Mucky Duck Restaurant Sues Federal Agencies Over Gulf View-Blocking Dune Barrier

Two weeks after being buried in sand by Hurricane Helene in late September 2024, Milton blew out the Mucky Duck's beachside walls and windows, completely exposing the interior and leaving the roofline and floor sagging. Owner Andreas Bieri poured money into rebuilding. Then the government put up a wall of sand and blocked the view entirely.

The Mucky Duck alleges the Captiva Erosion Prevention District illegally built a 12-foot artificial dune barrier, and The Mucky Duck, Inc. and Lucky Duck RE LLC have sued the Captiva Erosion Prevention District Board of Commissioners and the Captiva Erosion Prevention District. The Mucky Duck filed its lawsuit in December in the Circuit Court of the Twentieth Judicial Circuit in Lee County, and last month the CEPD requested the lawsuit be moved to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Fort Myers Division.

The Mucky Duck, a designated historic resource built in 1924, claims the barrier ruins its cultural and scenic value, causing economic and business harm, with the patio now unusable and the property no longer feeling "beachfront." The lawsuit states that Mucky Duck has "the rights to view the Gulf, the beach and the sunsets from the Historic Property under Florida law" and that "the defendants acted recklessly and intentionally."

The financial stakes are substantial. Plaintiffs claim the dune has slashed the restaurant's property value from $10 million to $2.5 million and the historic property's value from $5 million to $2 million, totaling a $10.5 million loss. The beachfront eatery has asked for a jury trial, with owners seeking at least $10.5 million in damages, plus unspecified special damages, declaratory relief, injunctive relief, and any other appropriate relief.

The permit dispute sits at the center of the case. The lawsuit claims the dune violated state and federal permits. According to WINK News, the state permit allowed a dune up to 9.8 feet, but the current structure reaches 12 feet, with plans to add plantings that would push it to 17 feet. The federal permit, plaintiffs allege, stipulates no harm to historic properties, a condition they say the barrier violates.

The lawsuit also accuses the CEPD of government overreach, asserting that Florida law permits the district to perform beach restoration but not to build storm-protection dunes inland, and that the dune was constructed outside the district's legal powers, known as "ultra vires." The 218-page suit cites numerous references along with "before and after" photos taken before the barrier was built.

The CEPD is not going quietly. Having requested that the state lawsuit be moved to federal court, the district now wants the suit dismissed altogether. Its motion argues that plaintiffs cannot simply point to an obstructed view as a constitutional taking. The district's filing states that "in order to succeed, Plaintiffs must allege that the government reached a final position on the permanence of the barrier and the permanence of the impact on the Plaintiff's property, not the construction of a barrier which may necessarily change over time." The CEPD also contends that the restaurant's complaint fails to include any facts supporting the extent of interference caused by the barrier, or exactly how the alleged interference permanently deprived Mucky Duck of its ability to use or economically benefit from its restaurant.

Not everyone on Captiva sides with the restaurant. Community member Clarke told Gulf Coast News: "All these hurricanes keep coming. So we probably do want to protect as much as we can. And if these sand dunes do a good job of protecting the island, I think I'm all for it. I think it's worth the sacrifice."

Bieri, who moved to Captiva in 1974 and took part ownership of the Mucky Duck in 1980, eventually buying out his business partners for full ownership between 2011 and 2016, has declined to comment on the active litigation. His earlier words, spoken before the suit was filed, carry the weight of the whole dispute: "I would have never to rebuild like that. If I would have known what they want to do with that beach, I would have never done, invested in the rebuild."

The case is now assigned to the U.S. District Court in Fort Myers, with the CEPD's motion to dismiss pending. For the kitchen workers and servers who built careers at one of Captiva's most storied Gulf-front rooms, the outcome will determine whether the restaurant they rebuilt from hurricane wreckage has any future worth working toward.