By a vote of 5-0 the Fort Myers Beach Town Council voted to move the new Salty Crab building proposal onto a 2nd public hearing next month. If council approves the project at the 2nd public hearing owner Greg Powers plans to break ground later this year and have the restaurant back open in the Fall of 2026.
The LPA voted 7-0 in favor of the project in May.
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 covered seating in the back and 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 owners currently do not have a plan for the big beer and food truck deliveries which was also a problem for that location before Hurricane Ian. Lee County does not want those big trucks stopping in the middle of Estero Boulevard to make deliveries. Town Council members asked Powers to look into possibly using the town’s Waistin’ Away parking lot or with John Richard who owns a parking lot on Crescent street. The Town Council wants to see a solid solution before voting at the 2nd public hearing.
Town Council members may also make approval contingent on Powers paying for a wave mitigation wall on his property. The town is looking into adding wave mitigation walls up and down the entire beach to help beat down future storms.
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
Hours will be 7AM to 2AM both indoor and outdoor. Outdoor entertainment will be between the hours of 10AM and 10PM. Beach service hours will be from 11AM to sunset or 9PM, whichever is earlier.
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 is also requesting 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.
RVi’s Director of Planning Fred Drovdlic made the presentation Monday on behalf of owner Greg Powers.Â
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