The Town of Fort Myers Beach Council approved a first reading of an ordinance for a Comprehensive Planned Development zoning change which would allow a 45-unit hotel with four dwelling units, restaurant and commercial space at the former Myerside Resort and Cottages property near School St. and Oak St. across from the Fort Myers Beach Elementary School.
The Town of Fort Myers Beach Council voted 4-1 Monday to move the Myerside Resort project to a second hearing to be held June 17. Mayor Dan Allers voted against approving a zoning change to allow the Comprehensive Planned Development for the 45-unit hotel, while Vice Mayor Jim Atterholt expressed reservations about the hotel’s traffic impact. Atterholt joined councilmembers John King, Scott Safford and Karen Woodson in moving the ordinance to a second hearing.
The resort would also have four dwelling units and 9,000 square feet of commercial space including a restaurant, as part of a commercial planned development approval near the Fort Myers Beach Elementary School.
Myerside Resort and Cottages was largely destroyed by Hurricane Ian.
Allers said traffic was his main concern in voting against the project though he thought the planners did a good job of presenting the project.
Atterholt, said that while he voted yes to approve the first reading of the ordinance, he wanted to see more efforts from the developers to mitigate traffic before giving final approval.
Myerside Resort and Cottages was largely destroyed by Hurricane Ian. Only one of the seven cottages survived. File photo
“My request would be for Myerside to help mitigate any increase in traffic congestion due to the project’s increase in density. Traffic congestion on our island is one of the most significant impediments to the quality of life on Fort Myers Beach,” Atterholt said.
The Local Planning Agency had previously given approval for the 50-feet high hotel with multiple conditions including requirements for parking on site. Under town code, the resort would be required to have 89 parking spaces though the developers are seeking an approximately 30% deviation from the town code to only have 60 parking spaces. The property is located in between the Fort Myers Beach Elementary School, Fort Myers Beach Library and Bay Oaks Recreational Campus, across from the Fort Myers Beach Little League field.
The developers are also seeking to eliminate four required parking spaces by offering 16 bicycle spaces instead at the property, which straddles School St., Oak St. and Estero Blvd.
If the town council were to approve the development, it would mark a much more intensive use of the property which previously housed seven cottages with 12 units.
While developers Beverley Milligan and Roland Weinmann are seeking 45 hotel units, their planner Patrick Vanasse said they are entitled to 30 units by right. Allers said town staff believed the development was entitled to 20 units.
Myerside Resort and Cottages owners Roland Weinmann and Beverley Milligan. Photo by Nathan Mayberg
“Every person is going to ask for more,” Allers said. “This is substantially more than what you had,” Allers said.
Vanasse said the request for more density was due in part to the “extreme” cost of rebuilding. “We had a code that was put together intentionally to slow down growth and be restrictive, and to make development difficult,” Vanasse said. “Now you try to rebuild after a storm with today’s reality, it just compounds after that. Our regulations are outdated.”
Vanasse said the Margaritaville Beach Resort was entitled to 84 units by right and ended up getting approximately three times as many units, with 254 units when it was approved by the town council with deviations in 2018.
The Myerside project would attempt to mitigate the parking situation through using the town’s public parking spaces located near the baseball fields, town pool and Bay Oaks. They have suggested that valet parking could lead to parking being “doubled up.” They also propose “double-counting” of parking spaces for the bar area and restaurants.
The developers also suggest they could potentially use parking spaces at the Beach Methodist Church, which is located directly across from the Beach Elementary School.
Atterholt asked the developers if they were willing to offer a discount to customers who don’t use their own vehicle to stay at the hotel in order to reduce impacts to local traffic.
“It’s a benefit for the community to get less cars on the island,” Atterholt said.
Safford was critical of the concept, while Allers said catching an Uber or Lyft on Fort Myers Beach was not feasible during peak traffic times.
Atterholt also asked if the developers would be willing to add a medical professional, dentist, physical therapist or urgent care facility, for the property in exchange for sharing town parking spots to use for the resort.
Vanasse said it can be difficult to attract medical professionals to the island and by requiring it, could potentially negatively impact the development.
The town council voted 4-1 in 2021 in favor of an ordinance which would change the zoning of the property from residential conservation to commercial planned development and allow for a restaurant and boutique store, and allow for the sale of alcohol at the restaurant.
The approvals for the serving of alcohol at the restaurant had faced scrutiny from some local residents at the time due to its location near the elementary school, library, Little League baseball fields and Bay Oaks.
Town staff had recommended denial of the project in 2021 for being inconsistent with the comprehensive plan and the residential neighborhood. The Lee County School District also opposed the project at the time. The current staff recommended approval of this project.
As part of the 2021 agreement, the restaurant was supposed to have noise restrictions which would not allow the playing of music until after 3 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekends. There was no mention of such restrictions at Tuesday’s LPA meeting.
Vanasse said the restrictions agreed to in 2021 would not apply to this new commercial planned development and have not been brought up in the review process.
The council voted in favor of allowing the restaurant at the time in a bid to protect the cottages on site, only one of which survived Hurricane Ian.
A previous council had previously given approvals to the property owners to add a bed and breakfast use to the land.
Former Fort Myers Beach Mayor Tracey Gore opposed the approvals in 2021 and opposes the current project.
“I attended Beach School when I was a kid and played on the Little League fields. I was active in the Beach School when my kids attended. I was a substitute teacher, PTO President for 5 years, and there all the time for Little League games, rec center activities, fundraisers,” Gore said. Gore said she opposed the bed and breakfast and other zoning changes to the location of the property next to the elementary school, town pool, Bay Oaks Recreational Campus and Little League fields “knowing how special that area is for our kids.”
Gore said the approval of the project is symbolic of a shift on Fort Myers Beach.
“This appears to be the direction our little island is moving in,” Gore said. “Many Beach kids have grown up and started their own families on the island, they deserve to give their kids the same great island life that they had. The whole idea of why the island incorporated is gone.”
This story will be updated.
Fort Myers Beach Observer Editor Nathan Mayberg can be reached at NMayberg@breezenewspapers.com
