Fort Myers Beach Council approves new hotel for Pink Shell Beach Resort
LPA had previously recommended denial over public's loss of bay view
The Town of Fort Myers Beach Council voted Monday to give final approval to the Pink Shell Beach Resort to construct a 40-room, 60-feet high, six-story hotel across from their existing resort on less than half an acre of bayfront land fronting Estero Boulevard. The council awarded the resort 10 deviations from the local development code, including restrictions on the town’s three-story height limit, and setback requirements.
The hotel would replace one of the smaller parking lots currently used by the hotel. The Fort Myers Beach Local Planning Agency had previously voted to recommend denial of the project over concerns over whether the resort was restricted from building on the lot to protect the view of the bay as part of an agreement the resort had with the town when its current resort was approved.
As part of an agreement the owners of the Pink Shell Beach Resort more than 20 years ago with the town to build their current beachfront resort, they agreed not to develop on land they owned across the street to leave the view of the bay open to the public. The hotel’s owners argued at a previous town council hearing that the building restrictions they agreed to involved the parking lot they own directly across from the resort in front of the marina and not the approximately half-acre lot they will construct the new resort on.
Still, opponents who live across from where the new hotel will be built and who are upset at the prospect of losing their views of the bay, have contended that they believed the intent of the agreement was to preserve that land. Former Fort Myers Beach Mayor Ray Murphy, who was on the council at the time of the agreement, said at a hearing last month the intent of the agreement was to preserve that view for the public.
“We will agree to disagree,” Pink Shell Beach Resort and Marina owner Robert Boykin said of those objections.
The council voted 4-0 Monday to approve a Commercial Planned Development rezoning of the property and a development agreement to allow the construction of the hotel with Mayor Dan Allers abstaining due to a business relationship he has with the Pink Shell Beach Resort through his golf cart service. Allers ran the public hearing and presided over the discussions involving the resort despite announcing his conflict of interest before the start of the hearing.
Councilmember Karen Woodson, who had voted against the project last month, said she switched her vote after discussing it further with representatives of the resort.
The town council granted the hotel owners deviations which include doubling the height from the town’s 30-feet height limit, a small feat compared to the 250-feet high buildings the town council recently approved for the Seagate Development Group’s multi-building condo project.
In their application for the height deviation, the resort pointed to previous votes by town council to grant height deviations for hotels such as Margaritaville and Myerside.
Councilmembers gave limited comment as to their reasoning though Vice Mayor Jim Atterholt appeared to be moved by the developer’s arguments that they would be replacing lost hotel and resort inventory in the town lost after Hurricane Ian.
“Many of the LPA concerns were addressed,” Atterholt said.
The Pink Shell Beach Resort touted its public benefits being offered to the town, including a pledge to continue providing the town its mooring field boat pumpout service – a service the town had previously run into difficulty when the current and previous town administrations attempted to construct a pumpout station near residential properties.
Boykin said the service would be provided to the town in perpetuity as part of the development agreement unless the town were to build its own pumpout station.
Several residents who live in a development across from where the new hotel would go, spoke out against the town council ignoring its own local development code to grant the deviations.
The new hotel will block their views of the bay and will lead to more traffic issues, they said.
Cathy Scholz argued that the Pink Shell Beach Resorts gave up development rights for its bayside property in a letter to the town council and town counsel referring to the deeds.
Scholz said at Monday’s public hearing that by allowing the resort owners to build a 78,000 square feet hotel with 40 units on less than half an acre, the council was awarding even more density than the DiamondHead Beach Resort received for its hotel.
“If you keep saying yes without discernment, it will be very hard for you to ever say no,” Scholz said to the town council.
“We don’t want Miami Beach here,” said Robert Burns, another neighbor who lives across the street. Burns said that when he bought his condo unit he was told that the parcel across the street couldn’t be built on.
Burns objected to the town council not following the town’s local development code including setback requirements and height.
“All the sudden after this hurricane you are saying ‘we want to build higher, we want to build taller, we want to build wider,'” Burns said. “It looks to me that there is more people willing to do this for the almighty dollar, for tax base,” Burns said.
Burns said he understood the town council’s desire to increase its commercial tax base but asked “At what expense?”
Burns was one of two dozen neighbors of the proposed resort who sent a letter to the town council opposing the hotel.
Amy Thibaut, an attorney representing The Pink Shell Beach Resort, told the town council that “expert testimony” is required to be considered by the council for denying the project. “We certainly understand where members of the public are coming from,” Thibaut said. “I get it. It’s a hard pill to swallow.” However, Thibault said “layperson opinion is not sufficient” to challenge whether the project is consistent with the town’s comprehensive plan, or whether it would impact traffic or meets the town’s other approval criteria.
“The public benefit is awesome. It is really awesome to provide so much public benefit,” Thibaut said.
As part of the development agreement, the resort’s owners are required to meet 11 conditions of approval including providing a landscaping plan and planting schedule to the town, as well as a dune restoration plan.
“We’re happy,” Boykin said of the council’s approval Monday. “It took a lot of work to get to this point,” he said.
As for a timeline of when construction could begin, Boykin said he was still weighing the economic climate. Business in January was slowed by the cold weather that gripped the region, he said. Boykin said he would be assessing the resort’s business this season before moving forward after dealing with three hurricanes last year. The resort poured millions of dollars into repairs after Hurricane Ian. Boykin said he has reservations about beginning work while a dilapidated building on an adjacent parcel owned by another individual was still standing in disrepair.
Boykin has said the hotel was also looking to take part in a water ferry service that could potentially reduce some of the vehicle traffic to and from the resort. He has also proposed making the marina area more accessible to the public by a walkway nearby that would offer the public more of a chance to enjoy the view of the bay “and maybe get ice cream or a sandwich.”
The Pink Shell Beach Resort holds 195 units on its beachfront property on the northern end of the island, near Bowditch Point Regional Park. Boykin acquired the property in 1998 when it was largely cottages. The property has since been transformed by several high-rise building projects.
“The Pink Shell has been a work in progress,” Boykin said. “There is a lot to like about Fort Myers Beach.” Boykin said the new hotel would be supported by the amenities at the main resort across the street.
“A lot of people would like the island to be what it was,” Boykin said. “You can’t go backwards.”
The lot where the new hotel will be built was formerly used as a tennis court, Boykin said.
The property also includes an osprey nest. The Pink Shell Beach Resort and Marina used to have an osprey cam which the public could access to watch the osprey who have used the nest and its fledglings though Boykin said the camera has not been in use since Hurricane Ian. Ospreys are protected by the U.S. Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is responsible for protecting them in Florida under the state’s Imperiled Species Management Plan. The International Osprey Foundation monitors osprey nests on the island.
Boykin said he would be looking to work with the Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife (CROW) if the nest needs to be moved outside of nesting season when construction begins.
The resort has earned accolades for its environmental friendly efforts including tinting its windows so that light is not transmitted to the beach from inside the hotel at night to the beach during turtle nesting season. The resort was certified as “Sea Turtle Friendly” by the Sea Turtle Conservancy for its turtle-friendly lighting project last year. The resort also provides a number of nature activities for guests.
Fort Myers Beach Observer Editor Nathan Mayberg can be reached at NMayberg@breezenewspapers.com