The Neighborhood Company has officially submitted an application for a new Shuckers/Cottage Bar at 1250 Estero Boulevard on behalf of Paul Shamo of Right Choice Investments of Michigan. The application includes 5 variance requests.
If this current version of the popular restaurant and bar is to be built the town will need to approve the variances. The previous building was totally destroyed by Hurricane Ian and the 1978 Coastal Construction Control Line prevents it from being built where it was out on the sand previous to Ian.New structures must be built behind the CCCL.
The Cottage Bar and Shuckers were iconic establishments on Fort Myers Beach. They had a long history dating back to 1921.
Prior to the storm the property totaled approximately 10,900 SF. The structures were older, non-conforming and encroached over the 1978 CCCL. The proposed new 3-story building will be about 12,000 square feet. It includes a proposal for a beach bar at the ground level. The second floor would be Shuckers Restaurant, casual fine dining, and the third floor would be The Cottage Bar/Restaurant, which will offer a bar and food with live entertainment and a dance floor.
One of the variance requests is for a slightly higher building. Code allows for 40 feet in that area. The variance request is to go to 43 feet.
The overall structure proposed is approximately 10% larger than the historic building in order to accommodate modern construction methods, and meet today’s standards associated with kitchens, bathrooms and mechanicals.
As with many new proposals in the downtown district, parking will be an issue. The current code requires this location as proposed with a bar and restaurant to have a total of 114 parking spaces. The variance request will be to reduce the needed parking to 16 spaces plus 6 spaces as credit for providing 6 bike racks. That is a request to reduce the parking by 80%.
Comments are closed.