Tonight at 5PM at Diamondhead Resort, Fort Myers Beach residents will get their second look at the proposed plans to rebuild the Neptune Beach Resort at 2310 Estero Boulevard. It’s the 2nd public meeting, which is what the owners promised the community.
The Neptune has been on Fort Myers Beach since the 1960’s. The owners, Continental Hospitality Group, purchased the property in September of 2021. Before the storm the resort was performing well for the company, despite not having any food or beverage available for guests.
Here are some details about the proposed new Neptune:
They will be asking for more height (6 floors compared to 2).
They will be asking for more density (140 rooms compared to 71).
They will have 164 parking spaces for guests.
They would have a beach-side restaurant open to the public.
They would donate 16 parking spaces to the town.
They would add a beach access that is currently not there.
They would provide bigger beach view corridors.
They say they’ll be keeping the beachy vibe.
If you want to make a comparison, the new building is as high as the Fort Myers Beach library which is relatively close to this property. We should know when the general public will get a full viewing of the plans in the next week or so.
The next step, after the public meetings, is for Continental Hospitality Group to submit a Commercial Planned Development (CPD) to town staff for their review. The plans have not changed since the first community presentation to Chamber of Commerce members back in August.
Town staff will review the plans and make recommendations to the LPA. Once this goes through the LPA process, the Town Council will get a crack at it. If it passes with 3 votes on the council the project is approved. If everything went smoothy, applications, permits, LPA and council votes, etc. it would be 2 1/2 years before the resort opens its doors again.
The resort, which is right on the Gulf, suffered substantial damage during Hurricane Ian on September 28th, 2022. The ruined resort has not been demo’d. In fact the owners told us back in August they have no idea when the demo and cleanup will begin. They say it’s tied to whether or not they get this project approved.
OMG. Fort Myers Beach will never get rebuilt, if people continue to want it to stay the same as it was 20, 30 years ago…….if you want to get real tourists back, spending their money you have to move forward, I feel this town is listening to the wrong people on these building issues……this town has the opportunity to build bigger, better, modern and people are wanting the past to keep existing! 🤷🏼♀️
People who are not home owners should NOT have a voice in the furure of FMB. People post their strong opinions of what should be allowed on FMB and they are not even a home owner on the beach. Holly O doesn’t even live in the state and is not a property owner yet you would think she is. But that doesn’t stop her from posting her mocking, obnoxious comments to home owers. Right now we are living with decisions made by people who either don’t live on the island any more or are dead and it totally effects the price of our homes. If you own a home and it is a monthy rental, your home is worth less and will sit on the market much longer than a home that is a weekly rental. We have streets that are weekly on one side and monthly on the other. This is the logic of the people who came up with this nonsene. It is infringing on property rights but our town council is not even interested in correcting this. It is 100% unfair and if you ask any Realtor, they will tell you that weekly rentals are worth more and sell quicker. Maybe if our mayor was actually a property owner, he would comprehend what this is doing to the owners who live on streets that have these old, outdated rules that were clearly put in place based on loud voices from 20 yrs ago and now we have to live under their rules. Turtle lights and Work Force Housing is all 2 of the town coucil are interested in and we are forced to live with their agenda and told to shut up and sit down regarding the unfair practices on short term rentals. These are the loud voices that are making decisions for this island. If it were up to them we would still be living with liquior stores on every corner, homeless roaming the streets and old T shirt shops that sell shirts that they have had from the 80’s.
I don’t want to come off as a bully or vindictive but if current owners have not even started cleanup and have no plan to cleanup, I would not even give them the opportunity to present a plan until they have their mess cleaned up.
I tend to agree with this. Absolutely no reason not to demo the eyesore. Hope a letter with fines goes out from the town.
Totally agree!
If the town “gives in” to this property then what about all the rest? Stick to the rules that are in place. As for the clean up, Who is responsible when someone gets hurt for a property that is not secured? Couldn’t the town be held liable for not forcing these properties to be torn down after they have been deemed uninhabitable? I’m just curious as to why so many structures are still standing.
The new rendering doesn’t show 6 stories.
Clean up should not be contingent on a new build. They own the property that has been damaged and needs to be cleaned up no matter what.
Every property owner needs to clean up their messes! Before Ian property needed to be maintained, why isn’t being enforced now? It’s been long enough!
Because town council is letting them get away with it. The amount of debris, homes collapsing, businesses untouched, totaled cars/golf carts and even dead trees/landscaping is ridiculous. It’s total negligence and there should be no more passes.
Based on the info above, I vote NO. Too high, too many parking spaces, too dense. And I don’t like the sound of being a hostage to the cleanup.
Is there a statue of limitations for businesses or homeowners to clean up property damaged from hurricanes? Can it just sit there looking like crap forever?
If I had a vote on this, it would be no. We need to decrease density and traffic on the Island. I hope the city does not compromise toward anything that would bring back the pre-Ian traffic. We should also stick to the height restrictions. In my opinion less is always better.
Maybe they could have 16 parking spaces for The Whale customers instead of giving it to the town.
I think the spaces are actually across street where parking is for old Tuckaway cafe. Soon to be Sandy Bottoms. Signs up all over the lot.
A FIRM NO
Cleanup as hostage LMFAO
Clean-up is tied to whether project is approved -or- not ….. really. ?
Interesting !!!