We are now well past the two-year mark of Hurricane Ian’s landfall in Southwest Florida, and many residents are still struggling with the recovery process. This is not a surprise given the magnitude of the storm’s effect. However, it is very important that we learn from the experience so that our community is rebuilt in a manner that is more resilient in the face of future storms.
Based on the observed performance of structures built to the current code, I am confident that the buildings that replace the ones destroyed by Ian will fare much better than their predecessors. The current codes and techniques taught in construction courses such as those offered by Florida Gulf Coast University’s Stock Development Department of Construction Management are having a profound influence on the resiliency of the built environment in coastal areas.
While the disaster response from state government may not be perfect, it seems that Florida is definitely riding the learning curve and making progress in terms of the efficiency of relief efforts. For me, the more concerning issues are at the local level, where officials and various government employees oversee rebuilding efforts in the wake of severe weather events.
As the months have rolled by since Ian devastated Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel and other coastal communities, we have all seen stories in the news about the challenges faced by businesses and homeowners as they try to rebuild. Beyond the typical issues faced in any rebuilding process, many of these stories include an element that I don’t think gets enough attention. No, I am not thinking about the daunting cost to rebuild to current code, problems in securing materials or staffing challenges in our tight labor market. The element that jumps out to me is the cost associated with delays in the permitting and approval process.
If you ask anyone in real estate development or construction, they will tell you that permitting and approval tends to be an arduous task. It is this way for a variety of reasons, among the most important of which is the fact that the use of real property has the potential to impose negative externalities on neighboring properties and their owners. The permitting and approval process serves to minimize these damages.
However, when the system is overwhelmed by an event of Ian’s scale, lengthy delays are likely to occur. These delays impose tremendous costs on property owners — many of whom face significant carrying costs for properties they can neither use nor repair. For some individuals and businesses, this is an aftereffect of the storm they are not able to weather. In this situation, homeowners burn through savings and businesses quickly consume capital trying to stay afloat until they are allowed to rebuild. Ultimately, some will not be able to hold out and will be forced to exit the market.
It is not surprising that our local governments were overwhelmed by Ian. Devastation of this scale is difficult to comprehend and not easily addressed in a contingency plan. However, in the slice of paradise that we call home, the risk of severe weather events is not going away and will likely increase if sea levels rise as predicted. Therefore, municipal disaster response plans need to include a process for expediting the permitting and approval process during reconstruction. Inclusion of such provisions will increase the resiliency of our community by allowing property owners to rebuild in a timely manner.
— Shelton Weeks is the Lucas Professor of Real Estate and director of the Lucas Institute for Real Estate Development & Finance at Florida Gulf Coast University’s Lutgert College of Business.
