Fort Myers Beach Council moves food truck park to second hearing
The food truck park proposed on seven-tenths of an acre just seven and a half feet from the pool of the Pelican Watch condo property on Fort Myers Beach, was approved for a second hearing by the town council Monday after a marathon hearing that ran more than six hours.
The second hearing will take place on April 7 at 9 a.m. at the council’s chambers on Oak St.
The park, which requires a commercial planned development ordinance that will include deviations from the land development code on the town’s setback rules, had been approved by the Local Planning Agency in a 4-3 vote with 27 conditions.
The hearing Monday brought out many opponents from the 48-unit beachfront Pelican Watch condo association. They objected to the closeness of the food truck park to their pool, the noise that would result from live music inside the beer garden at a building that would be constructed on the property adjacent to their pool, traffic concerns, potential littering, trespassers, the potential devaluation of their condo properties and even the impact to local brick and mortar businesses. Some expressed worries about vagrancy and other activities that could result from the alcohol sales there.
Kirk Banarian, an owner at Pelican Watch, said the deviations that would allow the entrance to be closer to Estero Boulevard than the existing code could become a safety issue.
Banarian asked the town council if it wanted food trucks to be part of the island.
“Do we really want food trucks?,” Banarian said.
Councilmember Scott Safford said he was concerned about the parking situation that would result from the food truck park. Safford said the developers need a plan to keep customers of the food trucks from parking on the side streets.
Vince Todd, an owner at Pelican Watch since 1981, said he was the first Pelican Watch owner to close on his condo at the development.
“It’s really unfair to the residents of the island who have helped sustain the island,” Todd said.
Todd said Pelican Watch is “one of the few” condo buildings back together since Hurricane Ian.
Todd said owners have lost three sales since the food truck park was proposed.
Pelican Watch is located on prime beachfront property in the heart of the island just south of the busy downtown business district.
The proximity of the park to Pelican Watch is due, in part, to the complex land arrangement on the property line that tethers the closely-grouped lots between Cottage Street and Estero Boulevard.
The Pelican Watch building’s pool is surrounded by a fence. Opposite that fence is a house being built by another property owner. Also on the same side of the fence within seven and a half feet would be the food truck court with a building that would be able to house live music that could potentially be on from morning to night based on plans submitted to the town. On the other side of the pool is the Pelican Watch parking lot.
The applicants require a deviation approved by the town council from the Local Development Code that requires a 15 feet setback from the neighboring properties. The proposed buffer between the food truck park would be seven and a half feet from the neighboring pool of Pelican Watch and 10 feet away at other sections of its parcel.
James Hotka is proposing the park as part of Empire Holding Corp., an Indiana corporation. The park would be built over where a home used to sit and that was destroyed by Hurricane Ian, with the parking lot constructed where restaurants have previously stood in the past. Hotka would also construct a building with a beer garden where alcohol sales and live music would take place.
At Monday’s meeting, the developers proposed limiting the number of days and hours the live music would take place, while also restricting the music from having any percussion without receiving a special permit.
Randy Briesath, president of the Pelican Watch Condo Owners Association, called the live music proposed by Hotka inside a building and beer garden as his biggest concern.
Vice Mayor Jim Atterholt said the live music compromise was a “significant” concession.
The town’s planning staff, as part of a recent trend, recommended approval of the project with 27 conditions, citing what they believe is less intensity than is allowed at the site.
The Pelican Watch Condo Owners Association has argued that the project will actually be more intense than the previous restaurant and house that was there.
In the past, town staff would automatically deny most projects needing deviations from the local development code or that were inconsistent with the town’s comprehensive plan. That has all changed in the past year as projects such as Seagate Development Group and the Pink Shell Beach Resort and Marina hotel project won the endorsements of town staff, responding to a development-friendly town council, in their proposals with deviations needed from the town’s Local Development Code.
The food park proposal is occurring just as the Pelican Watch Condo Owner’s Association is working on repairs to its pool that was damaged by Hurricane Ian. The condo association invested approximately $10 million into repairs on their property after Hurricane Ian (only about half of which was covered by their insurance) in order to open up last year with the early second wave of condo reopenings on the island. The condo association is $2.85 million in debt for the renovations it has undertaken since Hurricane Ian after they had to repair all of their plumbing, electric and elevators on the ground level.
The town council voted unanimously to move the project to a second hearing though with additional conditions and issues they want to see addressed before granting final approval.
“The number one concern I heard from the neighbors was the potential for live music 12 to 8 seven days a week,” Atterholt said. Atterholt said he conditioned his yes vote on the concession by the developers of limiting the days, times and types of music.
Safford said he needs to see “progress” on a parking plan before he could vote for final approval.
Councilmember Karen Woodson, who said she visited the Pelican Watch property, said the buffers need to be expanded so that the building and food trucks are distanced further away from the pool.
Fort Myers Beach Observer Editor Nathan Mayberg can be reached at Nmayberg@breezenewspapers.com.