Council approves moving Arches Bayfront hotel project rezoning, Comprehensive Plan amendment to second hearing
Redevelopment of Moss Marina site on Fort Myers Beach requires Comprehensive Plan amendment and eight deviations from Land Development Code
Despite concerns from Fort Myers Beach Mayor Dan Allers about the lack of a drainage plan for the proposed Arches Bayfront hotel and lack of parking, a largely enthusiastic Town of Fort Myers Beach Council moved forward a proposed rezoning and Comprehensive Plan amendment to a second hearing for the project at Moss Marina after the first public hearing on Monday.
The second hearing will be held June 2 at which the town council could potentially give final approval to the redevelopment which involves five new commercial buildings, including a 263-room hotel off Harbor Court and Third Street near the downtown Old San Carlos Boulevard business district.
The project faces concerns from neighbors who live behind Moss Marina in a residential neighborhood, who objected to the height of the buildings and lack of buffering from the noise they say would come from a rooftop bar and other aspects of the project.
The neighbors said the height of the structures (the tallest is 81 feet) would take away their privacy and allow patrons of the properties to look down and veer into their backyards and pools. Another top concern was drainage, as the area has been the subject of extensive flooding from not just hurricanes in recent years but also ordinary storms. Neighbors worried the new development, which sits just off the bay, could exacerbate those flooding conditions.
Allers insisted during Monday’s hearing that the developers need to provide a drainage plan in order for him to support the project at the next hearing. Allers said he would vote to move the project to a second hearing but said the developer needed to bring a drainage expert to the next meeting with updated drainage plans to address the concern from residents who live on the residential street behind Moss Marina.
Residents have been complaining about flooding on the street and a lack of drainage even before Hurricane Ian. Protecting against future flooding was a primary concern of neighbors who attended Monday’s hearing as Moss Marina sits quite literally on the water facing the bay. The area has been prone to flooding during storms.
Patrick Vanasse, representing the developers as their planner with The Neighborhood Company, told the town council on Monday that they have agreed to provide a drainage outfall as requested by town staff. No plans have yet been submitted that detail what that would look like. Ultimately, any drainage plans would need to be reviewed by the Southwest Florida Water Management District though the town council can also make its own requirements for drainage.
The town’s planning staff has recommended denial of the zoning change. Town Planner Judith Frankel said the main reason for the denial was that it would be a change from residential conservation zoning and from a light industrial use to a more intense use of the property which is not what residents in the neighborhood could have expected when they moved into their homes based on the Comprehensive Plan approved by the town in 1999.
The project requires eight deviations from the Land Development Code, including for height, parking, density, setbacks and intensity.
Frankel said the zoning change is “not clearly in the public interest.” Frankel said the project doesn’t necessarily provide a benefit to the town. “It will result in traffic and noise impacts to nearby residential uses through the elimination of the buffer between the intense commercial district and the neighborhood which could increase conflict.”
Frankel said the area lacks bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure to support the proposed Comprehensive Plan amendment which will increase the density and intensity in the use of the property.
Allers called Frankel’s words “compelling” and “poignant.”
The developers are seeking eight deviations from Land Development Code for their development on five acres, spanning 10 parcels from the corner of Third Street and Old San Carlos Boulevard and Harbor Court.
The deviation requests include a 50% reduction in parking from the Land Development Code. Frankel said staff has suggested the developers be granted a 33% reduction in parking and have requested a parking study be completed. According to the plans provided by the developers on Monday, there would be an overflow of 45 paid public parking spaces, with 38 parking garage spots and seven on-street parking spaces.
Allers said he had major concerns there was not enough parking proposed for the development. “You are not going to have enough parking to meet the demand. That is a bigger concern for me,” Allers said. Allers said he is concerned that if there is not enough parking at the site, it would lead to more traffic as motorists have to turn around and go search for another parking area.
Frankel said a parking study would be useful to determine whether more parking is needed and said it would be useful for the town to know as parking has commonly cited as an issue in the town.
“To my knowledge, nobody in the downtown has done a parking study yet,” Frankel said. “That would be good information for the town to know.”
Those concerns include the drainage issues and a long history of flooding in the neighborhood. They also include the height of the building and lack of buffering that neighbors worry will lead to intrusions of their privacy as balconies and a proposed rooftop bar would allow Arches Bayfront patrons to see into their backyards.
During the Local Planning Agency (LPA) hearing last month, the lack of buffering between the residential neighborhood and hotel was a prominent concern for Chair Anita Cereceda. Patrick Vanasse, a former LPA board member who runs The Neighborhood Company and is the planner for the Arches Bayfront hotel, said he would return with plans for a buffer and plantings.
On Monday, Vanasse told the town council the developer would plant “mature trees” that would be at least 12 feet and a hedge row to be maintained at five feet.
Ben Freeland, representing the Freeland family that owns the Moss Marina site, told the town council he doesn’t expect construction to begin for a “few years” and has presented the plans in six phases. Those phases brought concerns from some Fort Myers Beach residents including former Councilmember Bill Veach who warned the project could potentially drag on for a decade or more and leave nearby residents with years of construction traffic.
Veach said the project violated the town’s Comprehensive Plan. “The Comprehensive Plan was very clear. No commercial intrusion into residential areas,” Veach said.
Veach noted that town staff has found the project doesn’t conform to the town’s Comprehensive Plan and requires a Comprehensive Plan Amendment.
Margaritaville developer Tom Torgerson, while supportive, also questioned the phases of the project and noted that the developers were seeking more than Margaritaville. “They are asking for more than what Margaritaville got including height and density,” Torgerson said. Torgerson called for action from the town council to “impose on the project to help mitigate the neighborhood impact.”
The 263 hotel rooms proposed for the hotel is more than was approved for the Margaritaville Beach Resort, whose plans resulted in years of litigation before it was constructed.
Allers also expressed worries about the timing and said one of the public benefits being offered by the developers – a linear park, would be the last phase of the project.
Allers also raised concerns about parking and traffic at Old San Carlos Boulevard around the project site.
One of the other public benefits offered by the developer in exchange for the deviations that would be given, is the view of the bay offered to visitors.
Freeland did accommodate a request by Allers and Councilmember Scott Safford to limit the time of business for the rooftop bar and other commercial businesses proposed for the property to 10 p.m. from the midnight closing time initially requested.
Cereceda, who voted to approve the Arches Bayfront hotel plans last month, had raised concerns about the rooftop bar and had said a rooftop bar could be a dealbreaker for her if approved. She said the bar should be a restaurant or placed inside.
At Monday’s presentation to the town council, the “Sunset Deck” was listed under the presentation by Vanasse, which is proposed to allow for ambient music from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. though no live music.
A pool deck at another building would be open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. and would also be restricted to ambient music but only from 10 a.m. to one hour after sunset, with no live music or alcohol sales.
Vanasse said a restaurant on site would be open to the public.
In addition to a restaurant, pool deck and sun deck, the master plan calls for additional commercial space as well as an outdoor market, promenade, splash pad, events deck, pool deck bar, events chapel, marina store and lounge, water taxi terminal, events and banquet space, and kayak launch.
The Moss Marina site abuts closely with residential properties.
Several residents whose properties border the project site expressed deep concern about the impacts it would bring to their properties.
Marilyn Anderson, of Third Street, was emotional about how the project would “negatively impact me.” Anderson said the rooftop bar would be right next to her house. She said her bedroom windows would be feet away from the rooftop restaurant building. She called for a privacy fence next to the building to help with sound so patrons weren’t looking down upon her pool area.
She said the buildings are “way too big and way too close” to her residence. She said the parking garage area should be enclosed.
Anderson said a wall should be constructed to protect the privacy of the neighbors. Anderson said a six-feet fence would not help with sound and could easily be brought down in a storm.
Mosteiro, of Third Street, said he was concerned about traffic and quality of life issues with commercial intrusion. “Your job is not a rubber stamp of approval,” Mosteiro told the council. “There has not been a fight for a middle ground. No compromise. Residents feel they have not been heard.” Residents “don’t want to see high-rise buildings on the island,” he said.
Mosteiro has previously complained about flooding on the street going back to before Hurricane Ian.
Mosteiro said the developer’s proposal of an outfall to address drainage was not enough. “We need more than an outfall. We need drains,” Mosteiro said. Mosteiro said the plans from Moss Marina would actually remove drains.
Mosteiro said drains had previously been placed in the past on the property and on the other side of the street due to the flooding issues.
Leah Gregg, of Bonita Street, said the rezoning of the property from a residential conservation district to a commercial zoning would negatively impact the residential neighborhood that currently surrounds Moss Marina.
Gregg said the proposal for Arches Bayfront was more than allowed for the Margaritaville Beach Resort and double what is allowed now under the town’s land use regulations.
Gregg also decried the approval of the project by the Local Planning Agency, citing inconsistencies with the approval of the Arches Bayfront hotel proposal and denial of the Times Square hotel project which both have rooftop bars proposed.
Gregg lambasted the Arches Bayfront hotel proposal for needing eight deviations including a height deviation which would allow patrons to look down upon her backyard. Gregg also questioned whether any of the public benefits were actually benefits.
Gregg called on the council to negotiate with the developers for more changes and protections for neighbors.
Gregg expressed concern for traffic that would go through the narrow streets of the neighborhood. “The traffic one these streets will increase exponentially and it will be a safety risk,” Gregg said.
Robin Atwood, who lives across the canal from the hotel, called for a lower height of the buildings. said she is “very concerned still” that the landscaping and trees proposed would not carry the noise from the hotel. Her family has owned their property for more than 30 years and said she is used to “quiet evenings in a quiet neighborhood not a party and a pool and screaming all the things that go with a commercial pool in a commercial area. That is not the life we bought into. Not at all. It is zoned residential and it should stay residential.”
Atwood said “these people are going to be looking into our lives.” Atwood said she doesn’t want strangers peeking in on her family and their pool. “This is going to affect our property lives.”
She expressed worry about years of construction that would disrupt the lives of her family.
Before the hearings began, all of the councilmembers said they had held meetings with Freeland and The Neighborhood Company, as well as some of the neighbors.
Fort Myers Beach Vice Mayor Jim Atterholt highlighted the water taxi and ferry portion of the plans, which he has been championing on the beach since being elected to office. “I am particularly intrigued by the water ferry,” Atterholt said. Atterholt said he was hopeful that the water taxis would allow for residents on the southern section of town to travel north and reduce motor vehicle traffic.
Councilmember Karen Woodson, who lives in close proximity to Moss Marina on Third Street, enthusiastically endorsed the plans on Monday. “I think we can get to a good ending on this,” Woodson said.
Woodson said the project, which was rejected last year by the Local Planning Agency in a different form, is “night and day” from when it was proposed as three hotels.
“I am definitely in support of this. I live in the neighborhood. I think what you are trying to do to make it reasonable and accepting for the neighborhood is great.”
Councilmember Scott Safford said “I echo that as well.”
Allers said he hopes that the developers will change their plans at the next meeting to address the concerns of the neighbors.
Fort Myers Beach Observer Editor Nathan Mayberg can be reached at NMayberg@breezenewspapers.com