Treasure Island moves closer to protections for Elnor Island

TREASURE ISLAND — City commissioners have moved closer to permanent protections for Elnor Island, but want to ensure nonmotorized vessels can continue using a mangrove tunnel that runs through it.

Commissioners reached a consensus during an Oct. 6 workshop to have the city conduct a title review and prepare a deed restriction that would block future development on the 15-acre city-owned islet, just east of John's Pass in Boca Ciega Bay.

“I think the consensus would be to go forward with this,” Mayor John Doctor said, adding the proposal would come back to the commission for approval at a later date.

The little-known spoil island is described as an undisturbed shorebird nursery and the only native vegetation area within Treasure Island’s borders. Preservation and cleanup efforts — including the installation of oyster shell bars designed to filter water, reduce shoreline erosion and create habitat for fish — date to the early and mid-2000s.

The city's comprehensive plan already calls for preserving Elnor Island in its natural state. Floodplain manager Jesse Miller told commissioners that formally restricting development would also earn the city additional credit through the National Flood Insurance Program, administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The program currently provides Treasure Island property owners a 20% discount on flood-insurance premiums, Miller said. The deed restriction would earn the city additional credit toward its flood-insurance rating, he said.

City Attorney Ralf Brookes said the restriction would essentially mean the city is giving up its ability to seek permission to build on the island.

“What we're trying to do is prevent structures” from being built there, he said. “Not that there's any intent to do that.”

What about recreational access?

The proposal drew questions about what permanent protections could mean for people who boat, kayak and paddleboard around Elnor Island.

Resident Mark Hohe called the surrounding waters “a huge recreational area” and urged the city to find out exactly what restrictions could result before proceeding.

Hohe also urged the city to get agencies that may have overlapping jurisdiction to weigh in before determining exactly what the protections would entail.

Another resident, Rick Matthew, raised concerns about potentially limiting access to a passage beneath the mangrove canopy that is used by kayakers and paddleboarders.

“People take really good care of that,” he said. “Even though they go up into the mangroves, I never find trash or anything.”

Matthew said children also explore the area and questioned whether additional restrictions were necessary.

“I think there's some questions before we say, ‘Do that,’ and then find out we can't come to the island anymore,” he said.

Miller said the deed restriction itself would not prohibit boats or other recreational uses.

“There's not going to be anything on the deed that says you can't have a boat there,” he said.

Commissioners agreed the city should try to preserve access through the mangrove passage for kayakers and paddleboarders, possibly by dividing the deed-restricted property into two sections.

Brookes suggested the city could examine the legal description and either specifically preserve access through the mangrove tunnel or draw the restricted areas around it. Commissioners agreed that nonmotorized access should not be restricted.

The city also is considering seeking designation of Elnor Island as a Critical Wildlife Area through the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Miller described that proposal as secondary to the deed restriction and said the city would work with FWC and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to determine what the designation would require.

Possible measures could include signs asking people to remain a certain distance from portions of the island, but Miller stressed that no specific buffer has been proposed.

“Ultimately, we don't have to do that designation if we don't want to,” he said. “The biggest reason why I'm here is for the deed restriction.”

Elnor, not Eleanor

The workshop also cleared up some of the confusion surrounding the island's name.

Various public documents have referred to it as Elnor Island, Eleanor Island and Bird Island.

Sarah Pennington, of the Treasure Island Historical Society, told commissioners that Elnor is the correct name and said it comes from Elnor Archibald, whose family is connected with Archibald Park in nearby Madeira Beach.

Pennington said the island had been incorrectly identified as Eleanor Island on online maps and that the Historical Society spent four years getting the name corrected on Google Maps and Apple Maps. Some websites and social media pages still refer to it as Eleanor Island.

Vice Mayor Tammy Vasquez, a lifelong city resident, agreed that the name “was always Elnor Island.” She thanked the Historical Society for getting the online maps corrected.

In other business, commissioners voted 3-2 during their regular meeting to replace Vasquez as vice mayor with Commissioner Arden Dickey. Commissioner Chris Clark proposed the change during commissioner reports, saying Vasquez and City Manager Charlie Van Zant could not work together. Clark, Dickey and Mayor John Doctor voted for Dickey's appointment, while Vasquez and Commissioner Arthur Czyszczon opposed it.