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TALLAHASSEE — A last-minute disagreement has at least temporarily scuttled a private developer’s plans to build 19 boat slips along Coon Key Pass

The Florida Cabinet agreed this past week to withdraw a request by the project’s developer, Illinois-based Palmer Ranch LLC, to build 13 boat slips on protected submerged land and six on less-protected waters nearby.

State environmental officials say they recommended the move after the company “late in the game” raised disagreements with the state’s rules for the project.

While reviewing the application prior to the Cabinet meeting, Palmer officials felt the draft restrictions would be 5 feet, said Mark Miller, Department of Environmental Protection regional environmental manager.

State officials, however, had a different impression -- that the allowed amount of draft, or depth underwater, would be less than that.

“Negotiations with the applicant were based on that” 3.5-foot draft restriction, Miller said.

“So everyone needs a bit more time to work this out,” Miller said.

Company officials couldn’t be reached for comment.

Plans call for the developer to build a 19-slip private docking facility, with 13 slips over sovereign submerged lands and six slips in a man-made canal adjacent to an undeveloped upland property near Coon Key Pass.

The originally proposed docking facility would accommodate private recreational vessels ranging in lengths from 20 to 60 feet with a maximum draft of 3.5 feet.

State officials say the company came to them in the past few weeks to increase the allowable draft from 3.5 feet to 5 feet.

Because of that, the permit request will have to be again thoroughly reviewed to examine those parameters.

“This is a significant change,” said Chris Cate, a DEP spokesman.

The project, first proposed in 2002, already has come under fire from some nearby residents and the Save the Manatee Club, which argued the project violated federal marine mammal protections.

It also comes in addition to another, larger proposal by Collier County officials to expand public access to the area’s waters.

Collier County’s Parks and Recreation Department is planning to build a boating ramp with parking for 75 boat trailers, 16 regular parking spaces, a concession stand and 22 dock rental spaces on a 5-acre parcel that county government owns in Goodland.

Dubbed the Goodland Boat Launch, it would be the county’s fifth public boat access point.

The withdrawal of the request before the cabinet this past week marked the second time in the past several weeks projects to build marinas or add boat slips in the region have been scuttled or withdrawn.

Last month, the cabinet rejected a controversial proposal to build a marina along a stretch of mangroves in North Naples.

Signature Communities sought state approval for a 49-slip dock and fishing pier between Bluebill Avenue and Water Turkey Bay. The marina would be a private amenity for the Dunes condominium project.

But the cabinet deadlocked on the project, with Attorney General Bill McCollum and Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink voting against the permit, resulting in a 2-2 split.