New Salty Crab By Fall of 2026?

That’s the hope as Salty Crab owner Greg Powers is set to bring his new building plans to the LPA this Tuesday. If all goes according to plan at LPA and the Town Council, Powers plans to break ground later this year and have the popular beach restaurant back open in the Fall of 2026.

We last reported on the Salty Crab possibly returning to Fort Myers Beach one year ago highlighting how long it takes to plan and rebuild a structure wiped out by Hurricane Ian. 

On Tuesday, Powers will request a rebuild of the Salty Crab restaurant with a ground level ice cream shop at 1154 Estero Boulevard. RVi’s Director of Planning Fred Drovdlic is part of the presenting team. 

The proposal includes 5,256 square feet of the property landward of the Lee County 1978 Coastal Construction Control Line and includes a consumption on premises and outdoor seating waterward of the CCCL. Before Ian wiped the building out, the site included a two-story structure with covered porch areas and beachside dining including 1,561 square feet of outdoor seating and consumption on premises.
The lot for the restaurant is 35 feet wide. The proposed footprint of the building is 5,156 square feet. The total floor area is a maximum of 9,300 square feet combining the two stories. The proposed building is only 2 stories. They are allowed to go up to 3 at that property. The previous building did not take full advantage of second floor space while this new building will. 

Because of the limitations of uses and required elevation, the first floor is occupied by a significant amount of dead space. The ground floor building plan includes 1,285 square feet of loading area and dry storage. It also includes 1,260 square feet of area of circulation and open areas used for elevators, stairwells, and customer circulation areas – a total of 2,545 square feet.

Powers will also ask for a deviation to operate without any parking. The current code would require the restaurant to have 58 spaces. Not only is there no room for parking, the restaurant was extremely successful before Hurricane Ian without any parking. 

The Salty Crab property is located immediately next to Margaritaville’s Fins Up Beach Club on Estero Boulevard. It’s probably a 2-minute walk from the Lynn Hall Park parking lot and not much further from many other private parking lots. There are hundreds of parking spaces within 1/4 of a mile from the Salty Crab property. The Fort Myers Beach Town Council has consistently stated they want the downtown area to be more walkable and bikeable with less automobile traffic and they’ve been granting parking deviations leaving it up to property owners to make their businesses successful.

The new two story 13,000 square foot structure would include an outdoor seating and consumption on premise area seaward of the CCCL replacing the same use and approximate area that was part of the former structure.

Staff recommends approval with 4 conditions:

1. A photometric plan must be provided with the Development Order application to determine compliance with turtle-friendly lighting restrictions in the Land Development Code.
2. Powers must  provide cantilevered shade structure(s) from the Estero Boulevard façade to shade the public sidewalk that abuts the property. 
3. Final architectural design must be generally consistent with renderings provided in addition to the Master Concept Plan. 
4. Powers must apply for and receive all state and local permits required for the reconstruction of all proposed structures. 

When we posted the pictures of the new building on our Facebook page it was very well received. Locals and visitors alike are excited to see the Salty Crab return to Fort Myers Beach. 

The LPA meets Tuesday at 9AM and we will carry the meeting live on our Facebook page and YouTube Channel.

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