Town Throws Ugly Duckling House a Lifeline

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You may recall we reported back in July that the town of Fort Myers Beach notified the owner of 131-133 Estero Boulevard, Sergei Kaminskiy, his house needed to be demolished or the town would be knocking it down for him. After Kaminskiy’s lawyer threatened the town, the town backed down.

In August Kaminskiy’s attorney appealed the ruling by the town claiming his client didn’t receive due process. Now, the town has decided to allow Kaminskiy to fix a few things on the house then let it sit until his rezoning request is decided. The Town Council and Town Manager Andy Hyatt have said that if a property owner has a plan to rebuild on the books that was good enough to hold off on forcing a demolition. 

The town has notified Kaminskiy that if he stabilizes a ledge on the house, cleans up some loose materials and debris, and fixes a hanging object he’s good to go. Kaminskiy has 15 days to complete the work and dismiss his appeal with the town. There’s nothing in the agreement that states Kaminskiy has to remove the abandoned boat in the backyard.
According to the agreement between the town and Kiminskiy that house is coming down anyway so it’s just a matter of when. It’s been a huge eyesore for anyone passing by that area, living in any condos on the north end, and guests vacationing at the Pink Shell. It doesn’t take a certified building inspector to see it’s unsafe. It’s in the same shape today as it was after Ian hammered it 2 years ago. 

The agreement between the Town and Kaminskiy states that “Kaminskiy is proceeding through the process of obtaining a rezoning, which will result in a demolition of the structure on the property. In the event a rezoning is not approved, the owner agrees to demolish the structure on the property.” 

Kaminskiy was also challenging the constitutionality of the town’s recently adopted Unsafe Building Ordinance. There’s nothing in the agreement that says he plans to drop that challenge. 

Back in March Kaminskiy submitted an application to the town to build a 7-story 12-unit resort building. The application includes a swimming pool and rooftop amenities. The building would be 90 feet above Base Flood Elevation. It’s not yet clear when the application would come before the LPA. It’ll be interesting to see how ‘pretty’ LPA members think this drawing looks when they see it. 

There has been a lot of back and forth between the applicant and town staff.

3 COMMENTS

  1. And yet the Wyndham which is 50 times larger, is allowed to sit there untouched with a crappy chain link fence around it. It’s almost Oct, what’s the demo plan for Wyndham Town of FMB?

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