Buttonwood Harbour residents on Longboat remain mixed toward rebuild

Since that cursed morning of Sept. 27 of last year, BJ Bishop and her husband, Dave, have had a crow's nest view of the Buttonwood Harbour community.

What they have witnessed in the past 11 months has been a slow progression of recovery and that "not what it was" feel.

"It felt like a real neighborhood," she said. "It's not the same environment. Buttonwood was one of the first neighborhoods where we had a lot of yearlong residents."

Now, according to Bishop and resident John Wegman, there is a mix of repair, return or sell as there are some leaving Longboat Key entirely. 

We have Hurricane Helene to thank for that. The topic of repairing homes or selling or just getting out is an ad nauseam discussion carrying through the neighborhoods, coffee shops and, of course, media outlets.

But for Longboat residents, they cannot get away from it. Currently, BJ and Dave are in the middle of tearing down their house at 634 Buttonwood Drive, where they've lived since 2013, only to rebuild. 

The house received 5 feet of Helene's surge water gushing through the rooms.

The Bishops have been staying in an apartment above the garage since Helene. 

"At the beginning, it was a little eerie, because we were literally just about the only people at this end of the street," she said. I grew up on a farm, so you know I'm used to living like that. But I'm used to living and being able to see neighbors, too."

As backhoes eat through the remains, reducing it to crumbs, the Bishops plan to rebuild it bigger, stronger and higher — much higher.

A new house next to the garage will sit 12 feet higher.

"We'll bring in 2 feet of dirt to raise the lot a little bit, and then we'll go 10 feet up," she said. "And that will be where the first floor is."

At the other end of the spectrum is Wegman, who lives at 670 Longwood Drive, and also got hammered by Helene's flooding. But he reacted immediately.

"We started taking everything out, cutting the drywall, 4 feet below, things like that," Wegman said. "So then when Milton came, we closed the house back up again and we didn't get any additional flooding."

Whereas the Bishops are living above their garage, the Wegmans are back in their fully remodeled house.

Post-Milton, Wegman said they had dryers in the house as soon as the electric switched on and they were on the phone with contractors.

They were also one of the first on the island to get with the town and get permitting.

"We took the permit over," Wegman said. "We went down to the town and we said we want to be owner permitted. I felt the town was really good about that."

In Florida, under statute 489.103(7), property owners can act as their own contractor and obtain permits to do contracting work on their own property, subject to specific restrictions. 

"It gives you a lot of flexibility to reach out, get your own contractors because everybody's super busy," Wegman said.

Now, in fairness, there was a bit of time to fully get back in the house. Wegman said they were able to returb around Thanksgiving, but the kitchen was without cabinets and appliances.

But according to Wegman — minus a few odds and ends to finish — everything was complete by the end of January.

Bishop, on the other hand, says it will take up to two years to rebuild their house.

"Our biggest problem was Florida Power & Light," she said. "We're still living there, and they said, 'but you're tearing the house down.' We're not tearing the garage down."

Bishop said it was a friend in Tallahassee who called the CEO of FPL and said "common sense does not play a role in the department."

In between the Wegmans and the Bishops have been a mix throughout the Buttonwood community. Bishop says some people who are not elevating their houses are back in, while others are selling, others are buying. 

Wegman, who lives on one of Buttonwood's canals, said the houses on both sides of him are completely gone and those owners are selling the empty lots.

"One gentleman who lives here lived on the non-canal side, and he wanted a house on the canal," Wegman said. "He was able to have the opportunity and buy a lot."

The hope for Buttonwood residents, as is for all of Longboat Key, is they've seen the last of the flooding. Bishop isn't taking that chance by elevating her house.

"Many have rebuilt on the ground. They're just hoping that it really was a 100-year flood, and I just didn't have that same comfort."