By a vote of 2-1 the Fort Myers Beach Town Council voted to kick the DiamondHead expansion proposal back to the Local Planning Agency for review. The project changed enough from last month’s LPA denial for at least two council members to believe the process needed to be restarted.
With 5 members of the town council you may be wondering why only 3 voted on the project? Mayor Dan Allers recused himself because his company Island Carts FMB has a contract with DiamondHead. Vice Mayor Scott Safford recused himself because the Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce is hosting the Sandsculpting event at the resort next month. Safford’s wife is the President of the Chamber. That recusal seemed somewhat far-fetched to many people in the audience Monday. Recusals are made when there’s a clear financial benefit to council members. There did not seem to be any financial benefit to Safford for him to recuse. Safford does not work for the Chamber, which is a 501c4.
Council member John King wound up running that portion of the meeting with both Allers and Safford silent. Council members John McLean and Rebecca Link felt the proposed changes were a “significant departure” from the original presentation to the LPA and voted to send it back. King voted against sending it back.
The revised design had the previously proposed beachfront units on the east side of the property relocated to the west side. The DiamondHead team was hopeful the changes would satisfy the owners in the Surf Song condo building who were vehemently against the original plan, mainly because it blocked their view. They were against the revised plan as well and came out in force again Monday to object.
Sending the project back to the LPA brings something else into play; the November election. There’s no denying that several possible new council members appear to be less likely to approve taller projects, especially with Seagate and London Bay still fresh on everyone’s mind. LPA chair Anita Cereceda, who’s running for Town Council, and is likely to win, voted against the DiamondHead plan last month. The project is expected to be on the LPA agenda on November 10th which would bring it back to council well after all new council members are sworn in.
DiamondHead currently has 121 rooms. They want to go to 178 total by asking the town to approve an additional 24 units, above the 154 they say they were granted by Lee County when the County was still doing the permitting.
Residents of the Surf Song condo building remain opposed to the expansion and have bombarded town council members with e-mails against the project. They also hired a land use attorney and requested intervener status which, if the council moved forward Monday, would have granted the attorney 30 minutes to fight the project. The revised plans were not submitted until Friday, October, 2nd, giving town staff and the public very little time to review the changes before Monday’s meeting. Another issue that worked against the DiamondHead team.
DiamondHead General Manager Neil Hopgood has said the resort needs the additional rooms to stay competitive and relevant. He also said he’s ready to build today. Several projects have been approved by the town, some of them years ago, yet most of them are not coming out of the ground for various reasons.
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IMO John McLean made the motion and voted to kick it back to the LPA because by the time it gets back to the town council, he will not be there to vote on it and did not to incur the same wrath that Jim Atterholt received (rightfully so) on the Seagate vote. Regardless, that was the correct position to take in light of the fact that so many documents were received after the deadline, and the parties and council had no real time to analyze them. The town council really needs to set absolute deadlines for submissions and stick to them. Any documents submitted after the deadline should either not be considered, or the matter continued for a later date when the subject was first broached by John McLean.
Exactly!!! Some of these people that post their comments should do their research first.
From the current comments it is obvious most don’t even care about the addition. other resorts are continually being questioned. the 2 members that abstained used weak and non-issue excuses. So after the Sand Sculpture weekend, what reason will you have to abstain again? Manup and do what you were elected to do. As an owner we were advised of the expansion years ago, and while I was not thrilled with the original design, the new design seems to check all the boxes to keep the owners happy. Diamondhead is not surviving on ownerships only, and as you may not know, not all floors are hotel floors, so they collect a fixed rate per year from owners, but need to make that up by renting the hotel room floors all year. Giving them the opportunity to increase those sales and be a viable destination for FMB. As far as value to the island, Diamondhead was there before Ian. FMB is already getting the face of other coastal cities, it’s just the new norm. This is the future beach vibe.
Any update on London Bay? I don’t understand how their asks work even with Live Local. When will we hear more? Thanks.
Pelican watch owners vehemently opposed the food court for
many good reasons Owners of Pelican Watch and homeowners in that area went to council meetings etc., yet the council approved it and now the people at Surf Song are vehemently opposing the Diamondhead construction. Good luck Surf Song.
From Bobby Moffa, the present owner of three weeks of GULF FRONT – WRAP AROUND VIEWS) timeshare units at DiamondHead Resort. I would like to thank the two council members ( Rebecca and John ), for voting to refer this back to the LPA, to review this last minute design revision from DiamondHead, as i am against this design and any expansion that effects my view. I was never told of any PHASE 2 building that will affect my view when i purchased my units in 2005. Any questions or to discuss this, please call me at, Bobby (248) 8773939. Thanks.
Since London Bay hasn’t been given what it demanded, has the island become a ghost town yet?
Are those beaches empty?
Are the bars and restaurants deserted?
Have the residents moved to Tennessee?
Will what’s left of the government give the bully all it wants to bring back Anita and everyone else?
Just wondering.
Hey Lee until the last two months the town has been busy. Even for the normally slow august and September the weekends have had a decent amount of people. Unfortunately I do feel that the closing of parking at Lynn hall park has had a great impact on Times Square area. So the sky has not fallen and we on the beach are surviving! I love driving by the empty lots at outrigger and red coconut. Great views of the beach!
Why is council stopping progress?
The surrounding areas are advancing – while FMB remains divided and moving like a turtle.
The Town Council has approved every commercial development, including those with excessive height and density,and the fact that nothing has been built yet is not due to Town Council inaction.
I give these developers a lot of credit for continuing to try to get nice things built. However, the message is clear, if it isn’t low-end or so small it isn’t economically feasible, good luck getting approval. So let’s just continue with the carnival vibe and build massive parking lots with food trucks directly on the beach to and not nice developments that will increase the tax base.
OK,
What about Seagate, Moss Marine, Pink Shell, Myerside. All approved and nothing started,
I believe the Seagate property is up for sale because they do t have the funding to begin construction. That’s the last I heard about it.
Exactly!!! Some of these people that post their comments should do their research first.