So far there have been a lot of drawings, meetings, public comment and opinionated social media chatter about several new development projects that might rise from the rubble left behind by Hurricane Ian.
While two projects have now been officially applied for (Pink Shell and Moss Marina) none have come before the Local Planning Agency or Town Council.
Back in May, The owners of The Pink Shell filed their application for a 4-story 518 space (200 spaces for the public) parking garage across from the resort on Estero Boulevard. The proposal also includes stories of condo units to accommodate 109 multifamily residential units above the garage and workforce housing on the beach side. The parking garage building would be eight stories and 91 feet in total height over base flood elevation. By right, as of today, the Pink Shell owners have zero density on that side of Estero. They gave it up to build a higher resort.
The Pink Shell proposal is now being reviewed by staff and could come before the LPA by the end of this year or early next year.
Earlier this week, Moss Marina filed two applications with the town. The first is a “map amendment” to the Town’s Comprehensive Plan requesting to expand the Downtown District to include all of the proposed new ARCHES Bayfront properties with a Pedestrian Commercial future land use. The second is a request to entitle the properties under a CPD (Commercial Planned Development) with the uses of hotel, marina, restaurant, retail and civic uses.
The new Moss Marina development on the property adjacent to Snug Harbor Restaurant includes 3 hotels totaling 400 rooms, a 1,000-foot long community bay walk, a marina, bars, restaurants and shopping. Before submitting their 2 applications, the Moss Marina team had several public meetings to show off their project and also met privately with members of the Town Council to get input.
Town officials tell us it could be about 2-3 months before the Moss Marina project comes before the LPA, which like the Pink Shell project, is the next step after a full staff review. The reason the Moss Marina project could come before the LPA before The Pink Shell is because Moss Marina did not submit the entire project. That would presumably come later if their initial two applications are approved.
The process moving forward for both projects is that the LPA reviews the applications, considers staff input, holds one public hearing, and makes a recommendation to the Town Council. Two additional public hearings are held at the Town Council level. The Town Council does not have to follow the recommendations of the LPA or staff when they take a final vote. To approve any project at the Town Council level, three votes are needed.
The Moss Marina team also has to conduct a traffic study as part of the CPD application which will add time to the process.
“Town officials tell us it could be about 2-3 months before the Moss Marina project comes before the LPA, which….is the next step after a full staff review”.
That seems like a long, drawn out process to me. I’ll admit there’s a lot about the process I probably don’t know…. Jim
I believe that both plans are over-sized and need to be scaled down.
So, if I read this right, it seems that the future of our town is in the hands of the town council. Any three could vote against the residents’ wishes. And any three could vote to change what was approved in the past. One would think there would be a larger group in charge of making these final decisions. It seems like too much power for such a small group.
First, FMB staff evaluate and make a recommendation. Then, the Local Planning Agency reviews and make a recommendation. Then, the Town Council reviews and makes a final ruling. It is a process.
I agree with Christy. Hard NO in Pink Shell! They gave up their right to build on the bay side when they built their current structure I also love the Moss Marina plan, BUT scale it back!!!!
The permitting department is having a hard time issuing permits to residents who are not asking for deviations but we are going to spend resources that the town doesn’t have enough of! Why are they expending those resources for a project that doesn’t fit our current code? Maybe the developers know something the residents don’t.
I believe we should have no exceptions to current rules and regulations. We should all want to restore FMB to the community it was before the Hurricane.
Bob do you drive the same old car you bought when 16? If you don’t then please don’t expect the same old dumpy small crap. You can buy the property right now I’ll bet. So if you don’t want it big then buy it. If you can’t afford it. Tough. Pretty simple. You want to stop progress because you can’t afford it. Liberal thinking.
Hard no on Pink Shell. Love the Moss plan!!!……but scaled back on number of units.
Good luck to both the Pink Shell and Moss Marina!