting Royal Harbor residents would be looking south at the southern end of Royal Harbor and that is already an island during low tide. This would mean the Royal Harbor dredging could be done under the existing permit, would make less spoil, thus might not need to form islands and would be able to be done in a reasonable time frame.

The taxing district meeting scheduled for this month was postponed, so there is no news from that.