Sanibel hopes tourists wait to return so the island can recover

The island of Sanibel is just weeks from re-opening to the public, months after Ian knocked the island on its back, but the city is making sure not to promote the island as a place to visit right now.

The people who live on Sanibel know that foot traffic there will increase when the island reopens, but they are worried about how much it will increase. They hope people with bad intentions stay away.

One council member said the number of burglaries on the island went from three a year to 59 over the past 10 weeks.

Everyone wants a slice of paradise, but the paradise that is Sanibel isn’t quite ready for new guests despite the causeway opening on January 2.

“This isn’t about tourism, this is about recovery, and if we don’t recover as a community, we’re going to be in a lot of trouble as a city,” said Sanibel Mayor Holly Smith.

Recovery is chugging along. More than 1.2 million cubic yards of debris have been picked up from Sanibel, and rebuilt homes are emerging.

“Everyone’s just trying to clean up and do the best they can,” said Brad McKenzie.

McKenzie has lived on his slice of Sanibel for about four years. He even has his own honey business.

“There has to be a queen with a colony out here that survived. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have that many bees out there,” McKenzie said.

He’s figured out how to get life buzzing back on the island, but that doesn’t start with more people coming over the causeway.

“January 2 just seems a little bit quick. There’s nothing to do here,” said McKenzie.

There’s only a handful of open restaurants and businesses. Not nearly enough to support the usual tourism numbers. The beaches are closed along with the fishing pier.

The city isn’t trying to make this a destination. They want everything rebuilt and fast, so contractors and subcontractors don’t need a permit to get to Sanibel.

“We have to look at the greater good for the entire community,” said Smith.

“If other contractors are having problems. Sure, let’s open up for a couple hours in the morning when they’re coming over,” said McKenzie.

Then McKenzie’s answer is to close it, closing out anyone with ill intentions. “Regardless of whether people actually come on to loot, people are worried about that. So protect the people and protect what the people who live here are concerned about.”

The message from the Sanibel City Council is clear: An open causeway isn’t an open island.

“We’re not open for business. This is not a time for us to visit. This is a time for us to recover,” said Richard Johnson, a Sanibel City Council member.

If you ask McKenzie, recovery doesn’t include random people riding around.

“The number of people who are coming for the proper purposes is probably not justified by the number of people who are coming here who might be coming here for the wrong reasons,” said McKenzie.

Council member Dr. Scott Crater had to attend the council meeting by phone on Tuesday morning, but what he said made McKenzie’s point all the more valid.

“The last statistic we heard on burglaries on the island was 59 burglaries, you know, in the past 10 weeks. In a year, on average, Sanibel has three,” Crater said.

Rachel Tritaik lives on the island. She and her friends at the rotary club love helping out.

“It has been challenging arranging carpooling for volunteers because of the bridge being out. So we’re hoping that with that opening, we can get more volunteers out to help us on Sanibel,” said Tritaik.

They just want to help clean the beach and lend a hand to anyone who needs it, but she understands her neighbor’s hesitations.

“We can’t wait to be able to welcome people with open arms, but it will be a while so we encourage people to be patient,” said Tritaik.

The city council said they are confident in the police department’s ability to keep the island secure. Residents say they have the same trust in their police officers, but that only eases a little of the concern when many homes still need a lot of work.