Fort Myers Beach Council votes to move Seagate proposal to second hearing
The Town of Fort Myers Beach Council voted 4-1 to move the proposed development agreement from Seagate Development Group to a second town council hearing on the ordinance to construct two 17-story towers with a total of 141 residential units at the former Red Coconut RV Resort. The project will have its residential development on the Bay side of Estero Boulevard while a beach club will be built on the Gulf side.
The project requires a deviation for its height. By right, the residential tower is limited to three stories through the town local development code.
Voting in favor of moving the project forward was Vice Mayor Jim Atterholt, Councilmember John King, Councilmember Scott Safford and Councilmember Karen Woodson. Mayor Dan Allers voted against the project. The project had previously been rejected by the Fort Myers Beach Local Planning Agency and had faced concerns from some neighbors regarding its impact to the views of the Gulf of Mexico and on local traffic.
“I hear people say I don’t want it to be Miami,” Fort Myers Beach Councilmember John King said before his decision to vote in favor of the project. “I don’t want it to be Mexico Beach or Matlacha.”
Fort Myers Beach Mayor Dan Allers said he voted against the project because he was upholding the vision of the comprehensive plan and local development code the town installed after its incorporation in the 1990’s. “It’s a tremendous project,” Allers said. “It’s being done the right way,” he said. However, Allers said he doesn’t know that it meets the intention of the Comprehensive Plan.
“I don’t think it is completely in line with the comprehensive plan and local development code,” Allers said.
King revisited the history of the town’s incorporation before Monday’s vote on the Seagate Development Group’s proposal. King dredged up the decision of voters to incorporate in the 1990’s, taking a poke at the vote by noting it was done in the summer. “It won by 174 votes, that is not an overwhelming majority,” King said. King moved to Fort Myers Beach from Iowa in 2021. “This decision continues I think to divide the island,” he said. “If height was why the town incorporated why did they put openings in the land development code, in the comprehensive plan that allows these deviations?”
Councilmember Scott Safford called Seagate’s proposed development “a beautiful project” and had no problem with the height deviations. “I live right next to Ocean Harbor and it doesn’t bother me in the least bit,” Safford said.
Kathy Turner, who lives adjacent to the building, said she opposed the proposal. “We like the quiet residential project where we live,” Turner said. “Our retirement for Fort Myers Beach was supposed to be the last chapters of our lives. We are watching closely what happens.”
Turner, who is the president of the Estero Island Garden Club, said “it is really a confusing process.” Turner said she is concerned about the height deviations as well as the ability of Shell Mound Boulevard and Donora Boulevard to handle the increased traffic.
“It is a very quiet, residential neighborhood,” Turner said. She is worried about the view and that her water would be impacted.
Turner said the offer by Seagate Development of an expanded view corridor is not a public benefit.
Seagate Development CEO Matt Price said it took seven months to work with staff “to find out what we were allowed to do by right.”
During his presentation to the town, Price said the property tax bill for the developers for the property was more than $588,000 – with more than $134,000 of that going to the town.
The developers estimate the project will generate $8.2 million in real estate tax receipts by full build-out with the town’s portion of that estimated at $1.9 million.
They also expect to pay the town $2.3 million in permits and fees during the course of construction.
“Eventually, this island has to change,” Price said. If the project isn’t approved as presented, Price said there could be consequences.
“You will start to see attorneys, you will start to see letters,” he said.
Atterholt sought some new gestures by the developer in order to support the project, asking for them to put in a public restroom on the beach side and for a water fountain – which Seagate Development Group CEO Matt Price said he would do.
Seagate Development Group purchased the former Red Coconut RV property off Estero Boulevard near the intersection with Donora Boulevard for $52 million last year.
Fort Myers Beach resident Barbara Hill called on the council to cut the number of units by one-third, saying 17 stories was too high.
Michael Dagnese, an electrician who lives on Shell Mound Boulevard near where the development would be built, said there was no longer any need for the town council if it were to grant the height deviation for the development.
“We have a height plan for a reason,” Dagnese said. “They built DiamondHead, we (created) a height plan for that reason. If you are going to turn around and change it and let them get away with a 17-story building, we don’t need you. You can go away and we can go back to Lee County.”
Dagnese said the “purpose was to keep the height down, to keep our beach beautiful.”
This story will be updated.
Fort Myers Beach Observer Editor Nathan Mayberg can be reached at NMayberg@breezenewspapers.com