Owners of 10 properties on Fort Myers Beach have been notified that, after 19 months of doing nothing, the structures on their property must come down. And those property owners will be notified that if the town has to take their structures down in the coming weeks and months they will add the demo expense to their tax bills. Here’s who’s on that list.
The town will be approaching this long-term cleanup in chunks, going after 10 properties at time. Putting a fence around a dangerous structure is no longer good enough. Sending someone to spray the weeds and trim the trees won’t cut it. The town wants these unsafe structures taken down now and the properties cleaned up.
Earlier this week the Fort Myers Beach Town Council passed a new ordinance giving Town Manager Andy Hyatt and his staff the teeth to move forward. Hyatt and the Town Attorney wanted to make sure they had their legal ducks in a row. The Town Council has been pushing staff to accelerate this process and now Hyatt and his team believe they stand on solid legal ground being that this does involve property rights.
The town wanted to make sure it gave property owners enough time to respond to their repeated attempts to reach them. All those boxes have now been checked and the town is starting with property owners who have been ignoring their requests to explain what’s happening. Is it an insurance issue? Are you waiting for a demo permit? Waiting for the property to sell is not an excuse for leaving it in disrepair.
Many residents are beyond frustrated with how long it’s taken for some structures they drive by every day, or live next to, that are just sitting in dangerous disrepair. They’ve all been going through the steps of dealing with insurance, demolishing their dream homes, dealing with contractors, getting permits and living in trailers. They want action and the Town Council has heard them loud and clear.
Both commercial and residential structures are on the first list. Town staff planned to have a conference call today to determine what would be put in a letter which will be served on the property owner. Once that letter has been served the property owner has 30 days to appeal. Failure to appeal in the time specified will constitute a waiver of all rights to an administrative hearing.
Here’s a full list of the first 10 properties the town wants cleaned up or taken down. The next step, if these properties do not come into compliance, will be for the town to move forward and start the process of cleaning them up or demolishing them.
The Neptune Resort at 2310 Estero Boulevard. The owners of The Neptune presented the community with plans for a new resort on August 8, 2023. We interviewed the owners outside the resort not to long after where they gave us an update on their plans. The last communication with the town appears to be May 24, 2024. The Neighborhood Company, on behalf of Neptune Owners Continental Hospitality, responded to an Insufficiency letter. The response was 110 pages.
We reached out to Continental Hospitality for an update on the project earlier this week. Adam Valente from the Continental Hospitality Group said: “The latest is that we’re still in for staff review/comment, so we are somewhat in a holding pattern. We’ve been working through cost and proforma iterations and doing our best to have a project that accomplishes all the goals we set out to achieve – mainly delivering on both town/local objectives and financial viability. That hasn’t been the easiest with the current economic challenges, but we remain committed and optimistic (most days).”
The town of Fort Myers Beach has notified the owners that the Neptune Resort must be demolished.
The Old Hoosiers in Paradise Building (not owned by the owners of the restaurant) has also made the naughty list. A portion of this building was shaved off months ago but the remaining piecen of the building remains open and unsafe. The town said it should be demolished. We hear the owners of the building are trying to determine if the building can be saved (under the 50% FEMA rule) however they’ve done nothing to secure the building.
The Dolphin Inn Located at 6555 Estero Boulevard.
This 22-room resort went up for sale in July of 2023 for $6.9 million. Today you can pick it up for $4.75 million. The Town of Fort Myers Beach says there was some demo done on the building but it now appears to be abandoned and the town wants the building completely demolished.
The T-Shirt Shop at 2401 Estero Boulevard. This is the building the Mayor has said remains open and unsafe and he’s seen kids climbing through the building which looks like it has not been touched since Hurricane Ian. The town report said the building must be demolished.
UPDATE: The building was demolished on Thursday, June 6th.
There are also 6 homes on the town’s first unsafe structure list.
Here they are:
8297 Estero Boulevard. The town states that the demo was started but now the home appears the be abandoned
8211 Estero Boulevard.
The town states the home appears to be salvageable but is now abandoned
7955 Estero Boulevard
The town states that the home appears to be salvageable but is now abandoned.
7831 Estero Boulevard.
The town says the home looks salvageable but has been abandoned.
110 Egret Street.
The town says the home is salvageable but abandoned.
Thank you to Jan Fleming, Greg Scasny and Ed Schoonover for help with the photos.
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