Canal Living (Port Charlotte, Naples, Punta Gorda: insurance, houses, new construction)
Sarasota - Bradenton - Venice areaManatee and Sarasota Counties
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I have a question regarding canal living. Do the boats going by cause a lot of noise in the area. Just wondering if noise pollution would be a reason for concern living on the canal. I know BigHouse could chime in here and give an accurate answer. Are pets a problem with people living on the canal with the lots being rather small? I am really interested in canal living but my husband has reservations about the negatives such as smaller lots, the noise, the extra taxes in a flood zone, but I think I would love it. If anyone can give some insight on canal living I would love to hear from you.
Patty
The boats that go by have to have their motors idling when they go down the part of the canals where the homes are so generally the noise is not very bad. I've never heard of any issues with pets on the canals I think they're usually pretty smart and keep away from the edge of the seawall. Yes, your home owners insurance would be higher due to the flood insurance requirement but there are many other factors that they look at as well to determine the home owners insurance.
A few other things that you might be interested in if your looking at canal front homes in PGI-
1. Dredging-the city dredges only the centerline of the canal for the established depth. Also, they do not dredge the sides of the canal where your boat is tied up. That dredging would have to be arranged for and paid for by the homeowner using the city contractor. You have to use them because they are the only ones approved to remove and dispose of the spoils which is entangled with the Corp of Engineers jurisdictional review. But, the spoils removal cost, was agreed upon with the City of Punta Gorda based on the bids and agreed upon unit price rates.
2. The dock maintenance-The dock maintenance and replacement costs are all by the home owner, as is any liability related to the dock. Existing docks were attached to the sea wall when originally constructed. This is no longer allowed. Any new docks have to have a 15" minimum clearance between the top of the deck and the bottom of the sea wall cap.
3. New docks-have to go through permitting and design review and an approval process. They need to be free standing and not attached to the sea wall.
4. The sea wall-The sea wall cap is maintained and paid for by the City of Punta Gorda and is part of the $400 payment. Nothing is allowed to be attached to the sea wall-no anchors, cleats or fasteners. Any additional anchoring or mooring structure has to be built at least 6' from the back face of the cap. If there are any sink holes behind the wall, then they city will excavate and refill them using their approved procedures, at the city's cost. They do not want the homeowner to back fill this work because it would not be compliant with their procedures or products. Once you make the call to the city they are usually pretty responsive and come out to fill the holes within a few days. Palm trees and other plants are to be at least 6' from the back face of the wall.
5. New construction such as permanent additions have to be at least 25' from the back face of the sea wall cap.
6. The city of Punta Gorda is responsible for maintaining any signage in the canals, which do not include address signs, but more navigational.
Someone please tell me that I'm not going to see rats? Please? Lie to me if you must? j/k. I won't be living on a canal, but on Lemon Bay and I have a sea wall. Rats would freak me out in a major way. Those and the blue land crabs! Has anyone ever seen those? I've only seen them on TV and it was in Northern Fl.
Reality check... seriously be honest so I can be prepared.
BTW, I'm coming over your way today for a couple days to hang out w/ my family for the holiday. Looks like lovely weather!
Yeah, blue crabs are very common in the canals and around the docks. So, you'll probably see them. Get a wire crab trap and throw a chicken neck in it every few days and you'll have fresh crab for dinner each night.
Rats-nah, I don't know who started that rumor. Rats like under brush and bushes to hide in not saltwater canals. You'd probably see more rats in North Port where there's a lot of vacant property and places for them to hide then around the canals.
Noise is noise. If a boat with large engines comes by your backyard, then, yes, you'll hear noise.
There is also a difference in living at the end of a canal than the opening.
Canals also tend to attract bugs.
Deep water is a plus, especially with the drought situation in Florida. You might find yourself unable to use your boat due to low tide situation so it's good to see the property at low vs. high tide.
Canals can smell.
Never heard of pet problems on canal.
Check out the condition of the seawall. If it's in disrepair or ready to go, it can easily be upwards of $500 a running foot to repair.
Hello Everyone,
Sorry, but I've been pretty busy the last couple days.
Lady, good post! Things are a bit different here in PGI, but you hit on a lot of the topics, so I will respond to your post and use it as a guide.
Noise - Virtually no noice here in PGI, Boat engines may start up and last a minute or two, then they are gone. 99.999% percent of the time you hear the birds singing and the fish jumping out of the water. Really, you can here a mullet jump and splash once every ten-to-thirty minutes or so. At night, you can here a pin drop, if you're not listening to the birds. That is not to say, that when someone starts a boat that you don't hear it, but there is a "no wake" policy in the canals so the boats cannot go fast, so they are not roaring their engines. They can't - they'd be fined big time!
Smell - No smell here in PGI. The breeze from the gulf is pleasant, and nice. The Tide raises and lowers in the canal 3-4 feet twice a day, and there is no decaying matter that would smell. There is none. It is wonderful, always fresh air here.
Bugs, - Nope, not much to speak of with regard to bugs. The canals are always full, the bottoms if ever exposed (during really low tide), are only exposed for a few minutes before the tide returns, so there really is no place for bugs to breed. There are a lot of little lizards, and birds that do a great job here of taking care of anything on land. And, I haven't seen one fire ant, spider, or anything really bothersome here. I have seen a couple of those huge cockroaches, but only a couple. I think those little lizards love them. I have seen three snakes, but nothing to worry about there either. Nothing poisonous. Remember we are on an island, so it is kinda tough for different species to get here and grow. If they're dangerous, they would be taken care of by DNR quickly. This is an older development, so I think that all that worrisome stuff has already been eliminated by earlier residents. No problems at all! Not where I am.
Port Charlotte - We looked over there, and believe that the houses are nicer here. Some of the restrictions (which we view as positives) keep it nice - like not trailers or boats or RVs in you yard. You have to store them someplace else. Boats are generally kept in on a lift in your back yard (nice and convienient). I can reach the harbor (deep water) in 5 minutes from my house. The canal depth in the center is 10-12 feet deep, and slopes to the sides usually 2-4 feet at the wall here. Not all canals here in PGI are the same though. So you have to understand where you are, what inlets you go in and out of to get to the Harbor, how long a run it is to get there. Sometimes it can take you an hour to get there - that is not much fun. And, some can be shallow so a big boat or sailboat may not work, and some have bridge heights to consider. I have a 21' boat and have not problems, except once during a really low tide one time, I had to wait to get the boat of my lift. If I planned and took the boat off the lift earlier I'd have been fine, but the bunks on the lift (what your boat sits on are about a foot high) so you have to account for that displacement when launching your boat during low tide.
Sea Walls - in Port Charlotte as LWAF mentioned you don't aways have sea walls, and you are responsible for the entire cost and maintenance of them. That can be big $$. Here in PGI you pay $400.00 per year with your water and sewer bill to the City and they take care of them. If they fail they replace them, and then your $400.00 is a steal. They come out and back fill them if there is any settlement behind the wall at no cost to you. They did that to mine yesterday. They also dredge the centerline of the canal, but not the edges, which is rare to need, since any settlement would tend to sluff to the deeper part of the canal which they would dredge.
The sea walls in PGI surround virtually all the land, so there are very few places that don't have the sea wall. It would be impossible for alligators or any sea creatures to get up on your property. It makes for a significant barrier. That is not true in Port Charlotte and other places. Some have walls, some don't it is kinda hap-hazard elsewhere.
In Port Charlotte and other places, they do not dredge, if a storm brings sediment and fills the canal, too bad! In PGI they keep them clear, and that is a part of the $400.00.
Drought - No problem, in PGI these are all saltwater canals, so the drought has no effect, unless the ocean levels drop, which I don't think is going to be a problem. Fresh water canals could be a problem in a drought, but then you don't have gulf access. Gulf Access is a big $$ advantage for resale.
Pets - You are allowed to have a low 4'-0" "see through fence" (chain link is OK), you can have an invisible fence which works great and looks nice. Right now I have a chainlink fence in my back yard, and may eventually get rid of it and put in an invisible fence. I have an English Springer Spaniel. He is all "Boy-Dog", and is high energy. We have a large yard in MD, but he does fine here. I take him for lots of walks. You won't have a problem with pets, as long as they aren't Irish Wolfhounds or something.
Check it out Patty, You'll love it here. Feel free to DM me if you have any other questions too.
Last edited by Big House; 04-11-2009 at 08:42 AM..
Someone please tell me that I'm not going to see rats? Please? Lie to me if you must? j/k. I won't be living on a canal, but on Lemon Bay and I have a sea wall. Rats would freak me out in a major way. Those and the blue land crabs! Has anyone ever seen those? I've only seen them on TV and it was in Northern Fl.
Reality check... seriously be honest so I can be prepared.
BTW, I'm coming over your way today for a couple days to hang out w/ my family for the holiday. Looks like lovely weather!
The boats that go by have to have their motors idling when they go down the part of the canals where the homes are so generally the noise is not very bad. I've never heard of any issues with pets on the canals I think they're usually pretty smart and keep away from the edge of the seawall. Yes, your home owners insurance would be higher due to the flood insurance requirement but there are many other factors that they look at as well to determine the home owners insurance.
A few other things that you might be interested in if your looking at canal front homes in PGI-
1. Dredging-the city dredges only the centerline of the canal for the established depth. Also, they do not dredge the sides of the canal where your boat is tied up. That dredging would have to be arranged for and paid for by the homeowner using the city contractor. You have to use them because they are the only ones approved to remove and dispose of the spoils which is entangled with the Corp of Engineers jurisdictional review. But, the spoils removal cost, was agreed upon with the City of Punta Gorda based on the bids and agreed upon unit price rates.
2. The dock maintenance-The dock maintenance and replacement costs are all by the home owner, as is any liability related to the dock. Existing docks were attached to the sea wall when originally constructed. This is no longer allowed. Any new docks have to have a 15" minimum clearance between the top of the deck and the bottom of the sea wall cap.
3. New docks-have to go through permitting and design review and an approval process. They need to be free standing and not attached to the sea wall.
4. The sea wall-The sea wall cap is maintained and paid for by the City of Punta Gorda and is part of the $400 payment. Nothing is allowed to be attached to the sea wall-no anchors, cleats or fasteners. Any additional anchoring or mooring structure has to be built at least 6' from the back face of the cap. If there are any sink holes behind the wall, then they city will excavate and refill them using their approved procedures, at the city's cost. They do not want the homeowner to back fill this work because it would not be compliant with their procedures or products. Once you make the call to the city they are usually pretty responsive and come out to fill the holes within a few days. Palm trees and other plants are to be at least 6' from the back face of the wall.
5. New construction such as permanent additions have to be at least 25' from the back face of the sea wall cap.
6. The city of Punta Gorda is responsible for maintaining any signage in the canals, which do not include address signs, but more navigational.
Wow, SoFLGal, you really know everything! No wonder you were such a tremendous help to me when I was looking to buy here! You sure looked out for me!
Hey big house, do the neighbors in PGI frown on it if a boat is lifted out of the water and the engines flushed-meaning loud engines running out of the water for 2-3 minutes while hooked up to a garden hose? This is something that should be done after every use to reduce corrosion within the engine. Just curious if this frowned upon in PGI.
Hey big house, do the neighbors in PGI frown on it if a boat is lifted out of the water and the engines flushed-meaning loud engines running out of the water for 2-3 minutes while hooked up to a garden hose? This is something that should be done after every use to reduce corrosion within the engine. Just curious if this frowned upon in PGI.
No, and even though it is a good practice, not many people actually do that. Everyone here is a boat owner, or was, or wants to be. 2-3 minutes during the day would really not be an issue. And as I mentioned, it is very quiet here.
Someone please tell me that I'm not going to see rats? Please? Lie to me if you must? j/k. I won't be living on a canal, but on Lemon Bay and I have a sea wall. Rats would freak me out in a major way. Those and the blue land crabs! Has anyone ever seen those? I've only seen them on TV and it was in Northern Fl.
Reality check... seriously be honest so I can be prepared.
BTW, I'm coming over your way today for a couple days to hang out w/ my family for the holiday. Looks like lovely weather!
Blue land crabs are rarely if ever seen in Punta Gorda. While the harbor and the rivers hold many types of crabs including the water crabs know as blue crabs, blue land crabs are normally found very close to the coast. I've seen them in huge numbers on Keewaydin island just south of Naples. boating on the intracoastal on a full moon it appeared as if the shore was moving. I put a spot light on the land and there they were 10's of thousands of them.
Click here For more info on blue land Crabs
Maybe I should lie and tell you that you would not see any rats, but the truth is they exist in Florida. We kindly call them palm rats, but they are the same vermin that are found in cities and farms throughout the world. They do become a nuisance when all the citrus ripens and goes unpicked. It becomes a food source. The good news is that Florida has abundant predators that keep the vermin in check, and they are not more likely to be seen living on a saltwater canal or open water
Blue land crabs are rarely if ever seen in Punta Gorda. While the harbor and the rivers hold many types of crabs including the water crabs know as blue crabs, blue land crabs are normally found very close to the coast. I've seen them in huge numbers on Keewaydin island just south of Naples. boating on the intracoastal on a full moon it appeared as if the shore was moving. I put a spot light on the land and there they were 10's of thousands of them.
Click here For more info on blue land Crabs
Maybe I should lie and tell you that you would not see any rats, but the truth is they exist in Florida. We kindly call them palm rats, but they are the same vermin that are found in cities and farms throughout the world. They do become a nuisance when all the citrus ripens and goes unpicked. It becomes a food source. The good news is that Florida has abundant predators that keep the vermin in check, and they are not more likely to be seen living on a saltwater canal or open water
Blue crabs are all over the PGI canals. I was out looking at a few homes in PGI yesterday and there were blue crabs in the water by the docks near two of the homes. As well as a HUGE Catfish, must have been at least three feet long. Blue Crabs are all over in Boca Grade Pass, they're a favorite food of the Tarpon that roll through there. Here's more info about Blue Crabs.
Hello Everyone,
Sorry, but I've been pretty busy the last couple days.
Lady, good post! Things are a bit different here in PGI, but you hit on a lot of the topics, so I will respond to your post and use it as a guide.
Noise - Virtually no noice here in PGI, Boat engines may start up and last a minute or two, then they are gone. 99.999% percent of the time you hear the birds singing and the fish jumping out of the water. Really, you can here a mullet jump and splash once every ten-to-thirty minutes or so. At night, you can here a pin drop, if you're not listening to the birds. That is not to say, that when someone starts a boat that you don't hear it, but there is a "no wake" policy in the canals so the boats cannot go fast, so they are not roaring their engines. They can't - they'd be fined big time!
Smell - No smell here in PGI. The breeze from the gulf is pleasant, and nice. The Tide raises and lowers in the canal 3-4 feet twice a day, and there is no decaying matter that would smell. There is none. It is wonderful, always fresh air here.
Bugs, - Nope, not much to speak of with regard to bugs. The canals are always full, the bottoms if ever exposed (during really low tide), are only exposed for a few minutes before the tide returns, so there really is no place for bugs to breed. There are a lot of little lizards, and birds that do a great job here of taking care of anything on land. And, I haven't seen one fire ant, spider, or anything really bothersome here. I have seen a couple of those huge cockroaches, but only a couple. I think those little lizards love them. I have seen three snakes, but nothing to worry about there either. Nothing poisonous. Remember we are on an island, so it is kinda tough for different species to get here and grow. If they're dangerous, they would be taken care of by DNR quickly. This is an older development, so I think that all that worrisome stuff has already been eliminated by earlier residents. No problems at all! Not where I am.
Port Charlotte - We looked over there, and believe that the houses are nicer here. Some of the restrictions (which we view as positives) keep it nice - like not trailers or boats or RVs in you yard. You have to store them someplace else. Boats are generally kept in on a lift in your back yard (nice and convienient). I can reach the harbor (deep water) in 5 minutes from my house. The canal depth in the center is 10-12 feet deep, and slopes to the sides usually 2-4 feet at the wall here. Not all canals here in PGI are the same though. So you have to understand where you are, what inlets you go in and out of to get to the Harbor, how long a run it is to get there. Sometimes it can take you an hour to get there - that is not much fun. And, some can be shallow so a big boat or sailboat may not work, and some have bridge heights to consider. I have a 21' boat and have not problems, except once during a really low tide one time, I had to wait to get the boat of my lift. If I planned and took the boat off the lift earlier I'd have been fine, but the bunks on the lift (what your boat sits on are about a foot high) so you have to account for that displacement when launching your boat during low tide.
Sea Walls - in Port Charlotte as LWAF mentioned you don't aways have sea walls, and you are responsible for the entire cost and maintenance of them. That can be big $$. Here in PGI you pay $400.00 per year with your water and sewer bill to the City and they take care of them. If they fail they replace them, and then your $400.00 is a steal. They come out and back fill them if there is any settlement behind the wall at no cost to you. They did that to mine yesterday. They also dredge the centerline of the canal, but not the edges, which is rare to need, since any settlement would tend to sluff to the deeper part of the canal which they would dredge.
The sea walls in PGI surround virtually all the land, so there are very few places that don't have the sea wall. It would be impossible for alligators or any sea creatures to get up on your property. It makes for a significant barrier. That is not true in Port Charlotte and other places. Some have walls, some don't it is kinda hap-hazard elsewhere.
In Port Charlotte and other places, they do not dredge, if a storm brings sediment and fills the canal, too bad! In PGI they keep them clear, and that is a part of the $400.00.
Drought - No problem, in PGI these are all saltwater canals, so the drought has no effect, unless the ocean levels drop, which I don't think is going to be a problem. Fresh water canals could be a problem in a drought, but then you don't have gulf access. Gulf Access is a big $$ advantage for resale.
Pets - You are allowed to have a low 4'-0" "see through fence" (chain link is OK), you can have an invisible fence which works great and looks nice. Right now I have a chainlink fence in my back yard, and may eventually get rid of it and put in an invisible fence. I have an English Springer Spaniel. He is all "Boy-Dog", and is high energy. We have a large yard in MD, but he does fine here. I take him for lots of walks. You won't have a problem with pets, as long as they aren't Irish Wolfhounds or something.
Check it out Patty, You'll love it here. Feel free to DM me if you have any other questions too.
Big House,
I will definitely check it out- can't wait to go next month- just sorry you won't be there Maybe next time. Have nice weekend.
Patty
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and give an accurate answer. Are pets a problem with people living on the canal with the lots being rather small? I am really interested in canal living but my husband has reservations about the negatives such as smaller lots, the noise, the extra taxes in a flood zone, but I think I would love it. If anyone can give some insight on canal living I would love to hear from you.
Canal living
Maybe next time. Have nice weekend.
