London Bay CEO requests continuance for Outrigger project after concerns from LPA members
During a hearing in front of the Fort Myers Beach Local Planning Agency (LPA) for the Outrigger Resort project that brought out a sharply divided public and divided LPA members, London Bay President and CEO Mark Wilson requested a continuance of the hearing after about six hours of back and forth between the developers, the public and the LPA.
The LPA granted the continuance during a hearing in which the project faced skepticism from at least three members, though it also saw broad support from at least three board members. Several board members, including Chair Anita Cereceda expressed concern for the height of the hotel and condo tower project. The tallest tower would reach 195 feet high with 15 stories, with another tower reaching 12 stories high. Town code limits height for buildings to three stories. There would be 150 condo and hotel units, and 46 multi-family units, along with a 200-seat restaurant, tiki hut bar and a rooftop bar.
“I am overwhelmed by the magnitude of it,” Cereceda said.
The project also requires a deviation from the town’s floor area ratio requirements. While Cereceda and LPA members James Boan and Jane Plummer expressed concerns for the height and the intensity of the project, other board members said they were not concerned. Board members James Dunlap, Doug Eckmann, Don Sudduth, and newly appointed member Edward Schoonover did not express the same concerns and expressed broad, general support for the project.
During a discussion about the floor area ratio of the project, which is 3.0, above the 2.5 allowed by the town, Sudduth said “I don’t care if it’s 2.5 or 3.” Sudduth said “I kind of don’t care.”
Sudduth said he also was “not opposed to allowing height that is higher than code allows.”
Schoonover, who was appointed to his LPA seat last week by the Town of Fort Myers Beach Council to fill the seat of former LPA member John McLean (who was appointed to his seat on the town council in February), said he believes the updated comprehensive plan “has made this a viable path for the developers and that’s why they are going in this direction.”
A vote was not taken on the plans, following Wilson’s request for a continuance.
Cereceda suggested the developers consider an accommodation to scale back their plans.
At one point, Wilson offered to lower the tallest tower by two stories down to 158 feet if he could gain approval for the project. Wilson said he had already lowered the height of the tallest tower for the project by two floors from the original proposal in 2024.
Plummer also expressed concern about what she said was the lack of a view corridor by the developer in their plans.
Wilson made at least one concession to community concerns in the neighborhood about initial plans that the developers had floated for water taxis that has been proposed to go down local canals to the former Charleys’ Boathouse and Grill property. Those plans have now been scrapped, said London Bay’s attorney Richard Yovanovich.
The LPA will be making a recommendation on the plans to the Town of Fort Myers Beach Council on the developer’s request for a rezoning to a commercial planned development, a special exception permit to construct a tiki bar in the environmentally critical zone, along with a comprehensive plan amendment to construct a 15-story and 12-story tower for a mixed hotel and condo development, along with 46 multi-family units and multiple deviations from town code including height, parking and setbacks.
The former Outrigger Resort, before it was damaged by Hurricane Ian and bulldozed by its new owners, London Bay. Photo credit: David Cordea
The LPA voted two years ago to recommend denial of another large-scale development that needed a height deviation from the town. That project, from Seagate Development Group, was voted down by the LPA by a vote of 4-3, though ultimately approved by the Town of Fort Myers Beach Council.
Members of the public who spoke out on Tuesday against the new Outrigger project noted similar reasons to opposition to the Seagate project as they saw for London Bay’s proposal: too much, too high, too dense. Concerns were expressed for the project’s impact on the local residential neighborhood, beach and skyline views, and the impact on traffic.
“What’s proposed year today is just way outside the comprehensive plan. Ask them to come back with something more reasonable,” Fort Myers Beach homeowner Arnold Schramel said.
Two residents of Gulfside Twelve, a luxury condominium building that just was completed in recent months near the former Outrigger property, expressed concern about the project’s plans to place open-air bars that they said would be too close to their property and community pool. Another letter to the LPA from another resident at Gulfside Twelve, also expressed opposition to the placement of bars too close to the property line of Gulfside Twelve.
Beth Ann Burwinkel, a resident at Gulfside Twelve, objected to the consideration of a zoning variance for London Bay, as she saw no hardship that the town should accommodate. “A zoning variance is a limited waiver from specific requirements of a zoning ordinance, granted to a property owner who can demonstrate that the strict application of the law creates a unique, undue hardship,” Burwinkel wrote in a lette rot he LPA. “The State of Florida requires the applicant to prove “exceptional and unique hardship that is not self-created”. The most critical factor in a zoning variance case is proving a hardship that is unique to the property itself (like its shape or topography), not just a personal or financial inconvenience to the owner. The focus is on the land itself, and the hardship cannot be purely economic. What is the Hardship for the London Bay proposal?”
Former Fort Myers Beach Councilmember Terry Cain said she was concerned about London Bay’s plans to put up a wave mitigation wall on their property and how that could potentially lead to erosion of the beach. She also raised concerns about how far out onto the beach the developers would be able to build in the town’s environmentally critical zone.
Fort Myers Beach LPA member James Dunlap, a supporter of the plans, said “This is a chance on the south end to change the entire lifestyle.” Dunlap said the concerns of opponents was “a small price to pay.”
Support from the public came largely from residents of the Grandview at Bay Beach Lane, where London Bay built a luxury tower that opened in 2023, and which was the last high-rise condo tower that was approved in the town, having been grandfathered in before the town’s limit on high-rise condos went into effect after incorporation. One Grandview owner said she supported the new London Bay development because she believes her property value is declining.
Another source of support was from Island Winds Condominiums President Dave Nusbaum, who also chairs the Fort Myers Beach Marine and Environmental Resources Task Force. Several residents from Island Winds, a 136-feet high condominium building tower, sent letters of support for the project. Nusbaum said his comments were only for himself, and not his condo association or the task force. Nusbaum, who doesn’t see an issue with the height of the project, said the town can’t wait for the project to start. He said the town had lost restaurants on the south end since Hurricane Ian and the new Outrigger development would bring back another restaurant to the south end of the island. He said that while the Outrigger was missed, “we can’t bring it back.”
Fort Myers Beach resident Nancy Walker, who has lived on Fort Myers Beach for more than two decades, opposed the plans and the deviations from the town code to allow the project, and asked “Why are we changing the entire comprehensive plan for the whole town for one entity? Why do they have the right to change our comprehensive plan?”
Walker also expressed worry about plans to use Fish-Tale Marina for shuttles to the resort property, and golf carts to transport people from the marina to the resort. “We don’t have golf cart lanes. It slows down traffic,” Walker said.
Wilson highlighted plans for golf cart and bicycle parking spaces, as well as the support of water taxis at Fish-Tale Marine to counteract concerns about traffic. “Traffic on this island has always been an issue,” Wilson said. “I guarantee you 20 years from now we will be sitting in meetings like this and saying traffic is an issue.”
Wilson said the company would encourage ridesharing and that the company would offer incentives to those who don’t rent cars when they stay at the resort. He said there would be golf cart shuttle service from the resort to Fish-Tale Marina.
In response to the concerns of the height of the building, Wilson pointed to a diagram showing the heights of other large buildings in the neighborhood, ranging from 77 feet at Gulfside Twelve next door to 158-feet high at Pointe Estero Resort, which finished completion 26 years ago. Except for Gulfside Twelve, which was completed last year, all of the other buildings in the diagram he pointed to received their approvals for construction before the town passed a comprehensive plan and land development code after incorporation, which limited height on the beach side to three stories.
Wilson said London Bay wants the 195-feet-high building to accommodate 10-foot “floor to floor” units. “If height is appropriate anywhere, I think there is a very strong argument that the south end of the beach is different than the north end of the beach or mid-town of the beach,” Wilson said.
Wilson said he expects that the construction could be completed at 2030 or 2031 at the earliest. “That’s the fastest you can get it done,” Wilson said.
Cereceda said one of her concerns was that those who supported London Bay’s plans were citing “lifestyle” preferences.
Ellie Bunting, president of the Estero Island Historical Society, said the town’s comprehensive plan that was born out of the town’s incorporation in the 1990’s, “is a promise to respect the limits of this island and respect its character.” Bunting cited strained infrastructure and traffic congestion in the town. “This is a barrier island. There is no expanding it, no adding lanes, no moving it inland. For every decision you make, adds to what is already here. And the margin for error is gone. History teaches us that unchecked growth changes a place permanently,” Bunting said. “Smart planning is not about stopping everything. It is about recognizing when enough is enough.”
Wilson also attempted to make an economical argument, which received some pushback from residents before he even made it to the LPA.
Wilson said the town’s taxable value was down $1.9 billion since 2022. Wilson’s numbers were factually incorrect though according to the Lee County Appraiser’s Office. According to figures provided by the office of Lee County Appraiser Matt Caldwell, taxable property value in the Town of Fort Myers Beach was $4.64 billion last year, which is actually more than the taxable value of Fort Myers Beach in 2022. In 2022, the taxable value was about $170 million less at $4.47 billion. Wilson appeared to be using old figures showing 2023 statistics, when the town’s taxable property was roughly $1.9 billion less than the year before due to Hurricane Ian, which dropped many properties off the tax rolls. Wilson also said that the town has lost hotel rooms and claimed the town’s economy was “sputtering.”
Wilson attempted to paint a bleak picture of the island during is presentation to the LPA, saying he believed the town was facing higher taxes in the future. “You can argue a little if you want to about the numbers but you can’t argue about the effect of this. Fewer rooms, fewer visitors creates less revenue that has the potential of raising taxes, but also has the potential and I would suggest is, lowering property values and slowing down sales,” Wilson said.
Wilson’s comments came on the heels of a season in which a number of businesses on the island reported their best sales on record.
The LPA members agreed to scheduled a meeting on May 8 to take up the plans again as part of the continuance of the hearing that Wilson requested. The date would be on a Friday and not one of their normally scheduled meetings. The board regularly meets on Tuesdays.
Fort Myers Beach Observer Nathan Mayberg can be reached at NMayberg@breezenewspapers.com