On Monday the Fort Myers Beach Town Council will consider a request from Robert Himmelstein to reduce a code violation fine from $16,500 to $0. Himmelstein is refurbishing the old bank building in the Sea Grape Plaza into a furniture store.
The fines were a result of shipping containers Himmelsten had in his parking lot to store the retail furniture for his store during his build-out.
Himmelstein was first served with a violation in October of 2024. Himmelstein was given 30 days to correct the violation which the town said he failed to do. The first Special Magistrate hearing on this issue was in January of 2025. Himmelstein was then given until March 1, 2025, by the Special Magistrate, to correct the violation, which the town says he did not do. The property was brought into compliance in May of 2025. As a result, Himmelsten racked up 65 days worth of fines at $250 per day for a total of $16,250 plus a court fee of $250.
Himmelsten received a temporary permit for the containers in February of 2023. As a result of a FEMA visit that permit was revoked in December of 2024. Himmelsten eventually moved the contents of the containers into his building and sold the containers. He is now requesting the fine be dropped stating he acted in good faith to get the containers removed once it was clear the town would not renew his permit.
The Town Council can decide to keep the fine as is, forgive it completely, or reduce it to a lower amount. Town Manager Will McKannay is recommending the Town Council deny Himmelstein’s request citing the gravity of the violations and the length of time it took Himmelstein to come into compliance.
Himmelstein has also been in a battle with the owner of the Sea Grape Plaza, Carmen Naccarato. There were allegations of power being cut to the food truck that was located on Himmelstein’s property out front. That’s the reason the storage containers were pushed as close to the Sea Grape Plaza building as possible, to block the view of the building.
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Pretty simple. He had plenty of time and obviously has plenty of money. The 16000 grand is a good lesson to follow the rules. He’s not as clean as he pretends. Just look him up.
Wait is that the place that had furniture and stuff stored in it without having a completion of certification?
This isn’t the first time this guy has been in the public eye…all it takes is a simple google search to find out the truth.
Sounds like FMB is getting another problem child business owner. Keep the fines as they are or he will expect favored treatment all the time.
It’s been nearly four years and most of us are still struggling to get our properties back in working condition. It seems like the town council is so hungry for money from fines that it’s willing to kill the golden goose that will be paying taxes for years to come. Help small business. Don’t kill it.
I couldn’t agree more.
The back bone of Fort Myers Beach takes another hit. Big business can petition for sky scrapers. Big money can operate illegal parking lots. But, we should go after a little Beach business for a storage trailer. Can we just help a small business. That is what makes this island great.
Timeline for the containers and why fines should be unwarranted,
Surfside Causal Furniture received a CO 5 days before hurricane Ian on September 28, 2022.
We got temporary permit#231578 for storage containers on February 13, 2023, that expired Sept 25, 2025.
Plans for the remodel of the store were submitted to the city in December 2023 including the permanent placement of the storage containers.
Permit #236743 was issued March 26, 2024, for the remodel of the store.
December 2024 a letter was sent revoking the temporary permit
January 5, 2025, an application for permanent anchoring (per FEMA guidelines) and as per original permit #236743 was submitted.
January 7, 2025, special magistrate hearing. Testimony was given that a permit to permanently anchor the containers was submitted to the city. We were led to believe if we were working with city there would be no fines levied.
February 14, 2025, the city finally reviewed (1 ½ months later) the permit application #250376. We paid $640.63
February 27,2025, the city sent the 1st zoning rejection letter looking for the setback from Lovers Lane. The requested information was immediately resubmitted.
March 5, 2025, special magistrate hearing and again testimony that we were waiting on the city for the permit to be issued. No indication of a lien was being issued.
March 7, 2025, 2nd zoning rejection letter sent stating that the city would not permit containers on the property.
March 8,2025, container contents were relocated to the unfinished furniture store
March 10,2025, listed the containers for sale
April 1, 2025, special magistrate meeting was rescheduled
May 2, 2025, containers were sold at a $11000.00 loss, and contents were emptied into an uncompleted building.
May 5,2025, an affidavit of compliance was issued
June 3 ,2025, we did not receive notice in time for special magistrates. The hearing was rescheduled.
July 2025 No meeting for our case was scheduled.
August 5,2025, special magistrate hearing our case was rescheduled
September 2,2025, special magistrate hearing certified the lien
This Town gets worse as time goes on. The rules change on a daily basis or “who you are”. This guy is trying to open a business unlike the other violaters who are just making money off of tourists who don’t know any better. And don’t get me started on ALL of the properties with no permits EVER & the daily rentals happening when they are supposed to be monthly only. (Pretty sure they aren’t registered or paying in on the bed tax)
After our permit was revoked that was good until September of 25, we in good faith submitted a new permit designed by our engineer to mount the containers behind our store above base flood. The town did not reject our plan until after our hearing on March 4th with the magistrate.
We were told that actively working on a resolution would be justification to not be fined. The Town gave us a new permit number for our engineer plan to mount the containers above BFE and charged us 660 dollars on blank day.
We lost over 10,000 dollars selling our containers that were to be mounted behind our store as part of our original permit.
This adds a lot more color. If the town sat on the permit application that is no fault of his and not only should it be waived, it never should have been issued in the first place
A fine is a fine. I’d have the same question on why the keeps reducing Naccarato fines for his constant violations. What is the purpose of a fine if the town keeps waiving it? This should have been addressed as the fines were incurred not after the fact
Bob: The town did not reduce the Naccarato fine. He pays them.
Didn’t they at one point have over $300,000 outstanding and they took a payment in the $200’s to wipe the slate clean?
I’ve never seen another place take essentially 3+ years just to build a retaining wall.
Seems hypocritical doesn’t it? The town takes 3 1/2 years and does nothing with its peer and that’s OK but private owners that are trying to do things for businesses or homes that take a while because of red tape or the lack of a decent workforce in the Florida area that’ll actually show up ,they get fined.
First of all Mike, it’s “pier.” Second, Lee County owns the pier, not the town of Fort Myers Beach. You would think by now, everyone on earth knew that.
Ed, Mike is clearly not your pier…….
The pier is all county.
OH GOOD LORD…either reduce drastically or get rid of the fine..you all should be thankful someone wanted to open a business on this devastated island. Help the businesses….lets forget what he should have done…he did it…no let’s move forward…I own a business and you in council should own a business and see how easy it is…it isnt…Give him a break
That’s only part of the story.There was a permit applied for to anchor the containers as per fema and make them not look like containers for storage behind the remodeled building. They were not located in front Sea Grape plaza to block it was the only location that worked while rebuilding.
Of Course they will reduce the fine to $0. The Town Council doesn’t have a spine so they fold constantly.