A hearing was scheduled for today in front of Circuit Court Judge Keith Kyle in downtown Fort Myers regarding La Ola’s code violation in Times Square. That hearing was canceled as the two sides tried to work out an settlement. An agreement was not reached Monday.
Following a closed-door meeting Monday morning, the Fort Myers Beach Town Council voted 5-0 decided to reject La Ola owner Thomas Houghton’s proposed settlement which would have allowed him to operate in Times Square through May of 2027 as he gets his plans together to rebuild his restaurant. That does not mean La Ola has to close shop today and leave the square.
The next step is for Houghton and the town to set a meeting with a mediator. After the 5-0 vote during the open Town Council meeting, Mayor Dan Allers said he believes there is a path forward toward an agreement. Allers, along with the Town Manager, Town Attorney, and the Town Flood Plain Manager will participate in the mediation session with the La Ola team.
After the Monday meeting Houghton told Beach Talk Radio, “Today’s meeting did not bring the matter to a close, but I remain optimistic about mediation. La Ola continues to operate, and we look forward to sharing our future building plans and working toward a positive outcome for both the Town of Fort Myers Beach and our restaurant.”
If the town and Houghton fail to come to an agreement in mediation the matter will go back before Judge Kyle. The judge wants an update from both sides on or before November 30th.
We have requested the transcripts from the town council shade meeting which will detail the entire discussion that led to the rejection of Houghton’s proposal. It’s unclear when we will receive those transcripts or how they will be made public.
Houghton has plans to rebuild in Times Square, however, he does not own the property. He’s in the process of trying to purchase the property.
La Ola was hit with a code violation in September of 2024 for the containers they have set up in Times Square. The town started cracking down on these structures after FEMA came to town and wasn’t too happy to see the La Ola containers right as they came over the Matanzas Pass Bridge and in an area that was hammered by Hurricane Ian.
With La Ola still being out of compliance, according to a Town Magistrate ruling, there was no way the Town Council could have approved Houghton’s proposal. Houghton appealed the ruling and it’s been collecting mothballs in the courts until last month when Kyle set today’s hearing date.
The rejected deal was for La Ola to pay the town a $5,000 fine for the 2-year old code violation and allowing La Ola to operate as is in Times Square until May 15, 2027 when the restaurant would have needed to vacate the property unless the town issued a new permit. That would have gotten the restaurant through what’s expected to be another busy season. La Ola owner Tom Houghton is also planning to purchase a 128 square foot piece of property near the trolley stop that the town owns.
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