FEMA puts Fort Myers Beach on probation, takes away National Flood Insurance Program discount
Decision related to permitless work after Hurricane Ian
The hits keep coming for Fort Myers Beach.
The Town of Fort Myers Beach has been notified by FEMA that its status in the National Flood Insurance Program has been retrograded, as the town has been put on probation and faces the loss of its discount through the National Flood Insurance Program April 1 if it does not comply with corrective action items FEMA has required the town to meet.
The penalties are related to permitless work throughout the town since Hurricane Ian. The town had been put on notice earlier in the year by FEMA that it faced the threat of losing its 25% discount through the National Flood Insurance Program for property owners who have insurance through the program. FEMA had cited the town’s permitless work after Hurricane Ian. The town had appealed the decision and had been granted until September to formulate a plan to address the deficiencies cited by FEMA and by Nov. 18 to remedy the situation.
The Town of Fort Myers Beach Council had been seeking further extensions from FEMA for enforcing codes FEMA wanted the town to crack down on – such as removing temporary structures that are prohibited in the special flood hazard area and coastal high hazard area. FEMA rejected that request in a letter to Fort Myers Beach Mayor Dan Allers and the council last week. Allers had said the town would enforce the regulations sought by Friday though that may have been too late.
In particular, the town was seeking to get an extension for La Ola Surfside Restaurant. The restaurant’s bar had been operating out of a storage container since Hurricane Ian destroyed its property at Times Sqaure. FEMA has cited the property as a high-risk temporary structure that it wanted removed.
Numerous other properties have been cited as well by the town for being out of compliance with the ban on high-risk temporary commercial structures. The town council met last week and set forth an appeals process for properties to go through if they are cited by the town for being in violation of the code. The town’s own town hall trailers are among the structures that also need to be removed.
“FEMA’s mission is to ‘help people before, during and after disasters,'” Atterholt said. “With respect to Fort Myers Beach, FEMA has failed on all counts. Hopefully, with new leadership coming to Washington, FEMA’s decrees can be reversed and we can once again partner together to benefit the people of our island.”
Atterholt has suggested the town await help from a new incoming presidential administration.
Allers said the town would work with FEMA to preserve the town’s inclusion in the National Flood Insurance Program. “We are disappointed with today’s FEMA decision, but we will continue to work with them to keep our residents in the National Flood Insurance Program,” Allers saod. “Once we receive their official letter outlining their requirements, we will implement the local changes necessary.
Town of Fort Myers Beach Manager Andrew Hyatt issued a statement saying “I am disappointed that FEMA has made the decision to put the Town on probation. Town staff is committed to following our FEMA approved plan and will continue to collaborate with FEMA and FDEM to regain our NFIP discount and CRS classification.”
Lee County, on the other hand, was notified Thursday by FEMA that it will keep its rating and discount through the National Flood Insurance Program. Cape Coral and the Village of Estero were also notified by FEMA that their appeals had been granted and they would be keeping their insurance discounts.
The Town of Fort Myers Beach and Lee County had been notified earlier this year of FEMA’s decision to retrograde the ratings due to what it found to be permitless work after Hurricane Ian. The town and county, among other municipalities, appealed the decision and were granted extensions to formulate a plan and remedy the issues cited by FEMA.
Examples of permitless work throughout the town after Hurricane Ian included the removal of mangroves at the Fort Myers Beach Theater, drainage of pools that polluted nearby canals and the installation of lights at the Fort Myers Beach Post Office that were being operated in violation of the town’s own lighting codes.
Back in July, FEMA sent the town a letter after a 60-day review of the town’s compliance with FEMA regulations since the town’s appeal of the initial FEMA decision. FEMA found issues with a lack of permits for development in the Special Flood Hazard Area, lack of maintaining permit records for development, new construction, or substantial improvements and a failure to make substantial improvement and substantial damage determinations. Incomplete records for permits and code enforcement were among the other issues cited in the July letter.
In a letter addressed to Hyatt on Thursday, FEMA Regional Administrator Robert Samaan thanked town staff “for the long hours and hard work during the last several months to correct the Town of Fort Myers Beach’s issues regarding the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Our teams have made great progress in helping ensure the city and their residents are more resilient and prepared for future storms.
However, FEMA found that three of the correction items it had notified the town of needing to be corrected by Nov. 18 had still not been met. Those items were to:
A) Assess all floodplain development from Hurricane Ian in the Special Flood Hazard Area, ensuring
that permits for all repairs, construction and development were obtained consistent with local
floodplain management regulations.
B). Provide documentation that demonstrates your community is leveraging its code enforcement
process to address new and existing code cases for all structures not confirmed as compliant.
C). Remove noncompliant structures that were incorrectly permitted and should not have been placed
in the Special Flood Hazard Area.
FEMA did find that the town did comply with two other corrective measures – putting a process in place to ensure substantial damage compliance for future events, and developing a plan that includes actions and timelines to address all identified program deficiencies and violations to the maximum extent possible.
FEMA found that the town did not remove non-compliant structures that “were incorrectly permitted and should not have been placed in the Special Flood Hazard Area.”
The town is currently on probation, effective Nov. 18.
According to the FEMA letter, “flood insurance coverage will remain available within the Town of Fort Myers Beach; however, a $50 surcharge will be added to the premium of each new and renewed flood insurance policy sold within the community. Probation will remain in effect until all remaining program deficiencies and violations have been corrected to the maximum extent possible. Effective April 1, 2025, the town will be retrograded to a Class 10 in the Community Ratings System and policy premium discounts will not be applied to new or renewing policies. The Town is not eligible to reapply to the Community Rating System for a higher-class rating until the Town’s probationary period is concluded, the Town is in full compliance with the minimum requirements of the National Flood Insurance Program, and at least two years has passed since the Town was placed in probationary status.”
Fort Myers Beach Observer Editor Nathan Mayberg can be reached at NMayberg@breezenewspapers.com