Wyndham Owners Moving to Plan C

After finding out they were not eligible for a Temporary Placement Permit for 5 food and drink trailers on their property, the owners of the Wyndham will now shoot for an option that’s never been approved in the history of Fort Myers Beach.

Years ago, the town approved an ordinance for recurring special events. It was created for events like a Farmers Market or the Friday night Sunset Celebration in Times Square. The goal was to prevent these organizations from having to come before the council every week for the same upcoming weekends events. The Wyndham owners now hope to get around the Temporary Placement Permit denial by applying for a recurring special events permit. They will be asking for this recurring permit to operate an ongoing business until their bigger plan is approved. On Monday, they also asked the Town Council to expedite their request and get them on the April 6th agenda. That’s not how the Town Council sets their agenda.

The Wyndham owners may have just as hard a time with this new idea as they did with the application for a temporary permit. It says the following right in the ordinance: “A recurring special events permit may not occur more often than weekly over a period of one year based upon a single application.” During a discussion about the issue Monday, Town Council members did not seem like they were leaning toward approving any such request.

The reason the Wyndham owners are not eligible for a Temporary Placement Permit is because they never had one. The town is trying to move away from food tucks and trailers and push property owners to start building brick-and mortar structures. Any temporary permits on the books now are being reviewed and all of them will be revoked by June of 2027.

In August of 2025, the town adopted a resolution to end any new Temporary Placement Permits and gave Town Manager Will McKannay the authority to extend permits that already existed. To get the extension, property owners had to prove they were on a solid path to rebuild their business. There are currently 12 businesses with Temporary Placement Permits that are being reviewed by the Town Manager. The Wyndham was never issued a Temporary Placement Permit.

The bigger Wyndham plan, which takes longer to wind its way through the permitting process, is a Development Agreement for a mobile restaurant, a 7,200 square foot tiki structure, 18,000 square feet for up to 9 trailers and a commercial parking lot. That parking lot would be paved with 58 of 260 spots set aside for restaurant customers, and a recreational area on the beach.

There is support and opposition on the south end for a temporary setup on this property. Some residents want another choice to eat and drink on the south end while others are concerned with the additional parking spaces that would be added to the property close to their neighborhoods.

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