When the town of Fort Myers Beach staff considers whether to recommend approval or denial to the Local Planning Agency and Town Council they have no idea how to apply public benefit the developer may be offering in their recommendation. Public benefit is very subjective and the Town Council and LPA have yet to clearly define what public benefit they want.
What may have been a public benefit for a developer to negotiate with before Ian may no longer be the same after Ian. What may be a public benefit to residents on the south end of the island may not be the same as it is on the north end. What may be a public benefit to one LPA member may not jive with two members of the Town Council.
Public benefit is completely subjective. And that makes it somewhat challenging for post-Ian developers. How can they include public benefits in their proposal when they have no idea what the town expects from them? And, developers watch all the town meetings. They’ve seen the LPA vote one way and the Town Council ignore their recommendation and vote the other way.
Last month the LPA met for three hours to try to start the process of prioritizing public benefit. On November 13th, the LPA and Town Council have tentatively set a joint meeting to discuss the topic. One goal is to give town staff clear direction when looking over development proposals where public benefit needs to be considered when developers are asking for more than they are allowed by right.
Another goal is to give developers clearer direction on what they should be pitching to get more. Is it a beach access, a view corridor, a restaurant, the economic benefit , public restrooms, etc. The town will also have to decide how much value they place on each public benefit and how much weight to give each of them. Do they do it on a point system? And what does a developer get in return? Does a developer get 2 extra floors for offering public restrooms? Does a developer get 10 extra floors for donating land?
Public comment from the residents will be taken during the 8:30AM joint meeting on the 13th.
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