On Tuesday, representatives from the Beach Baptist, and the developer who wanted to build on the church property, will go before the LPA to request a rezone of 2.1 acres of property at the corner of Estero Boulevard and Connecticut Street.
The Beach Baptist Church was destroyed by Hurricane Ian and eventually demolished. It was uninsured.
Two years ago developer S.J. Collins. pitched a plan to the community where they would purchase the property and develop the entire 3.5 acres of land. The plan included an 8-story condo tower with a parking deck, 36 workforce housing apartments, and a church that seats 500. As part of the deal, the developer would rebuild the church and it would move forward debt free.Â
That plan, to put in nicely, was not well received by residents in the surrounding community. It never really made it any further than that presentation under the broken church in May of 2023.
The Church has an LDO from the town to divide their parcel into two lots. The current plan is for the church to keep the northern 1.2 acres with the intent of rebuilding the church there. Currently both parcels are zoned as Institutional. The goal at the LPA on Tuesday is to get approval to rezone the 2.1 acres adjacent to Estero Blvd. to allow for 12 residential units that the developer could build on (or sell).
If the zone change is approved, the church would then sell the newly rezoned portion of the land to the developer with the proceeds from that sale used to rebuild the Church. During the first development idea the Church was hoping to sell the entire piece of property for $4 million.Â
Currently Beach Baptist is operating out of trailers on the property. The town has determined that the trailers are in violation of current flood plain rules and they are going through the magistrate process to have the trailers removed. The church can elevate the structures to come into compliance.
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The article stated that the neighbors were not happy with this plan. It did not say the plan was discounted because of this. As a member of this “community”, I can tell you that no one wants “hurricane unready properties”. We want our friends and neighbors back. We miss the community. Please remember that we live here — it’s not a tourist destination for us.
It does seem that many of those who have yet to return since Ian can’t because their condos aren’t back yet — 3 years later. Single family homes and duplexes would fit in better in that area as that’s the current make up. With single family and duplex homes, the opportunity to be functional again can be sooner than for condos if we see these types of devastating weather events. Why does building huge condo complexes seem to be the only answer to those who disagree with the “community”?
Typical Ft. Myers Beach Syndrome. Stop all future large construction projects. The “community “ wants the same dinky hurricane unready properties to be built back.
I live on Connecticut and I sure didnt want it….none of us did…what made this island popular is slowly slipping away…we dont want that type of construction on this part of the island…this is a quiet neighborhood…where we can walk and enjoy the beach and have peace and quiet…the very reason we chose to buy here…