Milton’s impact on Manasota Key’s future

Hurricane Milton slammed Charlotte County, much like Hurricane Ian did with Fort Myers Beach. The difference is that Fort Myers Beach is already two years into realizing changes need to be made.

But places like Manasota Key, which has roots as a fishing village filled with cottages, are just now starting to consider the idea that changes need to be made.

Kris Hleuka’s family has a history on Manasota Key. Her grandfather owned the whole street of Sand Dollar Lane when it was just sand. Now, it sorta is again.

“I did not grow up here, but I did come to visit my grandparents, and just driving over here today, going over the bridge, I thought I was going to see that view for the rest of my life,” Hleuka said.

She inherited the place and spent 13 years in paradise with her husband and kids. After hurricanes Helene and Milton, they just can’t do it anymore.

“When you can’t afford the insurance, it’s paradise, but this was never supposed to happen in our lifetime. Who knew a cinder block house was going to fall apart?” Hleuka said.

Hleuka said she’s pretty sure it’s never going to look the same again.

And it likely won’t. Cottages gone, homes and memories washed away, the one-time small fishing village can’t build back the same. The small-town feel is likely history.

“Manasota Key today has very much that old Florida element to it, which is really unique on the Florida West Coast,” said Dr. Jennifer Zoebelein, a historian at Charlotte County Libraries. “But one of the things I think that people, both locals and visitors, love about Manasota Key is that you can go out there, and it doesn’t feel developed.”

Zoebelein recalls a time when people living here fought big development. In the 1950s, around Blind Pass in ’68, they fought against a Holiday Inn around Stump Pass.

“What is interesting about Manasota Key is that it never evolved into more than that. It never became this mass development,” Zoeblein said.

The cottages wiped out by Helene and Milton won’t be able to be built back the same way because of FEMA’s 50% rule. They would likely need to elevate and meet current flood regulations and building codes.