Members of the Anchorage Advisory Committee have been pressuring the Fort Myers Beach town council to take another look at Bayside Park for upland services after negotiations ended with The Harbor House. The Council has decided to discuss the issue again. It will be on the agenda when the council meets Wednesday for its Management & Planning session.
The town is looking to take the upland services it provides to mooring field residents in house. Currently services are leased out to Matanzas. The town was looking into buying two condos at The Harbor House but that quickly ended when the town said it needed parking spots and restrooms open to the general public. There was also disagreement over who could use the hot tub and pool.
A previous plan, proposed by town staff, for a three-story building between Nervous Nellie’s and Snug Harbor was nearly approved. Business owners in the area and residents came out in force against the plan and it was nixed at the last minute.
Anchorage Committee members have also been downplaying the amount of opposition to the 3-story building, repeatedly saying there was little opposition.
Last month Anchorage Committee member Bob Beasley said it was stupid for the council not to go back and consider Bayside Park as the location for a new upland services building. “That park location needs to be considered again. The bottom line is I really think the town council should go back and look at this again. Unless you want to spend $10 million you are never going to find commercial property on the waterfront in a commercial area. You probably couldn’t even at that.”
Beasley also said the town missed the boat by not putting the building there. “The town owns the property. They should use it. Of course the owners of Snug Harbor and Nervous Nellie’s want to have a beautiful park so their customers can enjoy it and eat dinner there. Sure, that would be great, but they’re doing that at the town and residents’ expense and the mooring field’s expense.”
The town is about to go out for bids on the most recent park design which calls for a stage, shade trees and a grassy area. The latest design is pictured to the right.
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