Andre Mar Drive resident Greg Scasny lost his home in Hurricane Ian. It was recently demolished and he’s now in the planning phase of his rebuild with hopes of getting permits soon.
Scasny has also been keeping a close eye on the recent commercial building proposals that have been in the news of late. He shared his thoughts on those with the Town Council.
(Opinion by Greg Scasny)
Mayor, Vice Mayor, Councilman and Councilwoman,
I am writing to you today to give some unsolicited advice and situations of a rhetorical nature.
You all will be faced with several large decisions that will unequivocally change the future of the island and its residents. I know you all realize this, but in the end, it’s only your vote that matters. All the pomp and circumstance around the LPA and Town staff, does not matter (I am not saying they are not valuable). Only your vote matters in the end.
You are going to have before you many requests for increased density, intensity and height from commercial developers. They will all submit CPDs. Many, if not all will require a change to our Comprehensive Plan (CP) and possibly the Land Development Code (LDC).
You should not take these changes lightly.
Let me preface this by saying I am not anti-business or anti-development. Quite the contrary. But, speedy decisions made now I fear will have catastrophic consequences for the residents of this island and the Town in the future.
You are all residents of this great island. The Town was created by its residents. The Town only survives if there are residents to serve.
If we as a Town allow large changes to the CP/LDC or approve every CPD requested to facilitate a faster commercial build back, and allow greatly increased intensity, density and height, we will lose the residents that make our Town. Like it or not, we are a barrier island with a 2 lane road. Allowing increases in density, intensity and height not consistent with the CP/LDC will make it infeasible to live on our island, both financially and from a quality of life standpoint. I would venture to guess many of you may leave too when it becomes impossible to commute anywhere on or off the island or price pressures are just too great to sustain a daily existence on the island for all but the very wealthy, and if you are very wealthy, why would you put up with the headaches of living on a overdeveloped, overcrowded barrier island?
If we lose our residents, the Town has no reason to exist, and would most likely go back to the County. We all know what happens when that happens. We will have uncontrolled growth, and FMB will become the next Miami beach. We are just a cash cow in waiting for the County. There will be no semblance of the true FMB left, just in name only.
I am not saying that the Town should be inflexible. I am not saying we don’t need tweaks to the CP/LDC. What I am saying is that speed is not our friend in this situation. Sacrificing residential quality of life for a speedy commercial build back is a deal with the devil. This is truly a case where slow is smooth and smooth is fast.
We need to be deliberate in our end goals and we need push back on developers who immediately come to the table wanting a CPD to try and skirt the CP/LDC, and push them on that they can do WITHIN the current CP/LDC, instead of trying to accommodate grandiose plans that have no real residential benefit (sorry, a beach access, 15 parking spaces or even a water taxi are not great public benefits to offset the true costs to residents), and are only good for developers. Only when projects are totally infeasible due to LDC/CP issues (not developers financial goals) should a CPD be considered. It should not be the “go to” right out of the gate.
We need to put residents’ needs first. Residents are the reason the Town exists. We need to prioritize the residential build back and stop the militant interpretations of Town codes from staff against the residents and start working together to get people back in their houses as soon as possible. That’s a letter for a different day, but the sooner the people are back in their houses, the sooner the majority of the ad-valorem tax revenue goes up for the Town. This is a true win-win, not the horse trading to intensity, density and height that is coming down the pipe.
If you have any love for what FMB once was, please heed what I am saying. While I know we can never go back, we also don’t have to succumb to being the next Miami Beach, Clearwater, Fort Lauderdale and the like. Together we can find ways to bring back the “Old Vibe” with new, resilient, up-to-code construction, but not if we give in to what is being proposed on a daily basis.
The decision lies with you all. Please choose wisely.
Greg Scasny lives on Andre Mar Drive on Fort Myers Beach and can be reached by e-mail at gregscasny@gmail.com
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