If the Fort Myers Beach Town Council approves the proposed 7-11 building at 1301 Estero Boulevard (next to The Whale) at its first February meeting, construction on the new convenience store should begin in the 4th quarter of this year.
The owners of 7-11 went to the LPA this week to requesting their property at 1301 be rezoned Downtown zoning to Commercial Planned Development. The proposed development will have an entrance on Estero Blvd and an entrance on Palermo Circle and a dumpster enclosure with access off of Santos Rd. The Downtown zoning does allow a convenience store use by-right. 7-11 requested a CPD to develop the site rather than requesting multiple variances from the Land Development Code. The proposed store will be more compliant with the town’s code than the previous store.
The Neighborhood Company designed the new building which Town Staff recommended approval for with a few minor conditions (listed below). On Tuesday of this week the Local Planning Agency quickly approved the project.
If construction begins in the 4th quarter of 2024, and all goes according to plan, the store should be open in the 3rd quarter of 2025.
All 4 7-11 locations on Fort Myers Beach were heavily damaged or destroyed. The location at 1301 was a total loss and was quickly demolished after the storm.
The Neighborhood Company also has rezoning applications in for the 7-11 at 3051 Estero Blvd (Voorhis Street) and 841 Estero Blvd (Lynn Hall Park). The company says that 3051 Estero should be heading to the LPA in February or March. When the location at 841 Estero will come before the LPA is unknown at this time.
Town staff recommended approval with the following conditions:
1. A local development order is required prior to any development of the site, in accordance with this planned development approval.
2. All state and local permits, including but not limited to right of way and stormwater permits, must be applied for and received prior to site development.
3. The parking space closest to Palermo Circle shall includes signage which warns drivers that they are backing into a right of way and to be aware of oncoming traffic.
4. All signage and landscaping must meet the Vehicle Visibility at Intersection requirements.
7-11 will be painting a mural on the side of the building facing Estero. Beachy vibe mural paintings have become a thing on Fort Myers Beach since the elevator tower in Times Square was painted a few months after the storm. Wahoo Willie’s, Margaritaville and Nervous Nellie’s have all gotten in on the mural painting game.
I’m sure the residents realize it, but you have no idea how much we missed the 7-11’s when we stayed on the Island back in November. We used to stay north of the pier and would use the 7-11acroas from Lynn Hall a couple times a day. This trip we had a house on Primo and really, really missed this location by The Whale. From something small like coffee creamer or even a muffin in the morning, to a loaf of bread or case of beer, these little stores REALLY came in handy in the 15+ years we have stayed on the Island.
Excellent feedback/ personally I’ve shopped 7/11 that’s 100 yards from my house no more than 2 times a yr in last 7 yrs on FMB , the 7/11 with Gas by Santini is huge for it’s the only gas station on Estero island , I used the pumps regularly (only entered store 2 times) – as a resident I would not have known how important it was- but your feedback creates Great awareness how important “convenience stores “ are to our guests as well as people working on the island – thanks GC
Does anyone have an update on Santini 7/11 ?- seems like a lot of activity there the last 7 days –
Thxs
This new 7-11 is going to be a much better neighbor than their previous building. It was fun to see it swiftly approved in the LPA meeting.
thank you for sharing this blog.