Public hearing set for traffic light installation at Margaritaville
Monday’s Fort Myers Beach Town Council meeting had a lot of little projects to go over – the primary concern with the stoplight being installed with the Margaritaville construction. This does turn into a taxpayer initiative and does add another light to Estero Boulevard. The public hearing for this has been set for Nov. 8.
“I would urge a public hearing purely for the sake of optics and being as open as we can,” said Jason Green, Community Developer for the Town of Fort Myers Beach.
The final dates for vacating the public hearing for properties that need demolition for Margaritaville’s construction have been set as well, with the final date being Jan. 3. These are public hearings, so notices will go out within 30 days to all properties that could be affected.
There will be visible destruction during the next couple of months, so residents are urged to be cautious and aware.
Councilmember Bruce Butcher spearheaded an initiative to put ATM and gas pump security clauses in place, making sure that owners of gas stations and bank locations are held to their own security. This essentially turns into less skimmers placed on machines with a focus put on physical checks of sites more often.
“It’s something I’m glad we’ve done. I want to thank (Councilmember) Butcher for taking the wheel on this one,” Councilmember Rexann Hosafros said.
Certain condo owners have been exempted from the weekly rentals ordinance that limits certain time frames for rentals in certain zoning districts. Any condo owner with rentals can produce agreements upon purchase to make sure their condos are within reason to either fall under or be exempt. The final public hearing for this has been set for Oct. 21 at 9 a.m.
Plans for the new Matanzas Pass construction have been presented, but the council agreed to push them to Public Safety for the time being, as there was no prior discussion on the matter.
Signage for Margaritaville will start going up this week, especially for already empty buildings.
The vote was unanimous for approval.
“It’s important we let people know that these buildings aren’t vacant for the sake of being so. There’s building going on and people walking by need to know what places are included and that there is something going in,” Councilmember Joanne Shamp said.