The town of Fort Myers Beach Town Council is hosting a special meeting with condo association presidents and residents on Thursday at 9AM at Bay Oaks. The council wants to address any questions condo associations have that might help them get open sooner.
Every condo building on Fort Myers Beach was impacted by Hurricane Ian 15months ago. Very few have opened since. The reasons vary. Some buildings are still dealing with insurance. Others are working through the permitting process. And, of course, some had to be demolished because the damage was so severe. In those cases, some condos will be rebuilt while others will sell off their property.
Vice Mayor Jim Atterholt wants the meeting to be a one-stop shop for all questions condo associations have and how the town can help speed up the process to get them up and running and residents back in their buildings.
Beach Talk Radio will carry the meeting live which will be held at the new town hall trailers on the Bay Oaks property.
Following the special meeting with the condo associations, the town will go right into a joint meeting with the LPA at 11AM.
Who were the engineers that determined the 50% build back on these condo buildings and when were these evaluations done? It seems that after projects are started, more is uncovered and some relates back to the age of these buildings and the building codes when they were built. Now the village holds up permits and boards are loaded with people who are not educated in these matters and are being led down a fools path.
It is not the towns responsibility to help with private property. Also, there are dozens of buildings open and occupied. Whoever wrote this has the wrong information. If your having problems with permits you have hired the wrong contractors.
Our problem is an incompetent Board of Directors with no business or construction experience and shady contractors taking advantage of a hideously naive president who’s ego won’t allow him to ask for assistance or admit he has made mistakes and continues to make mistakes.
I’m sure many are facing cash flow problems. Town can’t really help with that.
When you drive up and down Estero Blvd you see some condo’s that aren’t back is there is a list of all the condo’s still not back in operation due to no insurance and are their some that are going to be refurbished
I’ve sent messages to BTR, the Town Council and Resilient Lee several times over the past several months asking why no one is helping address the vacant condo buildings. I agree with Steve W, this is shameful that the condos took this long to be addressed. There are hundreds of units on this island that could be occupied, providing tourism, if the HOAs could get some help. We are part of Lee County, we should be eligible for Resilient Lee funds to help these HOAs, small businesses and others get back up and running.
Oh! So NOW they want to help! ….15 months after Ian. Perhaps help by streamlining the byzantine permit process or at least have a sense of urgency. As a former resident of FMB (and hoping to return someday), I am extremely disappointed with FMB leadership and responsiveness of town staff – Shameful.
The permitting is not byzantine. It starts with the design team. Some condos that i saw had non-expierenced firms doing the work and they end up learning by rejection comments and thus makes it frustrating for condo boards. Some that went the correct path, have no issues with permitting. Boards need a proper design professional to aid in navigating the process. The rest of the time is waiting on electrical switch gear and elevator components. These two items have been a problem for a few years, not just because of the storm. Unfortunately, these condos have high power equipment and those are very hard to come by. There is also no other alternative to solve that problem as they are limited in space in their electrical rooms. Condo boards should have a direct understanding on who is doing the drawings for permitting and what their experience is with working with condos and commercial projects. Ask who is the architect and engineers working on it. Are they local? Have they ever worked on Florida projects in coastal environments? Its a three legged stool, one leg is the owner, the 2nd is the architect and the 3rd is the contractor. If all are working as a team and the architect and GC are experienced, then all would go smoother.
Thank you once again, Albert. Always presenting the facts.
Thank you Jim Atterholt
I have a comment that may benefit condominium associations depending on their currentcircumstances. It is my understanding that once it is determined the building can be built back under the 50% rule, a permit application does not require a full, complete set of drawings for the permit to be issued. Separate permits can be issued for items like plumbing, electrical, mechanical etc. This would help to get the rebuilding process started without having to wait for the complete set of drawings to be approved.
Correct, but it all needs to be master planned. It is best if all is under one set of permit drawings as some aspects cannot be applied for without understanding the other systems and how they coordinate. Some projects are done in phases and have to be that way in order to have things happen concurrently.