Cape Coral looking to have meeting with FEMA

Mayor John Gunter is requesting a meeting with FEMA because the city believes people in Cape Coral deserve to keep their flood insurance discount.

Cape Coral, like other areas in Southwest Florida, was hit hard by Hurricane Ian.

Now, the city is struggling for a different reason.

• RELATED: FEMA to lower discounts; raising flood insurance rates

“We’ve suffered tremendously,” said Wayne Page. “We’ve done everything we can to do the right things here, like prevention.”

Page is the HOA president of the Commodore II condominiums in Cape Coral.

After the storm, the community’s flood insurance tripled.

“We budgeted about $25,000 a year,” he said. “We’re at $78,000 now. It’s a considerable increase.”

Their monthly fees went from $488 to $799, and the condos are part of FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program.

• RELATED: Cape Coral Mayor speaks on FEMA CRS rating decision

“There’s just nothing available for us because we’re right on the waterfront,” Page said.

“Everyone’s in a different financial situation,” said DeeDee Adams, who owns a condo in the Commodore community. “We all have some way we have to bear it.”

Adams is trying to sell her condo and move back to Maryland.

“We’ve had over 20 people come here,” she said. “No one wants to write a contract because they get hung up over the fees that have to be paid here.”

Those fees are about to go up on October 1.

FEMA is removing its 25% discount on flood insurance.

Commodre’s monthly fees will go from $799 to around $1,000.

“We have documentation to demonstrate that the residents of Cape Coral should maintain their flood insurance discount,” said Mayor John Gunter.

The mayor says the city continues to be in compliance with FEMA.

“We’re looking for the opportunity to be able to sit down and discuss this issue with them,” he said.

Cape Coral received a letter from FEMA on December 6 that 238 properties had unpermitted work.

After digging into the numbers, the city found that 54 properties had unpermitted work.

Cape Coral sent letters to these properties in January, but FEMA says these 54 are the reason the discount was pulled.

FEMA told WINK News the discount is being pulled due to unpermitted work, lack of documentation and failure to properly monitor activity in special flood hazard areas.

Cape Coral is currently going through the 54 properties to see which of these are or are not in compliance.

Mayor Gunter said the city has not had any communication with FEMA since March 28, the day the decision was made to pull the 25% discount.

He hopes to hear from them soon.