By a vote of 7-0 the Local Planning Agency moved the new 5,256 square foot Salty Crab restaurant building onto the Fort Myers Beach Town Council where 2 public hearings must be held before the design and permit phase can begin if approved.
RVi’s Director of Planning Fred Drovdlic made the presentation Monday on behalf of owner Greg Powers. If the Town Council approves the project Powers plans to break ground later this year and have the popular beach restaurant back open in the Fall of 2026.
The original Salty Crab was wiped out by Hurricane Ian. The new building will be shoe-horned in between Margaritaville Resort and Lee County’s Crescent Beach Park on the beach side of Estero Boulevard. The property is 35 feet wide and the building will include an ice cream shop on the lower level, the restaurant and bar on the second level, and seating on the beach where alcohol can also be served.
The proposal includes 5,256 square feet of the property landward of the Lee County 1978 Coastal Construction Control Line. 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 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.Â
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, dry storage and a turnaround for a delivery truck. 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 also received 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.Â
The Salty Crab is 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.
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