When the sand settled from the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Ian, and the rebuilding began, the talk of the town was about permits. Homeowners learned many lessons about permitting they never dreamed they’d have to learn, especially when a contractor dropped the ball or they didn’t know how to use the town’s permit portal.
There’s no doubt many homeowners on Fort Myers Beach now could teach a master-class in permitting as a result of Hurricane Ian. There’s also no denying that when the new administration finally wrapped their arms around every Hurricane Ian related issue that needed to be dealt with, Town Manager Andy Hyatt, Operations Manager Frankie Kropacek and the current Town Council put a system in place to make the permitting process more user friendly, and whenever possible, faster for homeowners.
Changes to the process included hiring a new, friendlier, and less-rigid building inspector, and moving the entire process in-house and out of the hands of contract workers who had no idea what Fort Myers Beach residents were going through. When things were way more hectic than they are today, council members were also helping by looking up permit numbers for residents to see what they could do to help them get back into their homes.
Today, getting a permit is a much smoother process. Complaints are few and far between and you no longer hear; ‘Lee County has a much more friendly process for getting permits.’Â What we are hearing more about is the work that was and is being done without a permit, but that’s a story for another day.
With nearly every structure damaged or destroyed by Ian, the need for permits quickly exploded. To put things into perspective, here are a few stats to chew on. The total number of permits issued by Fort Myers Beach in 2022 was 901. In 2023 the total number of permits issued was 3,960. And so far in 2024, 1,561 permits have been permits issued.
When you break the numbers down to single-family homes, here are those specific stats: Before the storm, in 2022, 8 single-family home permits were issued. Between January 2023 and June 2023, 30 single-family home permits were issued. So far, from January 2024 to June 2024, 57 single-family permits have been issued. Drive up and down any street on Fort Myers Beach and you’ll see the activity. Getting people back in their homes as quickly as possible has always been the top priority of the current Town Council
The town expects the 2024 number of permits issued to surpass 2023, and they tell us they are ready to make that happen. “Our Community Development Department is working diligently to ensure our residents and business owners are able to move forward with their build back process in a safe and resilient manner.”
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