'I just want my home back': A Hurricane Ian survivor's struggle to rebuild

FORT MYERS, Fla. (WINK) — More than three and a half years after Hurricane Ian destroyed her home, Lee County resident Sharon Chaffee is still waiting to rebuild.

Chaffee told WINK Investigates she didn't know whether to blame the county, engineers or contractors as delay after delay pushed her project further behind. What WINK Investigates found was a complicated chain of setbacks involving multiple contractors, engineering issues, permit revisions and communication problems.

For Chaffee, an empty lot at Oyster Bay Mobile Home Park in San Carlos Island is a daily reminder of what Hurricane Ian took away.

“I mean, I just want my home back,” Chaffee told WINK Investigates Reporter Olivia Jean.

Before the storm, the property held her home. After Ian's storm surge swept through the area, it was destroyed.

“Eighteen feet of water just literally destroyed it,” Chaffee said. “It picked it up, kind of moved it around, put it back on its posts, and it's just totally destroyed.”

After the storm, Chaffee bought an RV and parked it on the property, expecting it to be temporary housing while she rebuilt.

“I bought the RV and put that on the property thinking, ‘Oh, this will be temporary housing,’ and it's three and a half years later,” she said.

Frustrated by years of delays and conflicting explanations, Chaffee reached out to WINK Investigates looking for answers.

“I don't know what's taking so long, and I'm just really frustrated. I don't know who is the issue,” she said. “I reached out to see if you all could help and figure out why it's taking so long to get my home rebuilt.”

Chaffee's plan is to build a new manufactured home and raise it to avoid future flooding. 

County says permit application has been waiting on contractor

WINK Investigates began reviewing records and speaking with everyone involved in the project.

Lee County officials said the current permit application has been waiting on the applicant since Feb. 4 because reviewers found missing information related to the design of the home's slab. According to the county, reviewers specifically noted that the application did not address a requirement involving control or construction joints in the slab.

The county told WINK News that properly submitted residential permit applications typically move from application to approval in about 20 days and that delays generally occur when applications contain omissions or errors.

Early contractor problems created major setbacks

The deeper WINK Investigates looked, the more it became clear the delays began long before the current permit review.

Kenneth Kinney, president of Central Mobile Homes, the company responsible for delivering and completing Chaffee's future manufactured home, said the project was plagued by contractor problems early on.

Chaffee initially worked with other companies that later went out of business.

Kinney said those early issues cost months of progress and left the newly hired companies trying to untangle problems created years earlier. 

In a written statement provided to WINK Investigates, Kinney said, "In reference to the Sharon Chaffee home, the home will be delivered within 30 days of the issuance of the permit by Lee County to her current general contractor and the erection of the stilt structure that the home will be placed on. It is my opinion that she was taken advantage of by her previous general contractor, which I have seen too many times following this storm."

New contractor says engineering and permit issues slowed progress

Budget Mobile Home Solutions, the company now handling the foundation, stilt system and setup work, told WINK Investigates it took over the project in early 2025. By that point, the company said it inherited an already complicated situation.

According to Budget Mobile Home Solutions, an engineer involved in the project stopped responding, forcing the company to hire a new engineer, and resubmit documents to Lee County. The company said updated paperwork has been submitted in response to Lee County's changes from February. 

Budget representatives also said that the county's permitting process contributed to delays, particularly in earlier stages of the rebuild. They said review comments from the permitting office often came back in phases rather than all at once, creating additional waiting periods between submissions and reviews. However, the company said the permitting process has improved more recently.

Still waiting for home

Despite the setbacks, Chaffee says she remains hopeful she will eventually return to a permanent home on the property she owns.

“I want to rebuild, and I'm still hoping that that's going to happen,” she said.

But after more than three years of delays, her patience is wearing thin.

“I just feel really stuck,” Chaffee said.

The companies currently working on the project told WINK Investigates they expect the remaining permit issues to be resolved and believe the project is finally moving in the right direction. For Chaffee, that progress cannot come soon enough.

WINK Investigates will continue to track this project.

If you have a story you want WINK Investigates to dig into, email us at winkinvestigates@winknews.com or call our tip line at (239)-344-5074.