Arches Bayfront hotel plans to get first council hearing Monday

Redevelopment at Moss Marina requires zoning change, Land Development Code deviations

May 4, 2025 By Nathan Mayberg 4 min read

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Renderings for the new proposed Arches Bayfront hotel and commercial development as submitted to the Town of Fort Myers Beach. Rendering credit: Jay Kamb Group from filings with Town of Fort Myers Beach

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Renderings for the new proposed Arches Bayfront hotel and commercial development as submitted to the Town of Fort Myers Beach. Rendering credit: Jay Kamb Group as filed with Town of Fort Myers Beach

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Moss Marina would be transformed into a multi-use 263-room hotel and other commercial buildings with a marina under plans proposed by its owners. Photo by Nathan Mayberg

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Moss Marina would be transformed into a multi-use 263-room hotel and other commercial buildings with a marina under plans proposed by its owners. Photo by Nathan Mayberg

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Moss Marina would be transformed into a multi-use 263-room hotel and other commercial buildings with a marina under plans proposed by its owners. Photo by Nathan Mayberg

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Moss Marina would be transformed into a multi-use 263-room hotel and other commercial buildings with a marina under plans proposed by its owners. Photo by Nathan Mayberg

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Residential homes and vacation rentals surround the Moss Marina property in downtown Fort Myers Beach. Photo by Nathan Mayberg

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Residential homes and vacation rentals surround the Moss Marina property in downtown Fort Myers Beach. Photo by Nathan Mayberg

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Residential homes and vacation rentals surround the Moss Marina property in downtown Fort Myers Beach. Photo by Nathan Mayberg

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Residential homes and vacation rentals surround the Moss Marina property in downtown Fort Myers Beach. Photo by Nathan Mayberg

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Residential homes and vacation rentals surround the Moss Marina property in downtown Fort Myers Beach. Photo by Nathan Mayberg

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Residential homes and vacation rentals surround the Moss Marina property in downtown Fort Myers Beach. Photo by Nathan Mayberg

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Residential homes and vacation rentals surround the Moss Marina property in downtown Fort Myers Beach. Photo by Nathan Mayberg

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Residential homes and vacation rentals surround the Moss Marina property in downtown Fort Myers Beach. Photo by Nathan Mayberg

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Residential homes and vacation rentals surround the Moss Marina property in downtown Fort Myers Beach. Photo by Nathan Mayberg

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Residential homes and vacation rentals surround the Moss Marina property in downtown Fort Myers Beach. Photo by Nathan Mayberg

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Moss Marina. Photo by Nathan Mayberg

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Residential homes and vacation rentals surround the Moss Marina property in downtown Fort Myers Beach. Photo by Nathan Mayberg

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Residential homes and vacation rentals surround the Moss Marina property in downtown Fort Myers Beach. Photo by Nathan Mayberg

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Residential homes and vacation rentals surround the Moss Marina property in downtown Fort Myers Beach. Photo by Nathan Mayberg

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Residential homes and vacation rentals surround the Moss Marina property in downtown Fort Myers Beach. Photo by Nathan Mayberg

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Residential homes and vacation rentals surround the Moss Marina (rear) property in downtown Fort Myers Beach. Photo by Nathan Mayberg

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Residential homes and vacation rentals surround the Moss Marina (rear) property in downtown Fort Myers Beach. Photo by Nathan Mayberg

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Residential homes and vacation rentals surround the Moss Marina (rear) property in downtown Fort Myers Beach. Photo by Nathan Mayberg

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Residential homes and vacation rentals surround the Moss Marina (rear) property in downtown Fort Myers Beach. Photo by Nathan Mayberg

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Residential homes and vacation rentals surround the Moss Marina property in downtown Fort Myers Beach. Photo by Nathan Mayberg

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Residential homes and vacation rentals surround the Moss Marina property in downtown Fort Myers Beach. Photo by Nathan Mayberg

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Residential homes and vacation rentals surround the Moss Marina property in downtown Fort Myers Beach. Photo by Nathan Mayberg

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Residential homes and vacation rentals surround the Moss Marina property in downtown Fort Myers Beach. Photo by Nathan Mayberg

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Residential homes and vacation rentals surround the Moss Marina property in downtown Fort Myers Beach. Photo by Nathan Mayberg

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Residential homes and vacation rentals surround the Moss Marina property in downtown Fort Myers Beach. Photo by Nathan Mayberg

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Arches Bayfront, a proposed 263-room hotel and commercial center at the Moss marina site on Fort Myers Beach, will have its first hearing in front of the Town of Fort Myers Beach Council on Monday, May 5.

The hearing will be the first of two public hearings required for the project, which requires deviations from the town’s Land Development Code for its height of 81 feet, as well as a 50% reduction in parking, a Comprehensive Plan amendment and a Commercial Planned Development rezoning.

The project requires a zoning change in order for a hotel to be built on the property, which is surrounded by residential properties in the residential/conservation zone of the town.

The Town of Fort Myers Beach Local Planning Agency (LPA) voted unanimously to recommend approval of the plans last month.

The project requires eight deviations from the town’s local development code and has received pushback from neighbors who have complained that the balconies from the building will hover over their backyards in the middle of a residential neighborhood where single-family homes and vacation rentals line up the street behind Moss Marina.

Moss Marina is located downtown in the middle of the busy Old San Carlos Boulevard business district and Third Street – a residential neighborhood where many of the homes are either listed as vacation rentals or are up for sale, but also include several residences of year-round residents.

The Fort Myers Beach Local Planning Agency did recommend more buffers between Moss Marina and the residential properties in its conditional approval.

The Town of Fort Myers Beach Council must still hold two public hearings on the development, with the first hearing scheduled for Monday, May 5.

The developers had previously proposed three hotel buildings with 400 rooms at the site before pulling back their plans last year. The new plans call for the tallest building to reach seven stories and will include other commercial uses which could include a bar.

Patrick Vanasse, representing The Neighborhood Company, told the Local Planning Agency that he would be presenting new plants that would include more plantings for a buffer.

Chris Mosteiro, a neighbor of the proposed development who said he lives about two dozen feet from Moss Marina, said there should be more public benefits. Mosteiro said storm drainage is a major problem in the area and expressed concerns about flooding issues. Mosteiro said the buildings would tower over his home. Mosteiro said the project would “drastically change our neighborhood.”

Mosteiro said the project’s buildings were even taller than originally proposed and wasn’t responsible for a neighborhood with limited access “and little thoughtfulness to the neighbors.”

Mosteiro said the new plans don’t address concerns residents had raised previously in the original plans about the size of the buildings, access and concerns about “balconies facing our homes.”

Mosteiro said an application by Moss Marina in the 1980’s to expand was denied by Lee County due to a lack of access. “The roads have not gotten any bigger,” Mosteiro said. “There is no good access for this size development today. What they are calling a linear park is laughable. It is a required buffer which is going to become a pedestrian highway in our backyards. What is currently a quiet, enclosed boat shed 25 feet from my house is going to be balconies and gathering places.”

Mosteiro said the buffer should be at least 25 feet with a park with larger green space. “Where are the public benefits?”

Robin Atwood, another neighbor in close proximity to Moss Marina, expects a large increase in vehicular traffic which she said would interfere with the local, downtown pedestrian traffic. Atwood complained of a lack of a buffer in the Arches Bayfront plans between her property and the site of the project.

Atwood also expressed concern about a proposed bar on site, which she said would turn into an ongoing party near her home. “If there is a bar, and people are vacationing there is a loud party,” she said.

“My view is of a marina. For 30 years it’s been my view. Now it will be people looking back at us at our homes.” Atwood said the plans of Arches Bayfront has “balconies looking down on our homes.”