One week from today special Florida Administrative Judge John Laningham will get a status report on 3 businesses he has ruled must be removed from the beach after hearing their code violation cases in January. The businesses are La Ola, Sun & Fun Rentals and Himmelstein Associates, the owner of the furniture store opening in Sea Grape Plaza.
All 3 businesses lost their code cases and were told they needed to be off their respective properties by March 1st or the town could start assessing daily fines and start the process to go onto those properties and remove the structures that are in violation. On March 4th The judge wants a status update on all the cases he’s already ruled on,
La Ola has officially appealed Laningham’s decision to the Circuit Court, which will at least delay owner Thomas Houghton from having to close while the appeals process plays out. Houghton filed his appeal on February 12th, ten days after Laningham’s ruling, even though he had 30 days to appeal. Houghton told Beach Talk Radio that he actually wants a speedy appeal and he believes he’ll win.
FEMA has told the town that all structures that cannot be removed from the velocity zone quickly with a light duty pickup truck must be removed. Houghton demonstrated he could dismantle his operation and move his containers off the island in just a few hours. He videotaped how he did it shortly before Hurricane Milton in 2024. La Ola’s containers are on wheels in Times Square but do need a bigger truck to pull them.
Next week Houghton and his attorney Amy Thibaut will ask Judge Laningham for a stay on the abatement (the town removing his containers) while the appeal process takes place. Houghton says he’s hoping to have the appeal hearing in April or May with the Circuit Court. “If the DOAH judge denies the stay, we’ll also appeal that ruling to the Circuit Court.” Houghton has also said he plans to rebuild on the site which is owned by Chris Primeau and his family. 
The agenda for the Laningham meeting on March 4th includes La Ola, Sun & Fun Rentals and Himmelstein listed still in violation while 4 properties are now in compliance including Quicky E-bikes which is no longer in operation. There is also one new item on the agenda. A storage container on a residential property at 8285 Estero Blvd.
Robert Himmelstein owns the former bank building in front of the Sea Grape Plaza. He’s converting it to a furniture store and has been violated for storage containers on the property. We reached out to Himmelstein, and Sun & Fun Rentals owner Steve Larson to see what their plans were moving forward. Himmelstein said he’s working on coming into compliance. Larson says he’ll continue to operate at his current location on Estero Boulevard but will be removing the shipping containers. He’s just waiting for final approval from the town for his modified operation.
If they do not appeal, or come into compliance, the town can start charging fines of $250 per day and move in and remove their structures, then turn around and bill them both for the work.
REALLY, Judge “Whoever??? How about removing the old Junkanoos, on the BEACH??! Talk about an EYESORE!!! Quit nitpicking on these businesses, who are just trying to make an honest living!!!! Perhaps you could instead, enforce the fact that they need to clean up around their business (I.e., the bike rental spot)?
PLEASE stop with the negativity on this island! People are finally coming back ~ which is what MOST of us wanted ~ but, if certain “groups” push for removal of popular spots, then ~ it’ll become the “lost” little island that it was, after Ian…..🤷♀️
You better buy (a) coffee(s) to be able to talk like that on this platform!
The fines these people are being threaten with are astronomical !!!!
This has turned into a witch hunt.
And still, San Carlos Boulevard’s Hurricane Bay, has multiple shipping containers just yards from the water and the ginormous boat Ian placed on land in the VE Zone. Why is FEMA so laser focused on Estero Island? We will never know.
First FEMA threatened to remove FMB insurance discounts if these trailers weren’t removed. They took the discount so I agree that they should stop bullying Estero Island and move on to bullying someone else. Other than pay a nominal fee to displaced owners and paying for canals to be cleaned ( which took them years to do ) what good are they other than to delay progress?
And if the Judge says you can stay and FEMA says now you get no insurance, can we sue the judge?
Probably a subhuman liberal judge.
Off-topic comment: But wouldn’t they be excited to build up? I invested in FMB, and their holding out seems, in my opinion, counterproductive to the direction of the beach’s growth. I wish them the best of luck.
Could Sun and Fun clean up their property? Broken concrete, gravel and half dead palm trees. Make it look nice instead of colorful trailers plucked out of the 3rd world. Instead of wasting money on attorney’s fees spend it on engineering and a architect to build.
What about the construction trailers and storage boxes recently placed at the new fire station location? Did they get a violation notice?