Judge gives Fort Myers Beach 30 days to respond to lawsuit over Seagate
A Lee County Circuit Judge has given the Town of Fort Myers Beach until July 24 to respond to a lawsuit filed by a group of Fort Myers Beach residents seeking to reverse the Seagate Development Group’s controversial condo project approved by the town council last year.
The group of neighbors to the project at the former Red Coconut RV Resort filed suit in March objecting to the plans for 17-story condo buildings on a site in which the town’s land development code only allows for three-story buildings and a maximum height of 30 feet. The town council, by a vote of 3-2, approved the deviations which will allow the condo towers to be the largest buildings in the town at more than 250 feet.
Lee County Circuit Judge Michael McHugh issued the ruling last week that gives the town 30 days to respond to the motion for a writ of certiorari to quash the ordinance and development agreement for the Seagate project.
The lawsuit was filed by the Riddle family, Michael Dagnese, Constance Spataro, trustees of the Evert J. Jelsma and Susanne H. Jelsma Living Trust. Mary Tuttle, the Jasionowski Family Trust, Nathaniel Gorham and C & T Management LLC.
In addition to the condo towers, the development was approved for a private beach club on the beachfront side of its property along with a skywalk connecting the two sides of the property.
The Seagate project, the lawsuit says, “seeks to cram, with the Town’s approval, two 255-feet, 17-story condominium towers in the center of a low-density, single-family neighborhood in the heart of the Island.”
Voting in favor of the project were councilmembers Jim Atterholt, John King and Karen Woodson. Mayor Dan Allers and Councilmember Scott Safford voted against the project. The Fort Myers Beach Local Planning Agency had recommended denial of the Seagate plans.
Allers said on Tuesday he has not yet had a chance to speak with the town’s attorney on the lawsuit. Town Attorney Becky Vose did not respond to a message seeking comment.
The neighbors filing the lawsuit are being backed by Protect FMB, a citizen’s group which which was formed in the aftermath of the Seagate approvals.
Greg Scasny, a former candidate for town council who helped form Protect FMB, said the judge’s order “validates that our case is officially seen as legally valid and not frivolous, to the contrary of what several councilors have stated.”
Scasny said that since the lawsuit was filed, “more of our island residents are now even more engaged in shaping a better vision for Fort Myers Beach.”
Scasny said the group remains “steadfast and positive, even in the light of Councilors seeking retribution in public against people that have donated to our cause.”
Local Planning Agency (LPA) Chair Anita Cereceda, who donated to protect FMB and who has served multiple terms as town mayor, became the target among some councilmembers for removal from her post on the LPA due to her support for Protect FMB. More recently, she was left off the charter review commission by the town council.
“We remained unfazed and will continue our fundraising efforts to stop the massive intrusion into the quiet and low rise Shell Mound neighborhood,” Scasny said,
Scasny said the recent joint meeting of the LPA and town council was more evidence of the group’s mantra “stick to the comp plan,” which has become a commonly repeated phrase by reisdents who have opposed recent development projects in the town that required deviations from the land development code.
“The real question is why does this Council refuse to listen?” Scasny said. “Our community is in turmoil. We are losing residents because of this project.”
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