##VIDEO ID:iB36zF3NLPU## okay good morning everyone we're going to call this meeting to order today's Monday December 2nd 2024 it is 907 um all those you want a roll call vote okay counc sord hi VI hi hi Vice mle hi coun Woodson hi and I'm an i as well the motion carries unanimously morning John good morning thank you yep um can you hear me yep yep just to just to let everyone know we are having some intermittent internet issues so if we go in and out um the minutes are still being recorded um so just giving everybody a heads up out there if they can still hear us next is the invocation followed by the Pledge of Allegiance so if everyone please stand as We Gather here today we pray that we are ever mindful of opportunities to render our service to fellow citizens and to our community we ask you to guide those who as our government leaders make their daily decision that affects us so that their efforts shall be motivated by the same Great rule of Charity and good will let us continue to strive to Make a Better World amen amen Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all next we have the approval of the final agenda are there any amendments to the final agenda Mr Mayor yes sir I wonder if we could we have a kind of a walk on special event permit for the beach kids here on Fort Meers Beach for the Beach Elementary School and I wonder if we could just walk that on and get that taken care of so they can move forward with there they need to have have need to have a couple conversations still with the fire department but they're having a wonderful event on December 6th and I wonder if we could just expedite that so they could move on with their lives and get that take care of that real quick I do not have any objection to that no objection saff no objection do you need a motion then for that um motion to add to the agenda and I guess the question I would have is uh where do you want to put it on your agenda is it a consent item or is it um after consent um I think we could put it on a a consent item John do you have any objection to that I have none okay would you like to make the motion to I would move I would move I would move that we add the special event permit to be the first item on the consent agenda for the uh for the approval of the final agenda I will second second go ahead no go ahead all right got a motion by vice mayor seconded by mayor allers any further discussion Vice may adle I I'm an i councelor King hi Council Woodson I Council Safford I motion carries unanimously are there any other changes all right is there a motion to approve the final agenda as amended so moved second got a motion by councelor Woodson seconded by councelor Safford any further discussion all those in favor signify by saying I I I I opposed hearing none the agenda is approved next is uh public comment is there anyone that would like to speak in public comment just a reminder if you are here to speak about one of the Quasi Jud hearings if you want your testimony to be heard for that hearing please save that comment for the the public comment portion of that hearing um but you're welcome to speak at the first in the end if you would like as well is we have any I have nobody signed up for general public comment any general public comment out there come on up my name is Samantha Campbell and pull that mic up just a little bit and we are the owners of 125 C Street and I would love Mark Mark here he was is he out there mark it says it's about the comp plan so okay I'm not sure what that means we can talk pretty loud Mark you'll be all right I was one of the last people to sign in this say comp plan okay my name is Mark Leon I live on 281 Ohio Avenue wart Myers Beach uh my concern is uh I've been a builder here on the beach in in Southwest Florida for since like 89 uh I've worked for lenar homes us homes primarily uh for many many years they had rules and regulations uh height requirements size requirements everything else like that I I don't know if they had a comp plan um I understand we have a comp plan which is pretty I don't understand it actually I don't know how to get into it people have written to me do this do that do that as a residential Builder I understand to my customers how high I can build how wide I can build what I can build Etc okay and there's no variations if there is I have to go for hearings and everything else like that so we build to our regul ations now in the comp plan I don't understand when we're when somebody's saying okay we can do this or we can do that we developed a comp plan for this island to keep it an island it's a Seven Mile Island I don't know if they're building any more of them uh my property values have gone up be possibly because of that uh I can't believe what my house is worth my property is worth if they knock it down you know it's it's unbelievable um I don't need that I want to live here for the rest of my life and I hopefully my children will take take over my home at some way or another we love this beach my children went through all three of my children went through Beach Elementary School I understand that you know it's it's uh not too many kids are going to it we're trying to bring them from off the island on here that's another story my issue is is that when we're discussing situations like seate and stuff like that nobody understands or a lot of us do not understand what is the comp plan if we were to be all addressed on here's what we had planned years ago for that property what they can do and what they can't do and if they can't do it you know we had investors come in here and spend a lot of money a lot of money for things and they're asking for more than what I believe were're was in the comp plan so we don't know whether two stories are going to be allowed there three stories we understand we went through a hurricane there's no we know that we have to build a little stronger maybe go up a little higher but you know how high do we go you know um I don't know are we building for visitors you know to come in for one week are we building for for for the residents that live here you know I'm a resident that's full-time lives here and I look around I have neighbors here that have lived here possibly longer than I have and and I know what their what we're we're looking for can you wrap it up it's it's been 3 minutes there's a lot of's I'm looking for if we can simplify the comp plan when we're talking about issues how high or how wide or what they're they're going for thank you you got it yes thanks Mark anyone El that's all I have is there anyone else that would like to speak in public comment seeing none we'll close public comment next we have Lee County property appraiser Matt calwell here there he is you move around quick you're back there then you're up here good morning sir on the ready Mr Mayor yes all right well thank you uh for giving me a spot on your agenda I'm sorry that I've got to come back uh and take a spot on your agenda again for another year after another hurricane season uh but I wanted to make sure to afford uh the the council and the residents here an opportunity uh to talk with us any issues uh that we can help address and know we did this uh after Ian when we were up at the the Diamond Head then um I'll start with a couple of uh regular questions and then glad to answer any that uh you may have in your mind and I understand I think staff has said said they've set aside a little space for us if if you have residents that have questions afterward as well I've got a couple of folks from my office with me here as well we can try to navigate that uh the biggest things to think about uh nothing has changed in terms of uh the dynamic from how our office interacts for uh the 50% rule issues uh we have a tax roll letter that is available uh for every single family property if uh residents go to their individual property record on our website Lea .org they can produce that tax roll letter uh use it as you have uh previously for your permit uh issues uh and the dynamic hasn't changed either ultimately it may be best for uh homeowners to gain a private appraisal uh for all the reasons we've become familiar with over the last several years first and foremost being the tax rol is based on January 1st and uh this event either Helen or Milton uh happened months after that uh and so while it is an option uh it is not current with the the date of the event and and that uh is something uh you would gain an advantage of by getting a private appraisal uh and the other challenge is how the market has evolved here uh over the last three years and we've seen uh enormous uh increase in land values uh and that anywhere you see a market where that Dynamic is taking place and and particularly we see that on Fort Meers Beach and uh in South cap Coral those are our two strongest areas where we see this trend happening the land value uh becomes so significant that the improvements really uh become a much much smaller portion of it and uh that Dynamic is even more difficult for uh a mass appraisal system which is what we use for the tax roll to give you a very granular answer uh so again uh if you're in a situation where you have a significantly older home 50 60 70 years old uh and you're Now find yourself in a high land value situation it's probably going to be the case that the tax roll letter isn't your best option it's just not going to have the granularity uh that you need for the for the questions you need to answer as a property owner um uh setting aside the tax roll questions the 50% rule uh moving to uh repairing and so those situations where you are going to uh repair your home the statute uh stays in place you have the 110% Grace so your original living area let's say was uh 1500 square feet you can increase that footprint of living area by an additional 10% in your rebuild without changing your assessed situation your uh C that's built up as a result of Homestead uh the legislature and implementing the disaster recovery statute put that plan in place recognizing that particularly older homes when you go to rebuild codes of change sizes uh will have changed uh just necessitating the possibility of a larger structure just to get back to what you had before the same three bed two B house for example um and if you exceed that 110% threshold you can uh you're you're welcome to that's that's your decision the way it will work from the taxable situation is we will uh calculate up to that 110% threshold and then all the space beyond that if you decide to take this chance to to build that second floor bonus room we've always wanted that's fine we will calculate the value of that independently combine those and that will be your new basis for your taxable situation um and last but not least is the uh the other part of the disaster statute uh to remind everybody if you are displaced from your home for more than 30 days in a calendar year you're eligible for a refund on the taxes uh you have to communicate with our office to let us know what that situation is to validate uh that the home was uninhabitable for at least uh 30 days uh and then additionally as part of that conversation at especially as we think about where we are in the calendar year as we approach a new tax roll year at January 1st making sure we understand the habitable status of that property for the entire next coming tax roll year uh so many of the same questions we've covered a lot before but I wanted to make sure to to reiterate them and and be available if you have some more for me right now Matt I think those are the most ones I've heard but Vice may help just I know we've got a lot of folks here so real thank you for being here man uh briefly the last time you were here this is 10,000 foot but you you You' Express that we had as a town because of the progress we had made we had roughly regained roughly half of the property value that we'd lost post or as a result of Hurricane Ian and you projected we hopefully regain be kind of almost at Ian levels within a year or so is that still the projection from your again 10,000 foot well we're still obviously in the fourth quarter I think uh everybody has has noted the the market Countrywide has slowed I think think probably in large part with inflation and changes in the interest rates that's uh that's changed the intensity of the the market participation that we saw immediately following uh Co so I would suspect that this next year is probably going to be more of a lateral move uh than any major increase um I'm not seeing significant changes now uh the unique situation for for communities like Fort Meers Beach and Santa Bel uh because you had so many properties that were marked as uninhabitable you will see a recovery in your tax roll as those properties come back onto the tax roll uh but that's not a result of any Market appreciation uh like we saw with the the major shift in land values out here that's just structures that have been off the tax roll since the hurricane and now coming back on thank you just real quick Frankie or or Andy where where will we got a lot of folks here and they may not be on the agend till later this morning if they wanted to see Matt where would they go find him at the Town Hall here where you going to have him well he's not not going to be here but his staff will be in two and the trailer and the administrative trailer right back here in near my office so they just check for folks watch front and we'll get get them there great again thanks for being here Matt appreciate absolutely C wson questions I am good thank you Matt abely Scott um just for clarity so after Ian you did re-evaluation when you went on onto the onto your website after Helen and Milton you did not so any calculation still based on January 1 of 24 is that correct yeah so well the the tax roll letter postan was based on January of 22 okay so it was it was just a what what we had uh never been asked to do as an agency was to appropriately allocate the difference between the land and the building value which is with that building value is ultimately the number you need as a permitting agency to to base your decision making and and work with FEMA on the 50% threshold uh we' never been asked to do that as an appraisal practice uh and and what had been relied upon in the past ad hoc really didn't meet uh the regulations so we've developed that taxal letter uh for Ian we've done it again now for this year's events and we are actually now going forward going to develop it every year uh because you do need to make uh use of that potentially as well in non uh disaster events just the the normal uh substantial improvements somebody goes to completely renovate their home they're still going to fall under the same regulations of flood zone and uh and older home thresholds they have to meet for their value okay great thank you all right thanks Matt I'm sure I don't know if anybody's here but check at the front and it'll get you to to Matt staff you're taking off yep appreciate you guys good to see you again thanks for coming thank you all very much good luck to the day next is uh oh sorry John I should have asked John if he has any questions John do you have any questions for I do not have any questions for Matt I just wanted to tell him thank you for all your hard work on beh the residents of property owners for Myers Beach and County thank you thanks John and we'll start with you John on the next item it's local achievements and recognitions thank you for indulging me and especially uh my circumstances today um my life's on open books I'll just share that I had a health scare on Saturday thought I was having a heart attack called 911 um fortunately for me it is not a heart attack but I just wanted to say thank you to the uh First Responders at Fort Myers Beach fire district uh the guys at LEL Road were quick uh to the to the condo unit and uh were very professional very reassuring um they put up with my humor and they understand it they should get gold medals for that um they uh were very accomodating very helpful with Chris uh getting her to a place we we'd never been before before uh I will be having a c procedure I think it's scheduled for two this afternoon so I'll try and stay on as long as I can uh bonus points I'm a198 away from being a $6 million man thank you thanks John Vice man yeah just I know we're we're we're short on time but I wanted to just to and I'm sure Scott will touch on this but the the sand castle competition was just tremendous uh a few days back and wanted Tok thank Jackie and Scott and the team at the chamber for putting that on all the volunteers who work the event but also the parking lots the people who donated their land for the parking lot it was tremendous I'm going to yield to Scott on who those folks are because I'm sure I'm going to miss somebody but I thought I would real quick because I mean these things don't happen by themselves they're they're they're funded by people who believe in our community and I just thought I'd read real quick who the sponsors were for the event the title sponsor for the event was Florida Power and Light Platinum sponsor was seate gold sponsors were Alex King Sun Coast Beverage sales seminal Casino Hotel Wilkinson Title Agency Inc the program sponsors were London Bay Alex King I'm sorry uh yeah Alex King Moss Marina tuna skin Master arter SP Master artist sponsors fixed marine supply the whale SOB State Insurance flippers pink shell uh Advanced amateur artist sponsors Gavin Z Hardware Beach talk radio kpg I'm sorry kgp Co company Margaritaville selty Sams captains for clean water uh and the uh uh LCM engineering go Wing lmcu uh and then sand dollar sponsors were Dixie Fish Company doc Fords Lovers Key Sunbelt exfinity Premier Growers and the patron sponsors Chris and John King dumin T dental care and the C Gypsy vacation rentals and we also certainly want to thank uh the Florida I'm sorry the Diamond Head folks and the Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce just a tremendous event for our community on so many levels and this was so thankful for all the people that made it possible that's all I've got very good counc Woodson well in the essence of time I will just ditto what Jim said it was just a fabulous event and people came and drove so it felt good to have so much activity on the beach again right sa uh same thing uh just so people know Jackie almost canceled that event after Helen and then she really thought hard about cancelling after Milton but you know her and Diamond Head and sand lovers stood the course and they proved that you know we can host an event not just for us but for Southwest Florida and I want to thank again all the community volunteers it was incredible how many volunteers we had out there and just real quick I I may miss somebody but I want to thank the the parking lots that uh worked with the local um Charities Chris Primo EC uh Judy hadia from Century 21 sanap Bank Eddie yaha the FNB fire district uh the town of Fort Mars Beach of course and it was just a great event yeah I'll I'll did everything you guys said I won't restate it all you guys did a great job of doing it it was it was nice to see all the people back even though it made my daily activities very difficult it was well worth it I did it with a smile but uh it was a great event congratulations to the chamber and everybody that uh and to the winners that uh won it was it was a really cool event to see back so with that we'll move on to advisory committees items reports and appointments Public Safety Committee is there someone here from the Public Safety Committee Dawn was coming but I don't see her I don't see her either Don are you here is she outside maybe no okay then we will move on to approval of the minutes we have two of The Joint Town joint session Town Council and local planning agency from November 13 2024 and the town council meeting from November 18th 2024 is there a motion to approve the minutes mayor um on page 23 under Town attorney items um there's uh it says December 21st it should be November that sentence reads uh two code enforcement foreclosures were pending and one on Nature View was set to go to sale on December 21st it's actually November and I'll brief you at the end of the meeting as to what happened okay are there any other changes to the minutes on page seven just a small note um it said that I was a LPA member of a counc person well you were I was okay any other changes is there a motion to approve the amended minutes go ahead so moved I'll second motion by councelor Woodson second by uh mayor allers any further discussion all those in favor signify by saying I I I I opposed hearing none that motion carries unanimously next is the consent agenda we have the special event permit that was moved here for the shine bright night for the beach school as well as three other items or more than that I'm sorry one two five five of them they're all hurricane extensions for the local emergency for Ian Adalia Debbie Helen and Milton John do you want to come up for a minute just to talk is everybody okay with proceeding a little L older let John come up and talk about his event morning morning everybody hope you had a good holiday um this Friday is the one year anniversary of getting our school back although we're not in it right now we still wanted to celebrate the anniversary so so um uh Jenny our PTO put together you know a pretty cool function with Jim's help to where we're going to have the umbrella Mafia come set up something which allows our kids to make their own umbrellas or whatnot uh we're going to start out at the school have a little candle light visual walk over Matt at Seagate was very kind to allow us to use his property we're going to be on the old Red Coconut 30001 Estero uh umbrella Mafia will be up front the little parking lot they had for their trailer and then at the center of it we're going to have not what I would call a bonfire scaled down bonfire um uh in the middle we're going to kick off at about 4:30 and end up at about 8:30 I think it will be a uh awesome thing to celebrate the school my Hoops are maybe we could do this every year in the future raise some money for our school as we go forward very good question um I've had Comm I'm sorry I've um the application's been in I've had communication with the Jen the fire chief this morning she had three small comments that I responded to she has not given me the official yes we are good but her comments were things like what type of wood we were going to use the fire can't be bigger than this and we need water on site all them things are very easily to accomplish I replied to her I haven't gotten an official back but I'm hoping we can you know approve it uh you know contingent that she approves it go ahead Scott um I've got eight grandkids but what's an umbrella Mafia I said you're see a flyer I haven't put a flyer out cu I wanted it to go in front of the council before I put the flyer out but it's a um it's a vendor that comes in and they have like bubble machines and things there but they actually bring my understanding is they bring umbrellas and the kids get to make and design their own glow in the dark umbrella which we thought would be cool because we're having a bonfire out there the feedback that we've received is that this thing is an awesome thing I've never actually seen one but Monica has been working on it pretty hard and should be pretty cool cool can put request in if you want an umbrella uh I will once the flyer goes out once we get approval here I'll get it out to everybody I don't know the inss and outs of that but I'll make sure those aren't going to the bonfire say again they're not going to the bonfire be careful there Scott the fire chief asked me specifically what was going in I had to be careful see John I just want to give a shout out to a woman on my condo floor uh Lori uh brought to my attention a a charitable group called uh battle pups and it's a it's a group out of Ohio it's a 5013 501c3 that uh because they their child went through a very difficult period with an elness they've started this group called battle pups and there's the the beautiful stuffed uh animals that they hand out to kids that have been through uh difficult times so the folks on our condo have put together kind of a donation to this group and and so we hope to be handing out to all the kids one of these battle pups uh on Friday so that that' be a want to give a shout out to laor my nine-year-old might not like me to admit it but both of my kids sleep with stuffed animals every night I'm sure most of our kids you're going to hear about that later be great now the world knows and on behalf of Jim I'll apologize in advance because you know that's going to lead to real puppies anything no no I think it would be really fun yeah thanks and thanks everyone that that worked to get it together all right is there a motion to approve the consent agenda for the six items so moved second sorry John I forgot to ask if you any questions for John I keep forgetting you're not sitting there it's okay I'm good thank you okay I got a motion by councelor Woodson seconded by councelor Safford any further discussion all those in favor signify by saying I I opposed hearing none that motion carries unanimously uh we do not have anything removed from the consent agenda so that takes us to our public hearings the next three items on our agenda are public hearings for review of various land requests for the benefit of the public Please be aware that these items are Quasi judicial in nature our attorney will further explain thank you mayor so zoning revisions special exceptions and variances as the mayor mentioned these are all quasi judicial in nature and this requires that our public hearing comply with some procedural requirements that have been established in Florida law and in our Land Development code these quasi judicial proceedings these are less formal than a proceeding in a circuit court but they are more formal than the uh rest of our meeting and we must follow basic standards of due process that require certain notices to have been made the application of the correct standards and that the council's decisions be made on competent and substantial evidence that has be been presented to them in written documents or through oral testimony once received the count Town Council will evaluate the testimony and the information for each item and then draw a conclusion regarding whether the criteria that is in the Land Development code or state law as may be applicable has been satisfied so pure speculation or mere opinion that is not based on competent facts cannot legally be considered by the Town Council in evaluating an agenda item testimony by professionals who have been qualified as experts in a particular area has been considered competent substantial evidence or competent evidence by the florid of Courts as well as testimony by neighbors and residents who have fact-based information such as minutes surveys engineering reports or testimony that is based on their personal knowledge and information so the town's Council decision is final and if a decision of approval is not obtained or if a vote tie results from a motion to approve or to deny then the matter being considered is denied unless a majority of the council members present and voting agree by motion before the next agenda item is called to take some other action in lie of denial such other actions may be moved or seconded by any member regardless of their vote on the earlier motion also if the Town Council decides to deny an application the re reason for the denial must be stated in the motion denial of a quasi judicial matter must not be made based on a determination of public support or public opposition to an application the reason for the denial cannot be arbitrary discriminatory and or unreasonable and it should be based on a lack of competent and substantial evidence in support of a required criteria denial of an application is denial with prejudice unless the council States otherwise if the application is denied with prejudice no similar application for a resoning special exception or variance covering the same property or portion of the property shall be submitted or initiated for a period of 12 months from the date of that denial however denial of an application with prejudice will not prevent an application for a different resoning or variance which in the opinion of staff is substantially different from the request originally asked for if the council's denial is without prejudice then an applicant may make modifications to the original application and submit the modified application to councel for reconsideration or submit an application for other Town Council consideration without having to wait the 12 months before applying for consideration of the request so if you intend to speak please keep these uh comments in mind when you come forward please state your name clearly for the record whether or not you have been sworn in and your qualifications or your interest in the matter for purposes of efficiency before we begin these public hearings uh we would like to go ahead and um dispose of a few matters for the record my first question is to the clerk regarding the agenda items have they been properly advertised pursuant to Our Land Development code yes they have been okay and then at this time if there are any council members who have a conflict of interest that would prohibit them from voting on any of these three quasi judicial matters please disclose this now at the time at this time so we can uh be sure that we have a quorum present for the review of the item counc Safford um unfortunately I I cannot participate in public hearing a my wife actually owns a week there in the time share thank you so Florida law requires that you would file a copy of form 8B I think that's been provided to you and you have um presented that to the clerk for filing um I have any other member have a conflict counc Woodson I have no conflicts Place matter none Council k so we do have a present a quorum present and we can proceed with our public hearings and at this time if there is anyone in the public that would like to provide testimony we would like to go ahead and administer an oath to everyone so if you would please stand raise your right hand and the clerk will administer the oath aot of people that would include the public comment in case you didn't hear that includes public comment so okay uh do you swear or affirm that the testimony that you are about to give is the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth theyve all been sworn so when you come to present your comments just indicate for the record whether or not you were um part of the group that was sworn in okay this is our the First quas Judicial item is a resolution of the Town Council of the town of Fort Meers Beach Florida approving approving with conditions of denying a special exception sez 202 4194 to allow restoration of a pool pool deck two cheeky Huts shuffle board area and fence in the EC zoning District as authorized by section 6- 366 of the town of Fort Meers Beach Land Development code for the property located at 4950 and 4952 Estero Boulevard providing for scri res erors severability and an effective date if any Town Council memb has had any expart communic a to disclose please let us know the subject discussed and the identity of the person group or entity with whom the communication took place any correspondence that you received or observations made of the site John I have none uh W maral I do not have any have none counc s I've not mind sorry moving on Judith Frankl has been qualified as an expert already by This Town Council based on her education and experience and has been accepted as an expert in the field of land use planning and development at the town of Fort Meers Beach are there any other individ individuals who would like to be qualified as an expert witness on behalf of the applicant at this time anyone here from that I think he CH you've already been yeah I have okay anyone that other than Jim has all right has the property owner seen a copy of the agenda backup materials from staff yes okay go ahead good morning uh Judith Franco um the applicant is proposing to restore to pre hurricane Ian conditions several recreational elements that are partially or wholly within the environmentally critical zoning District including a swimming pool pool deck two chicky Huts a shuffle board area and fencing along an existing retaining wall at the property um the applicant is here and has a presentation to make to you um that is complete I'll come back and review the criteria that's provided to us on the code and the conditions that the staff is recommending okay thank you good morning Council staff for the record J Ink Inc engineering I'm here on behalf of Kula Beach Club this is a very We Believe straightforward application of a special exception in that Kua Beach Club is an older condominium time share that was constructed before the uh incorporation of the town and as such part of the zoning and C plan is in an environmental critical area that was previously developed so what we're asking for today is to restore those items with plan or modifications we went before the LPA on November 12th where we received unanimous recommendation before the council the team members owner developer of Kua Beach Club condo time share um we do have Representatives here of of that area I am here as planning and Engineering uh the architecture is Albert damrose of Studio ad he is not present today and the contractor is enir struct which is on site doing permitted renovations right now outside of this request what we're asking for today is a special exception for the restoration of the swimming pool shuffle board area two chicky Huts P pool deck and fences along the existing seaw wall portion which are in the environmental critical zoning District what this will do will allow us to put back what we had with some minor uh geometric differences the pools a little bit narrower a little bit longer The Cheeky huts on the North End are a little bit uh different configuration due to the fact that the pool equipment that used to be there is being relocated farther landward outside of the of the EC District so this would allow us to put back what we we had and improve it a little bit to uh make it more functional location is 4950 esto Boulevard it's 3/4 of an acre of which about a half an acre is in the Uplands and a quarter acre is in the EC District it's uh and also in the recreational future land use we do have a pending development order that's in staff you we've gone through the first round of comments and have resubmitted for that we have a repair building permit that is underway right now that's under construction for inside the existing building there is a pending uh pool permit that is in review and we've also submitted to the Coastal Construction line beaches and Shores program with d the way the the system works is we need the special exception approved so that the town can issue the setback variance letter that then we can send to Tallahassee and finish the Tallahassee part of the permit and also the special exception will allow the do with the building permit to to move forward in in regular order future land use as it shows is mixed residential which is uh consistent with up and down a stero Boulevard there is single family across the street we're not asking for any uh ch change in density intensity improvements uh it look exactly the same from the front of the building uh to what it looked like PR here's a a picture on the on the left is a preum picture you can see the uh two chiy Huts the swimming pool uh the shuffle board court is on the right hand side of the picture and then the proposed that shows the cheeky Huts in the same we've gone to one shelf aboard Court the northern which is at the bottom cheeky Hut is being changed from an l-shape to a more rectangular um minor square footage increasement there the pool's a little narrower uh code required items are being enforced and we're also able to make it a little narrow a little longer to have actual Beach shares up on the pool deck uh which were not really available in the old style so we're just kind of updating the pl some all the setbacks stay the same prean all the intensity stay the same pre this shows the the L-shaped cheeky Hut and you can see the the white structure there is the pool equipment that is being relocated back closer to the parking lot uh with the the same pool equipment for the existing Spa which is outside of the uh environmental critical area the conditions that staff uh has proposed uh we're in agreement with the special exception is to put back what we have should an unfortunate event happen and something gets destroyed we would be back here again having the same conversation this is a a one-time good use and if any changes come we have to come back here uh the special exception does not guarantee that we can get our development order we still have to meet all the Land Development codee and comprehensive plan requirements we have to receive all the state and local permits any violation will if there's a code violation that's found to be legitimate that would eliminate the special exception and the applicant must uh obtain a lighting plan and a landscape plan which are part of the development order moving forward so we meet all the criteria of the requested conditions of staff the approval criteria out of the Land Development code is we have to be consistent with the comprehensive plan which we are is this is just minor changes we're not changing any density intensity height any any conditions of that we have to meet chapter 34 of zoning which allows us to put back what we had using this special exception process and we have to meet all the other town ordinates and the codes and we believe we do and it's in my Prof professional opinion as a competent qualified expert that this application is proposed should be found consistent with the comprehens plan and Land Development code and we request that Council find approval of this application with that questions of councel council Safford questions heus maybe I should start drinking coffee CER Woodson so this is strictly putting back what you had before um with improvements and up to specific codes correct correct okay and you're doing it obviously without not in Turtle season not in Bird Season anything like that we have to beat all the effable turtles and lights and everything to to put things back yes okay all right thank you VI M I thought the LPA did a nice job of vetting this I don't have any additional questions Council King Jim um you do say that this is putting back what it was but you're asking for a little bit more you've kind of touched on it can you just clarify for me again what the additions you're asking for the additions is the the pool is actually got a smaller square footage Edition by the way it worked out it's a little bit bigger water surface area and the northern chicky Hut by going to a rectangular even though it's less lengthwise it got a little wider and there's a very small increase in square footage okay thank you and I don't have any questions for okay all right would like to reserve the right to come back after staff if and public if need be I suppose hi um based on the what we've reviewed so far we think the chicky that they're proposing to change it'll be about 50 square feet bigger so not very much um and the pool was previously kind of on a diagonal for some reason and they're kind of squaring it up um it may be slightly larger um but really that's a a result of making it you know parallel to the the beach run um okay so as promised I going to go over the um criteria for approval that's found in Land Development code section 34- 88b um there are six of these the first whether there exist change or changing conditions that make approval of the request appropriate um the recreation elements in EC were damaged or destroyed during Hurricane Ian that is the the condition um Construction in the EC zone is likely to be damaged by storm surge in the future um um criteria two whether the request is consistent with the goals objective policies and intent of the fort Meers Beach Comprehensive plan um we believe that it is the proposed work scope for the special exemption is to restore the recreation elements to pre hurricane Ian conditions with slight modifications uh the retaining wall itself will not be removed replaced or altered in any fashion um per the applicant number three whether the request meets or exceeds all performance and locational standards for the proposed use the request will comply as the applicant stated with local state and federal air noise water and pollution standards um and will not adversely affect water quality and will not create a nuisance to the adjacent properties as all of these elements were um previously in existence uh whether the request will protect conserve or preserve environmentally critical areas and natural resources um the request will maintain essentially what was there previously um with no add impact um number five whether the request will be compatible with existing or planned uses and not cause damage Hazard nuisance or other detriment to persons of property um there's no anticipated negative impact or injury to surrounding properties um by the proposed uh activities um number six whether a requested use will be in compliance with the applicable General zoning provisions and supplemental regulations set forth in chapter 34 of the Land Development code um the EC zoning District allows only passive movable structures no new major structures um except for through the process of special exception which is what we're going through now um and again there's a specific reference to existing seaw walls and retaining walls but that's not um being reviewed here today so with taking all of that into consideration um staff recommends approval with conditions the following conditions um just for the record again um a new special exception must be applied for each time the structures are reconstructed approval of the special exception does not give the applicant undeniable right to permit approval they will have to go through all of the um uh steps that the applicant laid out the development order and then permitting um through us as well as the state um the applicant must apply for and receive all state and local permits required for the Reconstruction again like the applicant said they're waiting on their approval here before getting their permit from the state um any violation of the conditions of approval shall render the special exception Nolan void the applicant must obtain an approved lighting plan um and a landscaping plan um before approval of the project and I'm here for any questions you may have John any questions for Judith sorry I had to uh no thank you vice mayor no I do not have any as well no never mind almost got it almost got it all right thank you all right public comment are there any members of the public who wish to comment on this matter if so please come forward to the podium and identify yourself provide an address and whether you were sworn in do you have anyone is there anyone in the public that would like to speak no okay we will close public comment are there any additional comments rebuttal or closing statements from the applicant for the record Again Jim M I just want to thank Council for their wise determination in this matter I will now close the public hearing a requesting a discussion or motion from Town Council to approve approve with conditions or deny with reasons or a continuance to a Time certain discussion or motion John any any discussion no discussion Mr mayor I'll move approval of resolution 24285 motion by the vice mayor I'll second second by councelor Woodson any further discussion uh vice mayor I counc Woodson I Council King I I'm I as well that motion carries unanimously oh and councelor Safford abstain all right this the next hearing is the first reading in public public hearing of an ordinance entitled an ordinance of the town of Fort Myers Beach Florida approving approving with conditions denying the commercial plan development CPD Zoning for the property located at 2310 Estero Boulevard and 2316 2320 Estero Boulevard generally identified as strap numbers 1946 d24 dw3 D430 n.1 and 19-14 d24 dw3 43.00 CE and 19464 w3011 0.0010 Fort Meers Beach commonly known as the Neptune resort to allow 148 lodging units and accessory retail and recreational uses providing for other clarifications as necessary providing for conflicts of law scrier errors severability and providing for an infected date will now open the first public hearing oh hang I got oh got my cheat sheet here before you do Mr may there's a seat that opened up in the front row there in the corner if somebody wants to SN tries to be crazy when that's just sitting EMP empty so if anybody wants to sit down there's an empty spot right there Sarah pro has been qualified as an expert already by This Town Council and based on her education and experience has been accepted as an expert in the field of land use planning and development in the town of Fort Meers Beach are there any other individuals who would like to be qualified as an expert witness on behalf of the applicant at this time yes sir I believe you've already you already have you both have is that okay for you Nancy yes sir okay as a property owner applicant seen a copy of the agenda backup materials from staff yes they are nodding their hair yes okay X part did I miss that one oh yes if any Town council member has any expart communication to disclose please just let please let us know the subject discussed and the identity of the person group or entity with whom the communication took place any correspondence that you received or observations made of the site John it's probably on mute okay we'll go to councelor sa I had a meeting um with the applicant in neighborhood company about two months ago Diamond Head for about an hour okay CC Woodson I've had meetings with the applicant I've had some emails on it um and I know property VI mayle the same as councelor Woodson uh councelor King yes I apologize the mute is very touchy um I will ditto councelor Woodson and councelor vice mayor adal I as well have had the same meetings with at Diamond Head with the Development Group over the last over many months and received emails obviously forign mayor before we get started I do see that um the Neptune's attorney is here here Mr Davies um did you want to ask Council any questions regarding their disclosures no okay thank you okay good morning Sarah post with Community Development I'm going to do a brief overview because I'm sure the applicant has um uh a presentation for us the neighborhood company on behalf of chg Neptune acquisition LLC owners of 2310 and 2316 2320 EST stero Boulevard have applied for a commercial plan development rezoning the property is currently zoned commercial Resort and is in the boulevard future land use the applicant is requesting a CPD with seven deviations to allow a Redevelopment of a resort with 148 lodging units and accessory retail use and recreational uses the request includes the following deviations from the LDC relief from section 10- 285 table 10-2 connection separation which requires a 250t separation between cross streets and accessways in order to allow driveway separation uh that is depicted on the master concept plan relief from section 10-46 C2 Landscaping of parking and vehicular use areas uh which has specific tree and Landscape Island Dimensions they are proposing an alternative landscape betterment plan to allow for uh their Landscaping that they're proposing relief from section 34 1804a and section 34-22 which regulates parking for hotels and motels and other accessory uses to reduce uh parking requirements as justified by the Project's uh parking analysis uh relief from 34- 633 which includes covered parking in the floor area ratio calculation they're asking to exclude two stories of underbuilding parking from the hotel's uh floor area ratio calculation from division 4 table 34-3 for the CR zoning District which limits height to 30t of Zone height and three stories to allow a maximum Zone height of 51 feet actually I think I did not update this I believe it's a little bit taller than that at a maximum of six stories consistent uh consisting of four stories above two levels of parking relief from 34803 A1 which allows the convers dwelling units to hotel motel guest units for established equivalency factors in order to exceed those equivalency factors uh in 34803 to have an equivalency factor of 6.2 resulting in a maximum of 148 res Resort Hotel units relief from 34-6 45b and table 34-3 which allows for a floor area ratio maximum of 1.2 within the commercial Resort zoning District to allow for a floor area ratio of 1.5 uh the LPA heard this request on November 12th and voted unanimously for approval this is the first Town Council hearing staff has included eight conditions in the staff report if the Town Council chooses to recommend approval we would recommend those conditions additional I'm available for any questions you may have okay councelor Safford questions for Sarah not at this time Woodson not at this time councelor King not at this time as well have quite yet thanks the applicant would you like the applicant like to come up sir thank you mayor good morning Council nol Davies with the law firm of Davies Duke on behalf of the applicant chg Neptune Acquisitions LLC the full project team is here with me today Adam Valente is our client representative Pat Vass and Ken Gander are here from the neighborhood company Ted TR is our transportation engineer and Jr Evans is our civil engineer this is a rezoning request to commercial plan development CPD from commercial Resort CR it is not a comprehensive plan Amendment and the resort use is a permitted use by right today under the CR zoning our client purchased this propert property in September of 2021 so they owned and operated it for approximately a year prior to Ian they suffered catastrophic damage during Ian then diligently followed the town's resoning process including the required pre-application meeting community outreach meetings and working closely with the town staff on the application for resoning your LPA heard this item last month and issued a unanimous recommendation of approval and with that I'm going to turn it over to Patrick Bess I will remain available for your questions any time or at the conclusion of applicant's presentation thank you very much thank you Patrick do you need a cart yes K the tree Jim had a lot I am love love hard topics prepared um good morning uh for the record my name is is Patrick vaness I'm a certified planner with the neighborhood company I am also a 20 plus year resident of Fort Myers Beach and uh love this island and love this community um before I get started um I do want to acknowledge that uh we went before the LPA a month ago we did provide a detailed presentation um we do want to enter our presentation if the record today but we will keep it briefer uh we know there's a lot of people here to speak on these petitions hopefully we are not the headliners today we are just the supporting act and we'll try to keep it uh brief for you we'll go through those slides quickly but if you have any questions or if you want us to go deeper into any of the topics on the slide we'll be happy to do so at the end of the presentation so um that being said I'll jump right into it to give you a little background about uh Neptune Inn it was built in the 1960s it was a classical Motor Inn it catered to uh families and longer stays everybody that's lived here for a while knows that the Neptune was a beloved institution on this island and that generation upon generation visited uh every year and and love that Resort um the applicant today Continental Hospitality bought the property about a year before Ian uh their intent was not to buy this property tear it down redevelop um it was a great asset in their portfolio performed well the intent was to uh upkeep the the the facility make some small upgrades perhaps uh introduce some uh food and beverage service but to keep it the way it was and then obviously we know with um Ian it was devastated like many of our homes and they had to go through the uh rebuil process reimagining what this uh Resort could be so on the next slide what we have here is an aerial of uh the Neptune before Ian and as you you can see it um uh comprised of uh three main buildings and those buildings vary in height uh between two stories above grade to three stories above grade uh there were two pools at the center of the property the parking was mostly also internal to the property uh also uh these buildings were pushed to the perimeter uh there was no setbacks to to the adjoining properties and also the buildings extended beyond the co Coastal Construction Control line and more essentially non-conforming buildings um so following Ian uh obviously um the applicant put together team and had to reimagine the future of the Neptune um they set forward understanding that the Neptune would never be what it was before uh because of today's regulations uh standards uh for the building code insurance requirements we all understand that buildings are going to have to be taller bigger and stronger uh also what's important to understand is that not only do our buildings have to be resilient from a a hardening standpoint but we need resilient businesses and resilient projects meaning that financially they have to be strong they have to be successful for decades to and that is what br here today because we are asking for more uh density on the property and a little more height and that is needed to make the project feasible so um as the project team embarked on reimagining the future for the Neptune uh some of the key Concepts and key components were U making sure that uh the guest experience remained a priority and that they maintain that family orientation and cater to longer St also the idea was to be a partner in the Redevelopment of this community um to open up the resort um this Resort will have food and beverage on site and to make sure that um that the the resort is open to Residents and uh guests on the island and that they are part of the Redevelopment and provide some public benefits as they redevelop uh from a design standpoint uh they wanted to create a Timeless resort with great architecture and also to uh honor kind of the the past and the way the Neptune looked like but to provide something modern and contemporary and to provide amenities that today's consumer want uh as part of going to Resort um on for Mar uh last but not least uh again the project had to be financially feasible and had to work for decades to come um so as mentioned um some of the key points that that we are here to discuss today is height uh density in public benefits uh from a height standpoint uh as mentioned at the LPA I think I've seen a shift on this island uh especially after Ian that there's an understand that we will need more height to redevelop these uh properties uh but also that height can provide some benefits and that one applied in the right context at the right place uh it makes sense so um we will be happy to discuss this and and answer any of your questions related to height we think what we are asking for is reasonable uh we are asking for four uh usable floors uh over parking for a total of six floors again within the context of where this is located within the design with the adjacent properties we think it's a very reasonable ask and again we are trying to balance this idea of uh providing view corridors and more open space and providing reasonable height we could have increased those view corridors but that would have meant that we would have had T so Patrick I'm getting a could you pull your mic down a little bit if somebody just text me they can't hear you very well no problem okay there you go I'll get a little closer um I think the other issue of importance is density uh this property prior to Ian had 71 U guest units and we are requesting 148 units um I also want to mention that we do keep an eye on social media and uh things that are discussed uh so I want to do I want to address something that came up with regards to uh our application and as part of our application we do um compare our density request with uh Margaritaville and Margaritaville is a benchmark that everybody is aware of and that's why we did it and we talked about our equivalency ratio compared to margel we are asking for an equivalency ratio of 6.2 and margel uh obtain approval for an equivalency ratio of 9.1 um I think there's a little Mis understanding as to how marville obtained their uh lodging density so I'll uh go into this so I think most people look at it where marille obtained three times the lodging density that they would have been allowed by right um but that's not really how the equivalency ratio works so the equivalency ratio is a multiplier it's a conversion of residential density to lodging units so you have to go back and look at how many residential units would be allowed on that property so in the case of margar bille they were allowed 28 residential units on that property our code currently has a table in there that depending what future land use category you're in you can U have a multiplier and you can convert that residential density into lodging density in the case of margaretville they qualified for that highest conversion ratio of a 3.0 so they went from 28 residential units you apply the three times three they get 84 lodging units by R okay obviously 84 lodging units for margaretville was not feasible they just couldn't build the resort with 84 units so they came in for a plan development and that's how you ask for more density and through that process they asked for three times the 84 okay so 84 * 3 leads us to the 254 units that were approved so I think the misconception is yes they obtain they obtained three times what they could have gotten by right but there was already a multiplier built in there so three * 3 n that's why the equivalency ratio is mentioned in our in our narrative was a 99.1 and in comparison to them we are asking for 6.2 we have a smaller property we understand that um it's a different time different context we believe that we what we are asking with this equivalency ratio is reasonable it is Justified it is needed to rebuild uh the desired Resort um and also uh that to public benefit uh obviously when asking for more height and more density we have to demonstrate public benefit except and exceptional circumstances I think we'll all agree that we understand why we are under exceptional circumstances following these hurricanes and what you'll see in our presentation is we are providing a basket of public benefits uh We've also listened to the discussions that you've had with the LPA about benefits we fully acknowledge and understand that uh public benefits are subjective uh what might be an important benefit to one person may not be to another we understand that uh what we have provided is is a list a long list of benefits some people have said well some of those benefits you have to do by today's code we agree um and if you feel need to Discount those benefits you can do so what we're asking you to do is to look at the entire basket and say the benefit that we are receiving uh from this uh proposal is it commensurate with their ask uh does it justify the additional height and the additional density and we certainly believe so and we're we're happy to to talk about those benefits I don't think we we necessarily want to argue as that if one benefit carries more weight and another but but we do see that the entire basket um to us justifies what we're asking for a few other things that we'd like you to keep in mind as we go through this presentation is that these owners are existing owners so these are not speculators that came in after the hurricane and now are looking for a certain density to justify what the they paid for the property um they're also uh taking a very big risk on this Redevelopment uh Development Across the board carries an inherent risk we all understand that uh it's not easy uh and if it was everybody would be doing it and uh you have developers going bankrupt every year but it's especially challenging and risky for a hotel owner because when you develop a hotel once you break ground you have to complete that Resort 100% And all the money has to come up front when you're doing residential development you can phas it you can do pre-sales and then move forward with development so this um this property owner is taking a big risk on our community they're making a big bet and I for one really appreciate their investment in our community and and uh hope it'll be very successful for years to come um also in light of Helen and Milton um I I really think that we need to start having a discussion as a community with regards to islandwide uh resilient res resiliency Investments um it's one thing to harden individual buildings to build our homes bigger and stronger I get it but we we we really need to start looking at some measures islandwide that will make us more resilient and um be able to weather the storms into the future uh there are numerous Solutions I'm not an engineer but there are solutions for those things what I do know is that any of those Solutions will be very costly um so my personal belief is that we need to be resilient and strong financially as a community to address that challenge uh and that we need to rebuild our tax base and we need to bring back our tourism industry in order to be able to meet those challenges um and last but not least I'd like to address some of the this discourse with regards to um our public services our level of service our capacity to accept uh government and I just want to point out that there has been no substantial andc competent evidence provided within any of the hearings that I've heard since since Ian saying that we do not have the capacity to welcome that development to the contrary every time the utility providers have been asked if they have sufficient capacity the answer was a resounding yes um the other big isue always comes up and everybody's favorite issue on this island is traffic and again I'm not going to go into technical details but I I think as I've explained uh at the LPA um intuitively we we can make some assessments with regards to traffic um we all know and I've been here 20 years and traffic and season has been an issue since I've been and the Chamber has articles that back in the 30s it would take an hour to get off Island during season so we know there was traffic there will continue to be traffic what I do really like is that I've seen the needle move where we are having discussions about mitigation we're having discussions about alternative modes we're having discussion about fairies um ride sharing and we are trying to find Solutions and measures to mitigate for that traffic so I think we are having the right discussions that's what we need to do we will have congestion and we are finding ways to mitigate forward um the other thing that I want to point out is last season we had significant traffic the majority of the units residential units and certainly Hotel were not back online and we still had a lot of congestion okay so the only thing I want to point out is and and I fully agree that more units lead to more traffic they do generate some traffic but there is not a direct correlation between a unit and the and the congestion and the way we experience that congestion okay there are other outside factors there are a lot of day trips there are a lot of snowbirds that come to town and the congestion that we experience is not all due to uh units on this so please keep that M so with that said uh I'll turn things over to uh my partner Ken and I will be back to talk about some of these public benefits and the commitments that uh the applicant is willing to make and the economic impacts anticipated from this project thank you p didn't waiting Pati how do we get a cop of this good morning mayor uh Town Council and it's good to hear at least coun King's voice a god level kind of thing you know but now we got to listen to this um so just saying again for the record I'm Ken Gander with the neighborhood compan uh certified planner and I've previously been recognized as an expert uh thank you Patrick for that the overview of the project I am going to have the opportunity now to drill down a little bit I start seeing eyes getting glossed over I will start Expediting the presentation but uh bear with me as we walk through this um again the subject property is three Parcels uh there are 25 under pled lots that are associated with uh the Neptune property as Sarah pointed out we are in the Boulevard and Commercial Resort which uh as no mentioned the commercial Resort a hotel of this uh Redevelopment opportunity is by right but through the resoning process of going from commercial resort to commercial plan development uh helps us utilize the opportunities through the plan development for that flexibility and seeking those deviations that Sarah pointed out uh the seven uh again it's 148 unit resort with a restaurant T bar that is open to the public and various recreational retail uses uh just to start out for Expediting the presentation we feel we're consistent with the comprehensive plan the L development code specifically LDC section 34- 85b and c and section 34 which again allows us to uh and the LDC allows us to request this resoning through the commercial plan development in order for us to build that uh better stronger uh project and as Patrick mentioned which will'll be going in more detail on is that basket of benefits to the town the subject site is within a a quick walking distance from where we're sitting right now it's just uh uh obviously along a sterile Boulevard uh just down the road from Diamond Head U we are in the heart of the island uh under your conference plan um um which promotes that mix of uses to serve the residents and the visitors here that transitional zone between that core area uh the more active festive downtown area and Quiet Center and promoting that walkability uh easy to walk and bike from this point down to Time Square Andor down from the uh new residential areas up to this property uh and our relation to other Resorts and commercial recreation areas The Bays here uh you have the Diamond Head Resort and the futurist Aro Island beach club that is working on Redevelopment as well and then we also have the neighborhood commercial each uh uses that are within this area looking at the complimentary and compatible uh design of what we're looking at and as Patrick mentioned we were looking at a elimination and reduction of nonconformities that have existed with the prior Neptune uh through increase setbacks buffers we're enhancing landscaping and we feel that the team very diligently of Designing through architectural a very uh exceptional uh product uh has been voiced to us through our community meetings and whatnot uh that what we're presenting is appropriate in the context through our height scale enabling us to provide those corridors pedestrian amenities and focusing on that family oriented vision of continuing what previous Neptune had and all this is needing to be feasible under all the new regulatory or the applicable regulatory resilience and economic factors that we uh facing today this is our Master concept plan uh just briefly uh some key aspects of the design obviously we've got a very unique shaped lot or parcel so the orientation of the project is consistent with how Neptune was before but have those increased setbacks we have uh the setting back off of an outside landord of the 78 cccl line the area to the South is the amenity area where the pool is located the dark shape box and hatched area that's the footprint of the Neptune structure uh the access to the project is three-fold there's two entrances access points off of the sterile bouevard we have a right in right out left in only the main one in the middle of the neur stero Boulevard farther to the east is a right in right out only and that is designed due to the fact of how the lane configuration is for the transit stops and so that's the design that was developed there's also an ESS out of the parking garage uh on onto delmare and that provides uh the left turn to the left or to the West onto a sterile Boulevard Ken can you move the microphone closer sure still time okay thank you can do is that better um also a aspect of our access point is to ensure that any movements into the property are not impeded uh we evolved the design a little bit but the main entrance uh on the western end of a stero Boulevard that provides for that direct movement into the property and straight into the parking lot there's no impeding uh areas for cars to stop and those can travel well into uh the parking area this is our part of our Master concept plan the parking uh what we this is the first floor or first level or the ground level of our par parking garage a component of that as well is the contributing to uh our multimodal uh there'll be bicycle parking throughout the uh project but we have have a dedicated rental facility uh within the development as well as golf cart parking they will have a designated area uh for those golf carts also along Aero Boulevard or delmare uh we have those 16 uh public parking spaces uh that we are providing what I'm going to do now is unfortunately uh our architect was unable to participate today uh so I'm going to walk us through some of the renderings and the effort that uh our team developed uh to come up with uh the current concept design for the Neptune this is a aial view it's the same Arrow of view that if you can recall back to the prean photograph but the vision and what was established was to ensure that character could be maintained as best we can uh but realizing that new development is necessary based on the regulatory framework that we're dealing with but have a uh development that can sustain another and be resilient for another 50 plus years again the design is to en enable or promote that Family Focus that character in the context of where we are within the heart of the island um we realize that it is a bit of a taller building but I think this visualization you can see how it is in our opinion fits within that context this is a view uh from estera Boulevard uh from the northwest best um and I think a few aspects that we just want to point out is mainly four things is the variation of the facade and the providing for that in uh undulation of the walls and it's just not a massing of a singular wall utilizing different materials uh different colors uh using different uh aspects of the windows the balconies Etc and also a component is uh the activity from uh the ground floor into the public rideway or that public realm providing uh easily opportunities for the public to come and go uh the area under the uh turquoise or the more green area that is where the main entrance uh it's a jump Lobby that takes you or the lobby will take you up to the jump Lobby level um again the detail on the architecture uh the balconies the colors the different materials that are being utilized I did it this is just a view uh elevated uh the same uh aspect from the Northwest this does provide you context of the delmare beach access and the right of way uh see some of the uh public parking uh that is uh will be portion of our property uh uh donated uh bicycle parking you can sort of see down on the end and I'll recognize this in some other renderings uh where the public can access uh to the restaurant uh and the tiki bar area on the back side towards the end of delmare this is a view at the lower level uh providing for seeing the aspects of the view corridor along that side this is the East Side uh The View Corridor uh components of this uh needs to be understood as the process is going through the months of review and uh months of uh Community input that we got uh the east side was uh to provide for another beach access point and some emergency access but uh speaking with neighbors uh we wanted to uh listen to them and they were uh desirable to not have any other week's access but to try and promote uh the public to utilize the other side so this is a secured area but is uh designed for to meet the intent of the view corridor uh this side is uh approximately 25 ft wide uh the Landscaping will be appropriately designed and located is to reduce the the impacts to the view from the public realm and um again you can see uh the extensive different material types the different uh architectural elements here as well this is a view uh at the second level looking out towards the gulf uh this area is deck area this is looking from obviously the Gulf side or the beach side uh you can see uh to the left of the image is the restaurant which will be accessible by the public series of stairs and appropriate means of uh ability for the public to get up to that level uh and to enjoy that aspect of the property uh as well obviously the pool area amenity additionally this is a more direct view I think an aspect of this is the utilization of the u-shaped which is consistent with how Neptune was before but it provides that context of not being an obtrusive and massing of a building having that portion in the middle set back uh lends that element to it and through again those backs that we're providing provides uh even our neighbors an additional view U of the gulf that they weren't able to have before with the existing U Neptune moving into uh height as Patrick mentioned before uh and believe Sarah spoke to our deviation and what we're referencing here is a zoned height of uh to the midpoint of the main roof and under our our justification of our deviation we were utilizing that as a uh component of an appropriate uh element and aspect to measure your Zone height however the strict reading of the code uh states to the midpoint of the highest roof so what we're providing here is the midpoint to the tower element which is mainly an architectural uh feature to provide for that varied roof line that varied height uh which is a very uh appropriate element that we feel is uh necessary but that shows a to the midpoint around 60 feet 6 in so in our deviation and working with staff uh we are uh willing and uh see the appropriateness of asking for that 61 ft uh as the deviation rather than the 51 to the midpoint of that Main structure Ken on this here you've got 70 feet 7 in overall height above grade in your packet you've got it at 78 ft 11 inches that overall height which one is it uh we I believe it it is the 70 feet 7 in so are you reading from our narrative yes mayor okay yeah we may have missed that in our narrative as we were going through more of our recent uh iterations of our Concepts Okay so 70 is the overall not the 70 so overall 70t 7 in okay zon height we asking through our deviation that's 61 ft uh with looking at the other structures in close proximity to the Neptune we have a variety of developments that vary in Heights from you know Diamond Head is 130 to 140 feet we obviously don't have the exact exact dimensions have surf song 50 to fet Pelican watch 70 to 80 feet tropical Shores I think you understand that uh we're consistent with what is surrounding us and our height again enables us to provide for that varied roof line that building aesthetic uh we are needing to go through the the habital floors above that designed flood elevation and moving us out of the construction postal Construction Control line and our setbacks as Patrick mentioned that uh really requires us go squeeze us then we got go a little higher and that also provides us those benefits of the view corridors again on an East and West uh sides and again it allows for that area forew real quick start interrupt again is it common to use Town RightWay delmare the 50 ft as a benefit of a view corridor if you don't own it we can we're recognizing that we are wanting to acknowledge that of that total 70 ft that's the right of way so that is we understand that that will never be should never be developed upon and never impeded for that view but through the added 20 ft we're just enhancing that ability for what that that view is from the public rideway as a beach access to the water going into density intensity again Patrick uh spoke to this I want to just take us down uh a little bit of Avenue and sure may have further questions on this and this falls back into what I mentioned before at the beginning the 24 platted lots equ equates to 24 dwelling units by right which can then be converted to your lodging units up to uh the ratio applicable to us of the 2.5 and these can be exceeded again through the plan development process based on the exceptional circumstances and the uh benefits associated with such and through that it achieves our 148 lodging units that equivalency factor of 6.2 per our deviation uh 24 by right time 6.2 uh the requested equivalency Factor equals 148 going into F uh our by right uh under the uh zoning Sarah mentioned is 1.2 the boulevard uh future land use category allows us to uh achieve up to 1.5 as part of our plan development uh which would an F of 1.5 would allow us to have 131,000 334 square feet of building area uh just in context The Pedestrian commercial which is really just a few hundred feet to our West uh allows an F of 2.5 uh our current square footage uh for our design and recognizing the deviation of excluding the uh parking deck is 129,90 so again our request is for 1.5 that just provides us that leeway and achieves that maximum lout under your comprehensive plan and Ken you you did mention that you one of the deviations is to deviate from the F calculation what is the calculation of the building including the parking if we were to our estimates uh we're looking at around a 2.5 so that would be roughly how many square feet compared to 22 back one yeah I'm trying pushing the buttonology so the one the 129 925 is not including the parking correct that's that's in consistent with our requested deviation and you you your guesstimate is that it would go to 250,000 26,000 so an extra roughly 100,000 fet for the park yes and you think it's 2.5 is where you would be 2.5 is yeah uh TI uh sterile Boulevard and it's all laid out in the details of our submitt uh stero Boulevard is a designated constrained Transportation facility in prior to Hurricane Eno's over capacity speaking directly from uh the report and it is uh the resoning of the project will not Place further undue burden on the adjacent roadway Network parking we to based on our analysis the application of the LDC standards uh was 21 bases uh staff uh through their analysis has 220 we are providing 164 spaces uh through uh this is a reduction from the r 2011 me at 22% uh as you know town has uh within different areas uh different levels of uh parking reductions anywhere from 100% to 33% uh recognizing that it's uh we want to not necessarily overpark uh we feel that this is appropriate and through our deviation uh we wanted to further analyze the parking and we did an independent parking analysis and through that study which is uh relevant to uh more recent data uh applying shared parking uh applying other uh factors uh the PE the peak hour need for this Resort uh concluded that we would need 103 spaces again we're providing 164 that is inclusive of a managed uh V valet service so if we were to not have that valet service we believe we would still be providing more than an adequate uh number of parking spaces based on our analysis of relevant data from today in relation to traffic and parking I think it's uh important as Patrick mentioned to reiterate our effort uh we're providing bicycle parking uh even though we can only uh count one four rack as a one reduction in vehicle parking spaces we are providing 32 spaces uh throughout the site with that on-site rental opportunity again golf cart parking designated area for those within the property we're adjacent to two uh trolley and Tra stops and we're integrating as part of our uh concept multiple uh pedestrian access points from a stab Boulevard into the project uh other mitigation uh unlike what Neptune had before and what they're seeking to provide in terms of those new amenities is we're going to have dining opportunities on the project before people would have to leave travel up and down as to uh through this uh providing for that amenity on site people can stay they can just enjoy a meal on site without having to travel unlike what they did before we're obviously committed to work with the town on a comprehensive Transportation parking and mitigation and contribute to any agreed upon uh fair share program uh this is consistent with the don't rent don't rent a car or the dra program uh looking into a shuttle service uh to the airport uh Park and Ride lot uh contribution and something that we uh we learned uh from the LPA meeting uh Pink Shell is doing is looking at this fott uh lran the commute connect program I think that's something that we would uh be willing to look into as well again as part of your comprehensive plan the vision is to provide for a water Ferry taxi service and then offsite parking availability systems that everybody knows where they can park uh more easily so with that I'm gonna give it back over to Patrick and he's gonna take us through our basket of suit as we go through these Patrick if anybody has any questions just for the sake of time since you're going to be going through them now we'll make comments if everyone's okay with that these want to do now well as he's going through it instead of going back and asking again later that's fine you okay with that John you okay with it mute yes sir okay as mentioned uh we understand that uh public benefits special benefits amenities and economic benefits again will carry different way for different folks uh we've got our long list I'm going to go I'm not going to go through every single one of them uh obviously first one on the list the sit down restaurant that's been hly debated is a restaurant a benefit for some people on the south of the island it definitely is for me personally it definitely is but for for others it may not be uh we talked about the view corridors we talked about enhancing the beach access um since the mayor asked just to ask questions for this I've got a few on the restaurant how many seat restaurant is the let me turn to just park the ownership here ad you gotta come up Adam you'd have to come up if you're gonna I'll let him answer morning everybody good morning good to see you again uh still work sorry Adam Valente Continental Hospitality Group NE Resort I've been SW in uh still working through plans of course but uh anticipating between indoor and outdoor 150 or so to include bar and restaurant probably even a little more once we really use all the outdoor space efficiently prudently so so since you're here Adam and I I know the picture is not up but I think people have seen enough of them in terms of to get a a view of what you're what we're looking about or talking about here so so if someone is walking down the beach and they have to use the restroom will they have the ability to go up to the restaurant and use the restroom to this point we really haven't even considered that uh typically the answer would be no um that becomes could become issues for a lot of different reasons uh but honestly haven't really thought through that as well just as you probably know there's a shortage of the ability to use a restroom on the beach not as bad on the North End as on the south end but nonetheless so if somebody's walking along there how do you differentiate us someone's going to go to your to the tiki bar or to the restaurant I mean how how do they get there from the beach then are they prevented from getting there or they no they wouldn't be prevented from getting there if uh accessing the stairs along delmare uh I don't think we quite highlighted there's a a embellished uh stair uh intentionally to create a more welcoming and uh larger access point off the the sidewalk and delmare and the parking spaces really inviting local use um but that that stair would bring access not restricted access to the restaurant and bar area so to your point on monitoring um honestly something down the line for sure we have to think through perhaps there's a team member and Personnel to help yeah I think I think about the I think about the the pinches by the Windom and I think about the Outrigger you know obviously those weren't designed to be public restrooms but in a pinch if somebody had a need there was they were able to go and navigate that nobody frisked them nobody gave them a hard time it obviously wasn't designed as a public restroom per se but it was it was user friendly to the public and I assume since folks will be walking along the beach using your restroom or your restaurant they could certainly walk up there and no one's going to check and see if they bought it I mean hopefully most folks would support your restaurant if they stopped use the restaurant but maybe they'd get a drink maybe they wouldn't but I just want to make sure that it would at least be open to the public should they just need to stop and use facility in a pinch I mean obviously you're not going to advertise it as a public restroom but when people people are going up and down that beach walking along that beach is a wonderful quality of life issue for both our residents and our visitors and to be able to have activity as opposed to a closed like some of the condos are closed you can't get in there and understandably so but on the south end there's no restrooms at all right now and even it's got all creeping down to Mid Island and even on the North End there's there's spaces there where there's just no activity so you can't there's no ability to use a restroom so if folks could leas in a pinch you don't have to advertise it you don't have to make a big deal out of it but if it was deemed user friendly to the public should they be walking by does that make sense is that it definitely makes sense and I understand the concern and the interest I mean I think the simple ideal scenario is yeah no problem come on up use the restroom uh naturally at the same time tracking sand water I mean you know we just there would be a lot of considerations notwithstanding details and everything else something on the ground level that has easier access to public that doesn't then you know bring what potentially can become problems and I'm not saying it will be a problem but um I think we just have to think through all those details and candid here today haven't haven't done that to this point hasn't been I encourage you to do that before second reading just to just to get a sense of because that's an issue uh it's an issue for private homeowners who people will use their yard or whatever their back of their homes inappropriate and out of desperation but again if there's a commercial establishment that has a public benefit and is a public access because of the restaurant Tikki bar which I think is great by the way uh I just think you know just a a user friendly sort of policy if if you will to allow folks in a pinch just like Pinchers did and Outrigger did it just adds a nice amenity to the public and in and sort of an interaction with the public the mayor talks a lot about usability and and sort of access to the public I think that that restroom piece is a nice it's just a nice piece of the puzzle again doesn't have to be something you lead with but leastly your your your policy would be that it would be user friendly to people walking up and down the beach in a in a crunch does that make sense it it does make sense and I appreciate in advance of a second reading it gives us a little bit of time and effort kind of think through a little through all right thank you Adam before you before you run off just it has nothing to do with this but it was brought up at the LPA here hearing about the current building and you had talked about your insurance company may give you an answer could you just touch on that again it has nothing to do with this I'm sorry yes could you give an update on that because you did talk about it at the LPA so we are work we're getting quotes we do not have quotes yet but we are actively uh uh we have requested quotes from a couple different contractors we are actively working to get that building down so you you did get the sorry sorry did not I was not clear yes we did get the okay so that is happening okay thank you thank you okay um jumping back in here um some of the other elements I want to point out is um we've made a great effort to uh promote um bicycle and pedestrian activity um we are going to have shade trees along the stero we are going to provide some comfort stations which will include benches and um shade areas um obviously along delmare some enhancement um one of the things that just came to mind and I did not update update my slide related to economic impacts but at the last hearing right before the hearing um Frankie was kind enough to give us uh an estimated amount per parking space that the town collects uh 16 parking spaces that will be uh provided in perpetuity to the town they bring in about $21,000 per space per year so that would be about 33 ,000 that would go to the town on a yearly basis from those parking spaces so those are before we move on on that I asked Frankie if he could get the actual I understand how they got to that calculation but to me that sounded a little high in the grand scheme of things it's it's probably not that relevant but I think just for the sake of clarity as you said if we want to look at this as an entire basket that's something that is in the basket that should be evaluated and I thought the easiest way to do that would be able to look at the waste in away property and actually C calculate a real usable site per space have you been able to do that yes sir so basically those spots on an average of 12 hours rental I understand but in real world how much have they been rented and and and basically they came out to the same calculation that was given to you Patrick of how much per space did you say 21,000 per year so you're telling me wasting away generates $21,000 per site per year on average yes sir that's the that's the only way we have to do it there's no way to assume that those lot those spots are full for that complete 12h hour period so it's in general terms you're taking that 12-hour term and that's what you're driving that price at but your calculations are assuming that they are full they are full that is correct that is correct there no way there's no way to step not an actuality we can step that back as much as you want I mean for hours I'm just trying to get real world right but I mean we can go six hours four hours whatever and that would reduce it but on average that's what we came up with all right sounds good Patrick since we're on parking yes you get you have two levels of parking correct yes on that second level how many how many spots are on the second level ballpark Ken you have any idea Ken's looking it up what do you thought about in terms of hurricanes coming yes one of the things that uh we heard uh during the joint LPA and council meeting and wean thought of is is opening the parking up uh when there's an evacuation order and letting res par there uh we are committed to doing so just with the understanding that we are held up harmless for any damages that could uh occur to the vehicles but yes we'd be happy to do so I think it would potentially be the only elevated parking on the island right um yeah maybe at that time maybe with except aside from the stackers at marville yeah and we you know we know we've got Publix and we've got CVS but again not not elevated quite enough seen for me quite so so on the parking yeah uh Kim was saying on that second level is about 60 70 spaces and so the 164 total parking spots is that right uh yes 164 though is with us using in peak season using Valley parking and and double stacking some of those and and is that parking available to anyone whether they're going to stay at the Neptune or not or do you have to be staying there or using the restaurant or how does that work well it's it's for primarily for the guest and we are going to have outside um space at grade and we are going to have those 16 spaces open to the public so I think if someone wants to come to the restaurant uh if there's overflow parking they can uh use that parking but obviously identified for the guest as a priority so so the the restaurant parking for the public would be kind of the the the surface area around the building yes the ground level surface area and also as um Adam mentioned we didn't go into detail in this presentation there's going to be a dedicated separate access for the restaurant um you know we've all been to to Hotel restaurants and sometimes it's a little intimidating if you don't stay at that hotel to go through the lobby and get through the entire uh hotel to go to the restaurant uh we want it to be welcoming and that's why there's going to be a separate access where people can walk straight down delmare go up the stairs and have access to restaurant I I think that's a greata but will that same sort of accessibility be for for people who are coming from the beach well same thing they they can come off the beach uh there will be improvements we're going to provide a shower uh some landscaping and uh people can hopefully take the sand off their feet and uh access the restaurant if they want okay thank okay uh just I could pck you back on that go ahead um Patrick I I brought up at the Joint LPA meeting um how what I think is a town benefit is possibly utilizing that parking uh for the town to uh store Vehicles there uh if if needed in an emergency now I don't want to speak for Town management but I would hope that if Poss you would get together with Town management to discuss if that is a benefit for the town and bring it back to us uh before any consideration of possible second meeting uh yes we can do that and we we definitely believe there is a benefit to it and I think we're open to that uh that discussion we'll uh talk with staff and be ready at the second hearing before you Mo can you go back are you done John do you have any other questions yet I'm good for now thank you um just in the spirit of going through the entire basket as You' referred to it there's a few things up there that I I don't necessarily personally consider a public special benefit as much as it is a requirement um you know you look at the elimination of structures beyond the 1978 Ian did that you didn't do that that's and and you're not going to be allowed to build back in that so is that really a public benefit let me touch on that okay we we just went through um Helen and Milton we have a ton of residents that chose to rebuild their ground level homes and I feel very sorry for those folks that they had to go through all of this all over again but if you do not rebuild the code and you can try to utilize the 50% rule what it's going to lead to is people's walls and concrete and Timber being somebody else's yard and possibly destroying their homes so while we have to meet code when we rebuild is it a benefit I think it's a benefit to the entire Island I think it's a benefit when m neighbor rebuilds bigger and stronger that his debris will not wind up on my property or potentially destroy other homes so I I think there's there's a benefit it's making our Island more resilient it's also increasing our tax base though there's numerous benefits yes it it's we have to do it I fully understand that and and you can you can certainly discount it if you want but is it better than it was I think the answer is yes and to me that's a benefit well I think in in fair I mean that was a lot of things did not really give an answer but to be fair I think nobody wants to Discount that is it a benefit that's that was not my intention that's not my point my point is it's a requirement and and you have stated that you can't build this back under the 50% rule so you're going to be required to build it back you're going to be required to have to take it down at some point so the elimination of the structures I understand why you listed it there but it's truly not a benefit because it's a requirement that's all I was trying to get at um the other one the elimination of nonconformities again Ian did that you didn't do that whether you build it back or you don't those non-conformities are going to be gone so is it truly a public benefit and again I'm just trying to look at the because I think you rightfully said it we should look at this in the entire basket as a an entire project right so to be able to go through these one by one does it really belong in the basket or doesn't belong in the basket is kind of what I'm trying to get at the restored D in habitat National vegetable planning that's being done by the beach re nourishment you're not necessarily doing that people did have to sign uh EAS Fair fa point and they willingly participated and they see benefits very fair point I just wanted to go through these a little by little and just State my my position on what I feel might or might not be a public benefit because to your point there's always been some discussion so I think it's important to be able when we're having a hearing like this be able to say do I feel personally that is a public benefit do I think that the community benefits from and we think those are fair comments look we we we completely understand when people provide comments about this but I think it needs to be part of the discourse I think that's why we provide it because we we just look at it from here's what we have before and here's where we're going as an island in the future is it better is there a benefit and we put it in there because we think there is but again we we fully understand that some of this is is stuff that we have to do and we also understand that some people are say oh no it's not a benefit we shouldn't even consider it but I I think it needs to be at least part of the discussion and that's why we put it so moving on any qu more questions about this slide I can move on to the next one I have I do but I have a feeling the answers are going to be the same from both sides so moving on problem um a as as mentioned uh by Ken I think there are broader um efforts being made uh from a public benefit standpoint for example uh numerous uh people are are doing their best to promotee the beach school and help enrollment so as an employer they will do the same thing educate their employees let them know that their kids can attend I think that's a benefit uh there was mentioned about enrollment going up and and what's amazing is the demographers at Lee County told us that we we would never meet our goal if we had a 10% increase in the next 10 to 15 years it it was beyond what they even projected and we increase our enrollment by 25% within one year and that's thankfully uh because of Margaritaville and because of the Town also letting their employees know that they can send the kids to school and we picked up a bunch of new kids just from one Resort and just from the town this year so when more Resorts come online I definitely expect more students at that school um so uh and and and then some of the stuff that I'll go into a little more detail is is um you know the the dra program and US wanting to be part of it and committing to that uh looking at alternative modes providing bicycles providing um golf cart parking those are all things that help mitigate Patrick you're kind to to reference the dra program and your willingness to participate do you have a sense of are you literally going to be have you talked to Adam do you are you going to be providing your your guest a credit if they don't rent a car from the airport it will be it it'll be Financial nature it might be a discount at the restaurant or it might be uh free uh rental of bicycles but there will be a monetary credit associated with it just for people who are watching are familiar with this acronym it's don't rent a car and so if you if you fly in to to to the airport here in Southwest Florida and you don't rent a car and you take an Uber or a lift or whatever then you'll be providing them some kind of a benefit or incentive not to rent a car no one's penalized if they rent a car but they're given an incentive to not rent a car is that is that fair characterization that is correct and you just don't know the details to as to what the extent of that credit will be at this point well we we know it'll be a monetary credit we do have a commitment so one of the things that we're commonly asked also is you list these benefits uh will you follow through with them what's the teeth to make sure that it happens so we have voluntary voluntarily provided a list of commitments and staff has reviewed those and we are more than happy to have those included in the ordinance and um it will be followed upon it will be transparent and we commit to implementing all those commitments including the direct program before you go on though before a potential second hearing would you be willing to I mean it it sounds great on paper and commitments is a word but there's really nothing tangible there you know when I you had made a couple ref instance to maybe it's a discount at the restaurant maybe it's 10 bucks off room whatever it might be would you be comfortable before a second reading putting some of that harder detail in there so that it be part of the ordinance so yeah when we're voting on something we're not voting on participation and efforts y we're actually voting on something that is tangible that people can see and put their fingers on and you're held accountable to it should have get approv we can do that we can uh come up with something in a little more detail because there's a couple of them on there that tie into that mhm and I don't think you're going to be getting any Christmas card from Herz anytime real soon Voice May but okay but when it comes the the traffic also I think what what's what's exciting is that uh people's habits traveling habits are changing quite a bit um younger Generations are are happy using alternative modes uh what I'm hearing from uh Hospitality folks not just Continental but other owners on the island they're saying that 10 years ago if you had 10 guests those 10 guests all had cars and what they're saying now out of 10 guests maybe five of them drive a car onto the island the other ones take Ubers or taxis so I I think we are uh seeing a shift and some changes there and the more we promote it and the more we encourage them to get on a bike or walk uh I I think we're we're mitigating for those issues and then like the bottom one there too if you can you know the town's Vision a great you know it's a bullet point but there's really no context to it right there's really nothing that's tangible that a resident could look at and say I don't know what that means so if you could expound on that maybe if it goes to the second reading to be able to give a little bit more that could be um you know you have something to be held accountable for if that's a better best way to put it but I I don't know if that one's a little nebulous I agree with you but but there's a longstanding history of what the Neptune was and the the idea the intent is to continue that Heritage and continue being a a family oriented destination I think it's reflected in the design the two pools one for the children one for the adults uh so I I think it's also reflected in the rooms and the size of those rooms and some of them will be larger to accommodate some of the families so I I think a lot of it comes down to the design of the resort and also the promotion that they're going to going to do and and obviously they've got families that have been coming here for generations and as soon as they're rebuilt they will be reaching out to those families try to bring them back so I I'm not sure exactly how you do this but I will talk to Adam and if there's a way we can come up with some more specifics we can certainly do yeah you know just like your plan like participation in the efforts to promote beat school we all love that idea yeah a little bit more detail would be nice I think in the in the commitment we do have more detail in the commitments uh about uh working with them to educate them about it and also providing kind of flexibility in the work schedule if needed um so these are the actual conditions and commitments that have been added in there um as you can see we've got different categories traffic mitigation we've got these pedestrian amenity notes along as sterile again a commitment to at a at the very least have a combination of shade trees public benches bike racks lighting trash recepticles you know that's a minimum that that's a commitment uh we have to meet that requirement uh public parking again uh easement in perpetuity to the town uh clear commitment um whoa okay I'm trying to get back try to get back okay um the um the dra program again uh is part of our commitment we have detail there um welcome you folks to to to look at it and um look at the language that's being used but we we are making that commitment same thing with bicycle bicycle racks very clear commitment as having to provide that on site same thing with golf cart parking it's identified on our Master concept plan dedicated area for it uh from a design again A lot of times people ask us is it really going to look like your renderings uh yes the intent is we have to be generally compliant with the those renderings when you construct any structure things will change slightly but from a general standpoint we are fully committed to um providing something that is consistent with those renderings uh the view corridors again committed to on the site plan uh beach access again committed to the landscaping that's going to be provided the seating trash receptacle out outdoor shower bike racks committed to um Doom plantings uh Landscaping buffering we did provide an alternate planting plan which is part of our application it is very detailed it shows exactly what plantings were committed to it it's part of the uh ordinance um the beach School uh we have on there um opening the beach front uh Restaurant and Tiki Bar to the public committed on there the hurricane parking opening that up to Residents committed on their uh resident rewards and discount program uh again we can uh talk about how this uh works but uh we think it was a great idea what Margaritaville did with uh a promotion for and a discounts for uh residents uh they will implement the same type of program they see a benefit in having support from the local community it helps their business it also helps the residents so it's a win-win they're happy to do so they think it's a great idea and uh they want to emulate you know the question's coming you know the question's coming yes uh that is not something for me to answer Adam can can answer that question and I I believe it was done by the other entity that you referenced prior to their approval so if you want to have some more specificity on that on second reading that would be encouraged as well yeah I commend you for doing it and I just some specificity on that for second reading would be great matter all right so this brings us to economic impacts um as I explained during the LPA hearing we were asked to put this together and provide more detail and more uh so some concrete estimates as to the potential economic impacts there are companies that specialize across the country on on doing these detailed econom economic impact analyses um we didn't have the benefit of those professionals we did our very best uh Continental has done those estimates in the past for other projects so what we did is we uh looked at potential economic impacts in two different ways um what you have in there um on the upper uh portion of this table is an estimate that was done by Continental looking at um annual revenue at the hotel um and looking at a multiplier of how much people are spending and how much they're paying for their employees and all their expenses and um I'll put my reading glasses on here so I can see the numbers clearly um but um what they estimated is on the lower end would be at least a 63 million um uh impact uh to the regional economy and then what they did also is they looked at the tour and development Bureau the data that is available publicly for all of Lee County the county comes up with a very uh big number uh related to uh visitation every year in Lee County and then they break it down by visitor and on a uh per visitor basis uh it is estimated that each visitor to Lee County contributes about $1,500 to the local economy so what the uh Neptune did is they looked at their projections for occupancy and how many visitors they would have every year they multiply that by $1,500 and on the upper end that would um be a potential economic impact of 180 million um per year we understand that is seems pretty high uh we don't know what that exact number but we we feel confident that the economic impact would fall somewhere in between uh the lower end number of 63 and the higher end number of 180 um so we also looked at um some of the annual reoccurring Revenue versus one-time Revenue coming to the town uh there's been discussion about the Ador taxes a very small portion goes to the town only 6.2% um but I went back and I looked at at my tax bill and everybody else's tax bill on the island and there's a lot more than the town portion that stays on this island um there's the town at 6.2 the uh for Maris Beach Library at 1.5 year tax bill the Fort Myers Beach mosquito control at 7% and uh Fort Myers Beach fire at 18.5% uh that's roughly 27% of your tax bill that stays on this island and um that's about $74,000 on a yearly basis uh the total Ador also on there you'll see is $650,000 uh dollars from the resort um the other thing to keep in mind is while a bunch of our money that we pay in taxes goes to Lee County Lee County does maintain a sterile Boulevard in the bridges when they make massive investments in those facilities that stays on our Island also uh some of that money goes to the tourist Development Council uh we go to the tourist Development Council every year and we Lobby them and we ask for for monies from them the beach re nourishment is a perfect example of money coming back to Fort Myers Beach through the TDC um so from a permanent job standpoint also reoccurring impact to the local economy uh they estimate that they're going to have 75 FTE um as you surely understand those are full-time equivalents some people will be part-time some people will be full-time 75 is an estimate uh that's about 4.5 million uh dollars in annual wages uh then we start looking at one-time revenues impact fees so we are working on an impact fee study for this island uh we don't have that yet so what we simply did is we looked at the impact fees for Lee County we just assume that should we implement the same impact fees as Lee County our impact fees uh would be approximately $900,000 onetime fee also um Lee County has water and sewer connection fees again if we estimate the same fees as Lee County roughly uh $500,000 impact uh so put together those impact fees uh are uh we're looking at you know about 1.4 million in onetime fees um so as I wrap this up I just want to emphasize something and and reiterate uh certain things that I've already brought up um this is the latest data from the um visitor and Convention Bureau um the best Avail available data shows that we only have 44.8% of our lodging units back online this was before Helen and Milton we did contact them and ask them if they had updated data they don't for estimate is that we are somewhere less than 44% so again we're not uh anywhere close to where we were prean what I've also done is I looked at the Census Data the 2020 Census Data before I and I compared the total number of units on this beach when the town was formed in the 1990s and where we were prean we actually had a decrease in total units and again I think we we all understand that if look islandwide where we are we are very far from where we were prean so again I I ask you to keep that in mind when it comes to allowing for additional density rebuilding our Island um creating a positive Redevelopment uh atmosphere and for allowing our um tourism industry to come back that we need those unit we are not even close to where we were prean and I think what we are asking for the Neptune is very reasonable and will be a positive impact so um in Closing one of the things that came up recently was this idea of um what is progress on this island and um do we need to have Resorts and big developments to claim that we have progress um and and I completely agree progress we we we we we've made a lot of progress since Eden um but I'll tell you the way I personally look at it and I I look at some of my neighbors some very dear friends and neighbors that since the last last storms we've had have decided to move off Island and buy off Island and they feel that the Redevelopment has hasn't been quick enough or is too arduous and they feel that there is little change on the island and they decided to move away um I look at our tourism industry and does it feel like it is completely back and that we were close to being where we were before and my assessment is no we're not uh I my wife does condo launch and she looks over many condos on the south end of the island and she talks to homeowners and typically this time of year is quiet for her because she doesn't have to do that biweekly check-in and she's got a lot more time to spend with the kids and do uh school activities but a lot of her people elevator's back they're working they can be back in in their units and they're telling you we're we're going to skip this year we're not coming back this year uh because frankly there's there's not a whole lot to do so when I look at progress I'm not discounting what we've done it's great to see all these new homes going up but I think the idea is I I want a sense of normaly I want to feel like I used to feel before Ean I I on a regular basis I would get together with with other families on the beach and we go do Beach days and I'm not doing Beach days anymore because every weekend I'm working on my home I'm trying to clean up I'm trying to rebuild and I think it's a case for many many people so when we're talking about progress I think it encompasses all those things it's it's getting back to to to something more normal and getting back to something POS positive where we have a strong economy where things are positive uh where where we're enthusiastic about the future so that that's what I would ask you to keep in mind is when these developments come forward these folks are making a big bet on us and our community and I for one uh appreciate that and I think it's going to help our Redevelopment so with that said I'm going to go on to my last slide in my professional planning opinion in Ken's professional planning opinion we are consistent with the Land Development code and the comprehensive plan um also based on the evidence we provided um the application documents we have provided and the unanimous recommendation of approval from the LPA we respectfully request that you um approve this resoning on first reading and schedule us for a second hearing as quickly as possible and as I always tell people a quick motion for approval is always appreciated so with that we are happy to answer any questions or address issues in more detail John do you have any questions for Patrick or his team I do not vican I do if I I have a question for Adam if he could come up for minute while we're waiting for Adam I will share Williams just stopped by with her therapy dog Dr Gus very nice uh still good morning Adam uh the uh I wonder if you could show a little leg if you will economically as to what's going on prean and posan with your project uh if you're comfortable sharing your return on investment your Roi when you bought the the Neptune prean those numbers compared to what you project with your po an investment sure prean again we purchased it a year before Ian never to rebuild never to seek entitlements more units it was an operating business and a hotel functioning well enough uh for us to get excited to acquire it thinking for long-term ownership just to Steward it invest in it to maintain more or less what was there we did want to bring on a tiki bar and a little grill that would have been it um we viewed that as and I'm trying to think when you say return on investment in our business we have a lot of different I want to keep it as digestible as possible let's say on an annual basis if if we could achieve a 10% return to the to the total cost invested in the property that's a a deemed generally for the market uh a good enough return to take the risk plus or minus there's lots of more complicated answers we can get to that over a you know a drink or something some other time for anybody interested but um that's how we saw the opportunity um when we acquired the Neptune um our obviously we're guessing at the future here in terms of proforma or underwriting terms like that um we actually see what we're proposing to you today the best guesses and and estimates we can with lots and lots of information which we we have access to um actually a lower return than that uh by by let's say more like an eight and a half to 9% return um part of that is in The Logical question could be why why well that that that's what I'm trying to illustrate here Adam in that in that intuitively someone would say and some do say this is greedy they're asking for twice as many units greed greed greed but yet your RI is less with twice the units than it was prean I I think it's important for people to understand the economic realities of the postan world can you just share a little bit about some of these cost issues that you're running into to give some examples uh yeah definitely and I think importantly um and for those of you who've had conversation really going back a year and a half ago um I do think we've been highly consistent with our approach um the look The feel generally the units were 140 148 but that range was entirely to um present what we viewed as what was necessary to get ourselves rebuilt not hey it would be great if we could get hey wow look at all the profit if we could get there's a reason 250 rooms is has been a number whether recently built or or I think proposed um for other projects not that it's magical but it's kind of magical today's cost environment The Lending environment Insurance costs all the external factors that do make development a risk business um will lead you know perfectly uh not not at risk Capital we're at risk we bought the property we got Dem by Ian it is what it is what it is is one of my favorite sayings is so we're now dealing with what the uh the cards were dealt right so instead of coming forward with a much uh uh bigger project with more margin better returns um which certainly we like that but here from the outset we said how do we get how do we get back in business how do we do it um as quickly and as painlessly as possible and and our answer to that question was we have to present a beautiful Timeless project that can work well enough so sorry for a long answer to your question all along we we viewed um the key count the quality the scale the services and the amenities to be good enough and well enough to get to about that return threshold that we were looking at before now to your point and then I'll shut up I promise um the returns have gotten worse for us over the past two years not better because of interest rates Capital costs now future who knows but nobody's expecting ourselves including to go back to where interest rates were when we acquired the property construction costs uh seldom if ever go down no matter what people tell you they just on balance there could be certain trades that do come down um but on balance they just go up uh and then Insurance costs I know everybody in this room I'm certain uh is well aware I don't think I have to get on the Soap Box about that but we're anticipating four to five times um what our annual insurance cost was now there's a little apples and oranges 71 Keys 148 keys but um long answered your question Jim hopefully I answered it but so it's so it's your sworn testimony here today that with double the rooms additional height your return on investment will be less than it was prein that's exactly correct thank you for that sure uh and just have a quick question for Patrick can I jump in before ad runs off since you're up here keep coming back so along the lines of is your is your testimony that if this is not approved the way it is currently proposed that you would not be able to build or you would not build anything so there's no it's this or nothing to this point this is the only project we've evaluated studied and been working on I will say early right after the hurricane we we evaluated could we repair it in place 5050 what um could we rebuild 71 the costs repair in place forget it right um and and the cost to rebuild 71 and again there's a reason nobody is going and building brand new acquiring a site to building a SE 70ish uh room property because it is not financially viable whatsoever and I I get that I guess what I'm just trying to get at is if it's not there's no wiggle room at all and that's what I'm ask financially there's no wigg I I certainly understand the cost and where we're at now I'm just trying to understand is this the you had mentioned how you evaluated it I'm just trying to get at is if if it's currently proposed the way it's proposed if it doesn't get approved that you're done you can't build and you would either sell or you would go back to the I think that I think that is accurate okay Dan I think that is accurate fa enough yeah that's that's all I needed to know thanks question on your question one last question you can take it Adam or or Patrick can uh on the going from 71 to 148 and and I I think it's a everyone's just intuitive Common Sense say that that has an impact on traffic but I'm curious one thing we didn't really touch on is your Ingress egress can you talk a little bit about how you're how you're how how you're you're trying to formulate a plan that won't exacerbate traffic on a stero Boulevard in terms of people getting on and off your property and how it might actually be improved from what was there before um I if if you're from the island you you probably understand the configuration of the Neptune right now uh a lot of parking space up front along a sto and we have very wide driveways where people can back right into traffic um so that's going to be eliminated and the access will be controlled so the idea is the main access will bring you to that J Jump Lobby we will have considerable queuing to make sure that the traffic is not backing up people will be able to enter the property go to the lobby there's going to be plenty of space for queuing we also want to make sure that when people leave the property it's done in an organized controlled fashion and again the primary exit off the property would be from delmare we do have a secondary access point along EST stero the main reason for that secondary access point was really for fire truck access and the opportunity for the truck to go through the property and have easy access is it your professional opinion Patrick that the changes that you're making in terms of entering and exiting your property with this new proposal will offset the number of new units that will be incorporated into the project in terms of impact on traffic on a steer I think from from a question of impact to the moving the movement and the traffic it it's definitely an improvement again I'm not a transportation expert but uh we work closely with our Engineers with our traffic consultant to improve conditions thank you that's all I have Mr May okay counc Woodson I've seen this presentation a lot obviously and I watched everything on the LPA and understand um concerns about additional height however I just it's not really a question as much as I really appreciate all the detail that you've gone into here um answering questions making um exceptions on the fly if you will for improvements and being able to come back at the second reading with more um I too you know I listen to you about what is progress and what is normal and mean if we could just get back to some semblance of normal and not feel like we're living in the war zone still without the fires um so I really appreciate that the amount of work that has gone into this over the last two years years I mean I think it's exceptional thank you and and if I could touch upon this expediency to read about you know a lot of times we we hear from the public that Mr developer is trying to scare us or or it's a scare tactic and and what I can tell you is from our development and from talking with other developers I don't think there's anybody out there saying that if we don't rebuild these projects that the town will go bankrupt but that's out there people say that uh there's a threat or people say we'll have to revert back to Lee County I certainly don't want that uh I don't think anybody on Council I don't think anybody in the town wants to revert back to Lee County I don't even think that's fathomable so so this expediency again goes to this desire to go back to normal it goes to this desire to build a good strong tax base it it goes to this desire to be a functional community and to be resilient and to be positive moving forward so get off my high horse here but I wanted to clarify that thank you this so even with the expediency and assuming you have financing and and you get approval what's your timeline because uh permitting what a year yeah constructions another year this is several years out so so uh we're going to have to go through a development order process um that permitting and the building permits we're looking at anywhere from six to8 months uh and once we break ground um we're looking at plus or minus a two-year build so you know we're looking at 28 approximately three years out it's our reality I'll hold off questions to a public comment okay I just have a couple questions for you the what are the size of the units I don't remember ever hearing what size of the units are going to be including the belc um I'll I'll let Adam get get into this but they they'll vary in size yeah they'll as pth said they will vary in size so former Neptune uh consistently the smallest unit was was 400 415 Square ft um there was a penthouse one of our units was 1350 Square ft um the average was somewhere 465 or so uh what's proposed in front of you here and what excites us to rebuild is essentially a similar average a little bit smaller um but we'll have and now we'll have the opportunity to have some more standard guest rooms uh for those looking to stay a long weekend right they may not need 5 600 square feet maybe not lug in the kids in a weeks worth of activities with them right so so we'll have units 20 of those maybe um more standard guest rooms but the bulk of what we're doing is very consistent um with the former Neptune and in those units or kitchenet in some C cases excuse me um kitchens again consistent with with really trying to bring back the elements of the Neptune that with stood the test of time was really preferred and desirable um we had families coming back multiple Generations they like to post up and make it home you know for a week two three on some occasion so uh the majority of our units will still have some of that functionality averaging again in that 425 430 ft range on balance I just ask you I'm curious how it relates to the the equivalency Factor you know the 450 square feet and if you go over all that changes and without knowing how can you really tell what the equivalency Factor truly is if you don't know what the room sizes are Sarah want so so I I think on the equivalency factor is is if you're doing something by right okay the size unit matters in that depending on the size the ratio is a little lower or a little higher okay what we're asking is just a straight across the board 6.2 multiplier again we're not we're saying it really shouldn't matter what the size of the unit is we're asking for 6.2 as as Adam mentioned we're going to have an average size of 430 maybe um but but it's so complicated when you're talking about size if it's bigger than this you get this ratio if it's if it's smaller you get a different ratio and and the idea was just to to be very transparent we're asking for 6.2 we want to bypass that discussion well I think Adam covered the question that I had as far at least you gave us a range it wasn't a we don't know you know so I was just curious if you had that um the other question that I had obviously you alluded to it earlier we had received an email all of us got it I believe um I believe the town clerk got it from the TPI group adamant disagreeing with your representation of the 9.1 you claimed that staff agrees with your assessment they have asked on to be put on record that the record be cleared because they do not agree with your assessment of the 9.1 and I think it's we should at least hear from our staff whether or not you agree with him that it was one 9.1 because what they claim in their in their email is if you look at the master concept plan it was clearly a three or 3.1 whatever it was I could pull up the email if you really want to see it but no I've seen it thank you um I did a breakdown calculation this morning just so that I could speak to this um if it came up um so looking out at a parcel by parcel basis there were six Parcels included in the request for TPI um 2.71 was parcel one 1.47 parcel 2 21 parcel 3 0.07 parcel 4 parcel five was zoned EC so that uh is a 20 or one unit per 20 acres so that's a different calculation but that was 33 Acres and then parcel 6 which is the parking lot but it was included as part of that development so they can use that so that's 027 Acres um but that's now granted to the town so it's a total of 4.73 Acres at six dwelling units per acre if we're looking at the uh pedestrian commercial uh future land use District that comes out to 28.3 um and so the calculations may be slightly off between what they had and what but looking at all the different documents it's hard to tell the specific square footage that they may have used but this is I'm pulling from the final Master concept plan um then there was 33 Acres at one dwelling unit per 20 acres and that comes out to .02 dwelling units so the entire site pre margarita development was allowed 28.4 dwelling units um they got a total of 254 hotel rooms so we divide 254 by the 28.4 and we come to an 8.9 so that I mean unless they can tell us some other way that the math was done I understand what they're referring to the ordinance does state that there was a multiplier of three I'm not clear why that was done because that math doesn't work so I mean we're at an 8.9 when I do my math okay so it's your testimony that they're wrong I don't know that it matters if they're wrong they got the right to build it I understand so I mean it's they but they have an issue their letter is that they have an issue with being misrepresented so if you feel that they are not being misrepresented that's the only question no sir I don't believe okay thank you Ju Just just to add uh to the the discrepancy that we're talking we're talking about a very small discrepancy what we did is she comes up with 28.4 residential units that you can build you're not allowed to build point4 of a unit you have to round down so if you do the math and you use 28 units 254 divided by 28 is 9.1 so I stand firm that I did not misrepresent any I'm not trying to argue with you I'm simply bringing and my intent was not to to state that Patrick had done anything wrong but that I okay just in doing my math that's what I came up with but he is correct you're not supposed to have a percentage so you'd have to round down okay fair enough you running away Patrick promise that was as hard as it was GNA get that was easy that's all I have for now anyone else you look like I just was wondering you Patrick are you going to hand those out my fing Jim is choing I came prepared this morning because I knew this might come up what I have here is a detailed explanation of what we just talked about plus what I have here is the staff reports that were done by Bill spikowski and Jason Green when Margaritaville came forward I've highlighted the sections in there and it clearly shows that so it's that's not your PowerPoint then no okay that's what I was hoping that it's it's it's beyond uh three times got so I don't think there's a need for it I just had it I thought I thought that was your presentation that's what I was hoping to get a hard Jim just likes to get paper yeah he does he'll take the whole stack just to take it all right thanks Patrick thank you all right are there any members of the public that would wish wish to comment on this matter so please come forward to the podium and identify yourself and Prov your address and whenever you were and whether you were sworn in come on mayor um does staff have anything to add after the oh no okay okay unless you have question okay thank you yeah come on up you don't have any cards do you not for this one okay hi I'm Susan Von Figley I'm a resident of Fort Meers Beach I have been sworn in I want to speak on behalf of the project I am a neighbor I live on Cottage Avenue East of the building I have attended their presentations they have made modifications to um alleviate my concerns being uh a family oriented Place they've been absolutely great neighbors I understand they've only had it for a year but the Neptune has been a great neighbor and the architecture design uh keeping the public towards delmare is much appreciated we already have a public access on Mango that's why we ask them not to make a public access along that 25t quor because my neighbor who's also a full-time resident would be an island amongst a public access and it would just be heartbreaking for them especially um I would like to see I know that they want to leave the East corridor open for emergency vehicles even though it's not a roadway but it would be nice um again in this war zone I'd love to see more Greenery so I know that you push for the view corridor but I think Greenery is worth it as well and so I just wanted to let you know my thoughts thank Youk you sir good morning Council cash is Upton born and raised Fort Meers Beach really don't have anything against the project I just want want to make a point be clear that public benefit to me is something that's in perpetual and a restaurant Tiki Bar I love the idea I think it's great but it needs to be on record that you know public benefit is something that will never go away we all know that we lost lots of restaurants during Ian no one ever thought the cottage would close it's still closed so I just want that to be known that when you say public benefit needs to be a little bit more clear that's all thank you anyone else Cindy hi there Cindy Johnson seino way first of all I went to their presentation too and I told Patrick that it's phenomenal that it's a family oriented place I spend a lot of time with Turtle time with the visitors that we have over the summer and we and it's more down by where s pper was and in all the condos and we have so many families that come in the summer and I think that's a way that this project can be successful year round is to have families but Patrick is my neighbor and I think he's misrepresenting or he doesn't talk to the same neighbors but there are a lot of a lot of neighbors that are not interested in the overdevelopment of this island so what I told Patrick at the presentation was I think the the density is just too much it's just it's just too much why can't you have less I know they say they can um substantiate why they need that but I think we really need to be careful because even though you have all these ideas to try and accommodate our traffic issue I don't believe we're going to be successful in that route it's going to discourage people from coming here so people are especially after Milton and Helen considering leaving because of the presentation of these projects for overd development height more far more than public benefit could ever um substantiate so thank you for your time but great project family project that's what we need to keep people here through the summer thank you thank you anyone else bill hi there Bill V St Boulevard with the record um you know a couple things stand out one is you know like like like uh she was saying you know public benefit it really should be something substantial it seems like they built the project and then went through and figured out what they could claim as public benefit without just really producing anything new I think things like I know jimy you were talking about wanting a public bathroom you can make that a condition you to dance around it you can make that make that a condition for every project that's every CPD that's being built along the St Boulevard and then after all this is over we'll be left with a chain of public restrooms so it's no longer an issue the other thing I have an issue with is um is is like we are we're giving benefits to if you you approve this you're giving benefits to a business that residents don't have no one is going to go through and say well you've got a single family home you can do a duplex if that helps you afford to build um residents you know a lot of res are discouraged and leaving and they don't they don't have these tools that these people are asking for they don't have planners they don't have attorneys they don't they don't have the ability to come here and even afford to ask for it so I think that coming up with twice the density and twice the income earning potential is something that it's unfairly distributed um traffic will get worse I mean if you put more things on the island through the construction phase I think a lot of our traffic now that you you go out and see what's going on when people are leaving from like 3: to 7 or so that's mostly construction work you build these big projects they take more construction it's going to take longer it's going to create more traffic dur construction and as they pointed out 75 full-time equivalence how many of those people are actually going to be able to live on the island probably not many so those will be part of the daily train of people coming on the island in the morning and leaving in the afternoon so I think this is it's an example of where you're doing something for businesses that will detrimentally affect the residents and this has happened with other things and it just going be harder and harder to be a resident when you're dealing with more traffic you're dealing with higher Insurance costs and and the same criteria for how expensive it is to rebuild this Resort also applies to every resident on the island thank you thanks Bill Tom Brady I live at 339 Madison Court and I'm a full-time resident and homeowner and I didn't come to speak about this but um I spoke about it before and it's the economic model I think we need a good economic model I don't think it's within the scope of the LPA to look at economic models I appreciate they worried about we're going to go bankrupt I don't think we're going to go bankrupt the economic model is flawed because it only has their uh revenues that come in from them it does not have the offsetting expense I think this guy needs to come up with an off with a model that incorporates what the expenses are for the town the impact fees for example impact fees are meant only to cover our costs they're not not a way for us to make money so when they say they have 150,000 in Impact fees that's all going to flush out as expenses for the town so let's look at the expenses for the town at some point in time when you keep adding people you're going to have to add more fire department more County Employees more those people and that's the offset that unless you're promising me that you're going to reduce my taxes greatly because this development's going in I don't think you're going to do that so let's let's refine those financial models I think they need to be there but let's not just make them one-sided and I think they were pushed into it I think we should work on that and then present it to them and say this is this is the data that we want to see from you what the impact of of your project is thanks thanks think you're GNA last person we're gonna be able to say good morning to I oh that's right didn't even look Terry K 48 years Fort Meers Beach here I am again and I will be promoting little comprehensive plan forever and ever and ever because it was a difficult document to write and that's what I feel that we're missing here I had a history Professor who used to say read reread comprehend and digest the material well I really hope that the people that are presenting a nice presentation it was a good one um lot of fluff I like the fluff but I think we going to need to get down to the nitty-gritty push away everything else and figure out what we want the vision to be and we decided that 25 years ago we knew we were going to re be rebuilding 25 years ago again not as quickly as we are right now I mean it's not quick but we didn't expect things to happen in 24 hours so again I just ask you to please consider our comprehensive plan I hope the people that are presenting have read our comprehensive plan I know it's difficult to get to my hard copy I lost an in which was very doed I loved it but I've been getting on the computer and looking at you know it's still there there lots of cross outs and things that want to be changed but they haven't changed yet so until they change we still have our vision and I hope you can keep to what we had thank you anyone else anyone else like to speak more one more she's coming up find the pole I see great anxiety I'm up here but um felt like I needed to come and and at least give my two cents um first things first it is your name for us oh I'm sorry Jean guy a stero Boulevard full-time resident um were you swor in yes I did I stood out there there's people that can verify that um yes um but beautiful project but density intensity parking um as the mayor likes to say the tube you know our sewer water even after Milton we're Mid Island and from spraying pools we didn't have any water it was like the pressure was just about gone so how is this all going to work I worry about our infrastructure so right now there's some great Concepts but I still think it's too big and we need to kind of take a look at that and I agree with everything Bill said okay thank you thanks anyone else all right see them we'll close public comment are there any additional comments rebuttal or closing statements from the applicant shaking their head no okay I'll now close the public hearing and request a discussion or a motion from the Town Council to approve approve with conditions deny with reasons or a continuance to a Time certain John you want to go first sorry I may be moving to a different location so I don't really have anything to add at this time I'm hoping to stay connected though okay Scott I I think Patrick and his team did a fantastic job um with this presentation I do agree with you Mr Mayor that that some of some of the public benefit was you know forced on by Ian and not really a public benefit but overall the project you know they they've done the right thing they started a year and a half ago with with with public meetings they took input they worked with as Susan said they they worked hand inand with their neighbors there um I was a little disappointed that they didn't clean up the property quicker and that was going to be one of my things to talk to you about we've we've talked about this satam but I'm I'm glad you're moving forward and in taking care of that property um now I I think this is an example of how we can rebuild together they've gotten public input we all realize we we we have the comprehensive plan but we all realize that we're going to have to go up we're going to have to be bigger we're going to have to be stronger their ask is not anywhere near crazy I mean it it falls in line the architecture is beautiful I'm I'm in full support this and that and the LPA was unanimous staff recommendation was unanimous Jim I I think we should ask that the bathroom be included as Bill had mentioned um I think going forward we should ask that because you know Diamond Head has has their bathroom I'm sure not everyone is staying there or using their bar and restaurant so I guess if you can figure that out how to how to be open to the public I understand the sand and all that but that is a benefit for for people that are on the beach down there okay Karen I don't have really anything else to add I um as I said before I really appreciate all the hard work you've done you've listened and um you were very transparent with everything all the way through and I personally I love the projectan oh you done Ken well I I will just I'll be brief we got a lot of folks waiting I I would just say if someone was to ask me would I support in doubling the density of a hotel right in the center of the transportation Corridor on a stero Boulevard given all traffic nightmares pre and I would I would I would emphatically say I would absolutely not support that but in the postan Bizarro World in which we're living and the and the economics that are driving our recovery here on Fort Meers Beach I I think they've put together a rebuild proposal that's fair and reasonable given all the uh adverse circumstances I I I would like to see a number of things tweaked uh for the next reading should it pass today uh and I think they're open to doing that which I appreciate particularly the restroom and some more details on some of the other uh public benefits that they posited I just think these are really hard times and and we're at a precipice right now where these are the kind of projects that are going to drive momentum uh for our Island to continue to move forward and not stagnate we just had our property appraiser here uh talking about how the first year and a half two years our property values were recovering dramatically and now it's beginning to Plateau off we've got to keep moving forward I think this is a positive step and again in normal times I say this is madness but we're not living in normal times and this is part of our recovery and I and I and I support the proposal all right well go ahead um just just for clarification going to do that but I know what you're going to say okay um uh council member Stafford stated that uh staff recommend it sounded as if he was intending staff uh had recommended approval however I i' take that back okay yeah that was going to be what I said was wrong you got it you I do like your conditions though okay and I think that you will see additional conditions um associated with the conversation that we heard today I apologize no problem yeah I you know I I think there's been some good conversation here today I think this that that group has done a very good job in meeting with Adam and his team over the last year and a half and listening and it is you're right vice mayor it's difficult to to weigh what was prean and what is Ian now especially when it comes to economics and things like that so I'm I'm really torn I I I agree with staff's recommendation but I also agree with the lpa's recommendation I think they all made good points now I don't think everything's been flushed out yet I don't know that I mean your willingness to at least get some more bullet points in there and and adjust some things that could um to use Patrick's term the basket look at this as an entire basket and make that basket more uh more pliable for maybe the people on the island and myself included um it shows me that you're willing to discuss things it's not a hard Line in the Sand uh I've been very outspoken about density I'm not a fan of density I disagree with uh one of the things Patrick that you had on your slide that um residential density will most likely decrease I think we're seeing completely the the opposite of that as people are building back their houses that were Cottages before they're building back four bedrooms and four baths they're building back three bedrooms and three baths um the house down the street from me was a two-bedroom one bath house is now a three-bedroom two bath house that's increasing density so as much we can agree to disagree and you can shake your head know that's fine but they're not building back 980 foot Cottages anymore we can agree on that right you're building back 4,000 square ft so it it's all going to come out in the wash eventually whether there's I agree with with exactly what you said up there with the the TDC and the numbers are we back to where we were no does that mean that you should be allowed to have more than double what you had before but somebody else then doesn't get them or are we you know having those discussions that we haven't had is that cap is that number is that a cap or is it going to be a fluctuating number um do we need more than what we had before you and I think these are all questions so I I don't know that I'm fully in support of it and I'm not sure that I'm fully against it but I'm willing to to Let It Go to a second hearing to at least give you the opportunity to to hash out some of the questions that were here and and we'll take the vote at the second hearing and it'll go the way that it goes but um I I still think you guys got some work to do I appreciate the work that you've done I appreciate the questions that were asked I appreciate the public comments that were made I agree with a lot of those so um with that is there a motion to move this to the second do John are you back do you have any questions sorry I'm being transported down the hallway work so all the visual Chris Chris is taking pictures so they will be posted later sure do you have anything to add uh John I do not okay all right that will entertain a motion is there a motion from anyone on the council anyone I'll make a motion to um approve and move to Second reading ordinance number 24-36 um with the um amendments that we've talked about and further discussion of amenities and in in perpetuity type amen amenities going forward second that motion by councelor Woodson seconded by councelor King um further discussion I just want to reiterate if you guys could really drill down between now and the second reading on what appears to be a second reading um some of that vagueness that we talked about with the public benefits and how you could be more specific as to um you know one of the things was the discount for residents things like that public restroom things I think that could be actually put in there as bullet points if it gets approved as as requirements that you have to fulfill to be able to do what you want to do I think that'll be very helpful with that we got a motion by councelor Woodson seconded by councelor uh King any further discussion councelor Woodson need to say second meeting oh is the date certain right yeah um I think it's been advertised correct for the 16th December yes okay councelor Woodson I councelor King hi councelor Safford hi vice mayor adle hi and n and I as well motion carries unanimously right we take a brief break and e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e for we're gonna that was loud sorry now we're ready we're going to call the meeting back to order it is 12:24 we are in our third and final public hearing this is what happened this is an additional public hearing for proposed ordinance 24-34 entitled an ordinance of the town of Fort Myers Beach Florida approving a home rule development agreement for property located at I don't know don't okay for the property located at 30001 Estero Boulevard 2943 Estero Boulevard 2932 Estero Boulevard 211 Dora Boulevard Fort Myers Beach Florida strap numbers 29- 46-24 dw11 145.1 z00 29- 46-24 w1001 145.5 30-46 d24 -4 w2- 1.000000 29446 d24 w1120 a. Z10 and owned by Seagate Fort Meers Beach LLC as authorized by section 2-100 of the town's Land Development code and in compliance with the procedures for application and approval of the development agreements with the de with deviation set forth in resolution number 24 -73 for the purpose of Redevelopment of the property previously known as the Red Coconut RV park providing for terms and conditions including but not limited to the identification of the proposed use of the property a finding of consistency with the town of Fort Myers Beach Comprehensive plan commitments and development obligations deviations needed for the development providing for other clarifications as necessary providing for conflicts of laws scrutinous errors severability and providing for an effective date if any Town council member has had any exart communication to disclose please let us know the subject discussed and the identity of the person group or entity with whom the communication took place and correspondence that you received or observations of the site John just since the last I'm sorry the first hearing I've had additional emails that I forwarded to the town clerk pro and con and then I did watch the beach talk radio interview Matt did on Saturday since the uh first reading uh just just additional uh emails pro and con and uh I think one potential I think one phone call with the applicant maybe two okay um councelor wson I'll say the same thing pro and con emails I've had two additional conversations uh with Matt at seate um and that's about it Council Safford um I've had since the meeting last month I've had three conversations with Matt over the phone I've also met with neighbors um on dinora and a set of Neighbors at my office to discuss the project I've also received emails both pro and con okay mayor may I ask um the attorney for Seagate I believe is present today if this would be an appropriate time if there's any additional questions that he would like to ask concerning the disclosures oh I'm so sorry I was going L yes yeah I also have uh had conversations with Matt price met him on the site uh I also listened to his Beach talk radio show I also did a beach talk radio show the following day um also have received emails um both for and against the project since the last the last meeting um and that's about it okay so now the opportunity if you want to ask any additional questions regarding the dis closures good good morning good afternoon now Richard Aken uh here on behalf of Cate no additional questions thank you thank you and mayor I there was a number of disclosures that had made uh have been made in reference to um emails received and everything I just want to place on the record um whether all of you still believe that um you can fairly and impartially um review the merits of this particular application and that you have not had any preconceived um decision made on on this project accurate councelor King I can be objective and I don't have any preconceived notions okay may I concur Council W agree I I agree I can be openminded and and impartial as well thank you mayor okay you're welcome uh who's got Sarah PR has been qualified as an expert already by the Town Council based on his on her education and experience has been accepted as the expert in the field of land use planning and development in the town of Fort Meers Beach are there any other individuals who would like to be qualified as an eate witness on behalf of the applicant at this time yes I believe you they both have been accepted okay you don't want to do it again unless you really want to um and has the has the property owner applicant seen a copy of the agenda backup materials from staff yes saying yes okay go ahead um mayor before she starts um this is an additional public hearing um and the minutes and the record of this public hearing will be added to um the entire record for the application so it's one big record at the very end okay understand go ahead Sarah good afternoon Sarah proached with Community Development Seagate Fort Meers Beach LLC is requesting a home rule development agreement for the Redevelopment of property previously known as the Red Coconut RV Park this property is approximately 2.73 acres in size however only 9.43 Acres of the land is zoned Village uh the remainder of that is zoned environmentally critical uh the Red Coconut RV park was previously developed with a density 27 RV units the applicant is requesting a development of 141 units um as well as a uh restaurant of approximately 10,000 square F feet and uh a beach club of 29,000 Square F feet uh the application that was submitted and reviewed does meet all of the development agreement uh procedures okay I'm available for any questions you may have and I know that the the uh applicant has a presentation very good go ahead I so in in the last couple weeks there's especially talking with with several people in that neighborhood can you explain for the public why that road has to be there the the One conting D yeah din over to Lovers Lane um well or rather uh the seahorse Lane yeah seahorse Lane that's it um so the um comprehensive plan and the Land Development code both require that a through road is developed through that property when Redevelopment occurs so that would bring um that would allow the neighborhood that is uh connected through dinora to cut through to Lovers Lane and utilize uh sea grape and see Great Plaza get to the school the library um so the in of the Land Development code and the comprehensive plan was always that there would be a connection through there to allow people to not have to get onto a sterile Boulevard and hopefully decrease traffic from Aero so it's more of a local Road be um it could be moved the only thing that the comprehensive plan in the Land Development code says that it has to connect so um I mean it could be moved north or south or or however uh development would occur best but the intent is that it would be there okay thank you Woodson I don't have any at this time may just quick question Sarah with respect to the by right uh opportunities for this particular uh Red Coconut property is it three stories over flood on the Gulf side and two stories over flood on the Bayside I believe that is correct thank you John I would I would this time sorry sorry I would need to um just double check the sides um because I believe that it is different from one side to the other but I don't recall I have another question there um you know in the last hearing we we had spoken about equivalency factors can you run through what by right this project has because it's Village and what hotel equivalency had they wanted to build a hotel what that would be so the hotel equivalency would be um a different Beast than what is being requested um so by right Hotel equivalency would be based on either the number of dwelling units that are allowed by right multiplied by the equivalency factor that would apply there um I can't think of what it I don't know what that number is off the top of my head okay I don't want you quote anything off the top of your head right now so um I know that they had 27 units per acre in mobile home um the Reconstruction of that site for the Land Development code and the comprehensive plan state that you you can't get that number back um through Redevelopment but you can get a lower density um which is what the applicant is requesting through their Redevelopment of the property um you would use the equivalency fact Factor on the number that you could get of units not I believe the 27 units per acre that was there previously but they they could build 15 homes per acre is that correct uh so it was 15 dwelling units per acre if they met the Redevelopment requirements of the Land Development code and the comprehensive plan that's that's kind of essentially what this discussion is um do they meet those those requirements that the code and the comprehensive plan says you should have in order to get that density so your decision is you know did they are they meeting the needs of the town with this development that were kind of stated through the comprehensive plan and Land Development code okay question I have this is based on the same the seahorse Lane conversation about because I'm like Scott I've heard from a lot of people about that particular thing so in order because the way the comp plan is currently written it would require a comp plan amendment to remove that road if that was the will of the council and the public correct could it be done it could be done um I think that it's important to remember why potentially you wouldn't want it to be done and I get that I'm just making sure that I mean as it's corly written that's a component that's required in order to get to the density the comprehensive plan and Land Development code say you can get to in a much easier path maybe but much more probably expensive path could you technically could you build over the road so how essentially a tunnel oh I don't know that we want a tunnel on this island just asking a general question theoretically tunnel theoretically could you yeah tunnels maybe not the best theoretically tunnels are under fly over under the sea is possible I mean the comprehensive plan and Land Development code don't specify what that should should be okay all right that's all I had okay John did I already cover you John did I sorry I don't remember if I he did I did yeah you got me thank you all right thank you thanks hey welcome back thank you members of council for the record Tina EAD um I'm the principal and founder of stage entitlements before I get started I do have some housekeeping matters Mr you'll be happy I have paper copies for you um so first is a hard copy of the presentation that's on the screen um I do have a copy for staff and the clerk if you guys don't mind passing that down and then um our development agreement that is in the packet um did not reflect the agreements or the Amendments that we made at the first town council meeting so I have a strike through underlined version of our new development agreement blue text is what you've seen before red text is the new proposal um same concept there's enough here for each of you as well as the CLK sta you already answered one of my questions yeah um so from a big picture highlight you all had asked um and I'll go through it in specifics but just generally you had asked us to limit the pavement um on the be side park and access so we took care of that you had asked for a temporary restroom and a water fountain doggy drink station Etc we've added that um you wanted it very clear that the developer was responsible for improvements to for example the utilities uh councilman Stafford you asked about the turn Lanes on a stero we have added those things in as well so you'll see that throughout the agreement in red text again if it's blue that are came before you at the end of October um I know you all have been at it for quite a long period of time today already so I'm not going to go through every slide and and every element of our past presentation I would request obviously that the previous packet staff report analysis and the video and minutes be incorporated and we can rely on that for any decision- making as it occurs um and I but I do want to address as you've already started some of the comments that we've heard some of the emails and and other things that have come in from the community and just add a little bit more detail related to that today um so this is the former Red Coconut RV park it was permitted for 27 RVs per acre with nightly turnover your comprehensive plan identifies that as a intense commercial use and you uh heard from Fran Meyer at the last hearing regarding the just exactly the quantity of people that that entailed and some of the impacts that were created on the surrounding neighborhood and how she really worked very hard to make sure that that noise and light and the parking was collaborated with the art center and the surrounding neighborhood and so what we are asking for today is to implement the intent of what's known as the Red Coconut Gul VI Colony Redevelopment area in the comprehensive plan that area gets implemented by The Village zoning District which we've been talking about that zoning District permits 15 dwelling units to the acre and a 1.2 F so when we're when we're thinking about the hotel equivalency we do start with that 15 dwelling units to the acre if we meet all these other Redevelopment scenarios and then the other thing to keep in mind is we're within two future land use districts so the south side of Aero is a more intense future land use category so the hotel equivalency is higher and the north side of a stero is split again into a more intense category and then a mixed residential closer to the bay and so that equivalency factors varies excuse me between two and a half and two when you start to look at implementing that on this property it becomes very difficult where's the structure where are the units are they less than 450 square feet are they more than 450 sare feet and when you consider the past use of that 27 RV parks per acre this team felt that it was better to transition the property to a primarily single family use um excuse me primarily multif family residential use so we have those four single family units in the back that front on I would call it a required Road um we've called it seahorse on the site plan but it it is required in the sense of implementing this Redevelopment area it's also required from the perspective of your community design element and the hidden paths Network and that objective in the comprehensive plan it's at least a half a page of of vision and intent and while this property is not specifically called out that vision for you your community is and at its core that vision is to get people out of their vehicles and moving through the island either on foot or by bike in a manner that does not require a stero Boulevard would we be willing to entertain something else it's highly possible but the amendment that you're you're questioning has to come into play with the community design element the future land use element the the transportation element and there's probably a reference someplace else that's so obscure I've missed it it's not just related to this property it truly is at the core of the town's vision and we've tried to implement that we've supplemented it with the linear path through the site um there's been some some chatter about that why can't you move it well quite frankly we are not the only property within this Redevelopment area we are one of many and so we centrally located that linear Park that provides those pedestrian and bicycle amenities so that the origination point would be Central to a stero Boulevard so that we could possibly get an economy of scale for any future improvements people would know where to go it was centrally located within that Redevelopment area um so I I mention all that because those are some of the questions that we've heard from you all so far today already but really what we're at today is um the development agreement and working through some design flexibility because this Redevelopment area was uh implemented into the comprehensive plan and the Land Development code prior to 2003 as we all know the flood plane maps have changed significantly since then for example we can no longer have enclosed habitable space below BAS in a b Zone we can't have enclosed commercial space um and so that has created a situation where we need to adapt the vision a little bit um we chose the development agreement process because we felt that it gave us the flexibility that we needed given that we are not asking for any additional uses we are not asking for any additional density we do have a deviation related to F to go from 1.2 to 1.5 that 1.5 is consistent with your comprehensive plan your comprehensive plan allows for a property owner within um the mixed Boulevard or excuse me the mixed residential and the boulevard future land used to come in and ask for 1.5 keep in mind that the 1.2 is basically what we would refer to as a by right someone could submit a development order at that rate and not have to um present their requests to you all um the other thing that we've asked for and and you'll hear a lot about is our height we talked a lot about that at the last hearing and then we had some design flexibility that we were asking for related to the setbacks which I know there's a bit of chatter about as well and um to help us Implement some of the public benefits so I want to start with setbacks when we look at this site plan keep in mind that the required setback to AA Boulevard and Donora is zero if we were to not ask for a deviation to set the building back there would be no room for enhanced architecture or landscaping or even a new sidewalk so we do have a deviation to increase the setback to a minimum of 10 feet and then the building Podium above the parking sets in further and that's to ensure that we don't crowd the street so I want to be very clear that the the by right regulations are actually more impactful to the street Frontage than what we are asking for today um and that would bring me to are actually before I move on to that let me if youall don't mind I'd like to walk through the quickly the pages in the development agreement that I handed out and clarify the changes that we made so that you all can confirm that we addressed your comments we obviously feel that we did but should there be additional um clarification that we need we can do that so on starting on page two under the vehicular access we added a condition that we would coordinate with Lee County regarding the turn Lanes on estera bouevard and dinora um again we can't commit to that without Lee County's assistance but we will commit to going to them and working through that as best we can on page three under the commercial area that's back to the original language you had all requested that we add those original uses back in so that God forbid something happens to the restaurant we can have a nail salign or retail or something else tin before we move on on that on that last one there when I met with Matt out at the site and we were looking at this specific part where that c l and is there was some discussion about even maybe it's encompassed in the way this is worded I don't know but there was talk about obviously working with Lee County I think you've been very open about you would work with them to shift that because of the way that ends where potentially your driveway could be but just for the record you are open to if you need to maybe move that left or right a little bit to line up with that turn lane we it to the extent that they will let us yes so they will control the driveway access to to a stero MH yes we will have to go get a driveway permit from them they will require a set distance between dinora and that new access point to the amount that they will let us reduce it or shift it we we will take care of that but you're that's all I was getting at you're willing to do that if if they'll allow you to do that yes yes question we gonna ask they have a new director who's interested yeah the uh on that point so if if you needed additional land you would that land to make that make that turn lane possible right we would have to work through the design with them yes they have very specific requirements regarding width and then depth and we will have to our site design will have to accommodate that so that means you would you would absorb that in your on your property to to accommodate that correct you would have to would you also absorb those costs I think that that's the intent of this condition yes okay so getting back to Denora can you every like you said there's some chatter out there that that it's only 10 ft but it's more than that it's the sidewalk there linear Park do you you have an exact number of how how far that setback is just so the residents can understand I mean it's crazy that you could actually build to that line it well are you looking for the cor to the corner of the building is that what you're asking I'm just saying all the way down along D nor yeah yeah so we have a avation on the corner to set that back actually even further than 10 ft so that you actually when you're sitting there in your car and you have to make the turn the building's not blocking perspective and then the remember the building is uh two stories of parking so that two stories of parking is what's set off the 10 feet which would allow for the public sidewalk and the Landscaping once you get above that Podium that supporting the structure the structure is set in and you can see this kind of squares kind of in this graphic we do not have that Dimension right now because that portion of the structure is not designed because quite frankly we didn't know the outcome of this process and we need a structural engineer to help us with that exact placement for the height and the units that I'm sure we'll get to as part of this presentation okay so so they 10ft setbacks to the red but there'll be portions of the building that'll be St back yes um so page three item e on the commercial area we added those uses back in for the the comments we heard from Council um further down on that page G3 is the beginning of the concept that the vehicular use turnaround for the beach park will be as limited as possible that's another one where we have to work with leak County because will need a driveway permit for that side um and then the red text at the bottom there that will limit the paved access and then we'll provide the temporary bathroom a water fountain with a pet station um we did want to acknowledge that we have to go to D to get that permit and so we will work through that process with those agencies as well are you are you going to explain later as to how that bathroom will work or I think that we're willing to figure figure it out but I mean what what do you what's your what do you what have you discovered thus far I mean like the ones I'm I mean it's a it's a temporary bathroom it's a trailer it's a vzone it has to be able to come in and out um that's that's really all we know we can do right now un are you designing your building around it to accommodate it to make it look nicer I mean what what do you we we will agree to landscaping and to Shield it so that you're not going to see it from a stero Boulevard correct but the building can't be there because that's the view corridor so if we start to move the building then we're impacting the public benefits that that are being offered to the residents it could be behind the beach club though right could it be behind without blocking anything the beach access is is separate from the beach club so that the public can come and go freely through that access in the park so you had requested that the bathroom be added to the beach park well I mean yeah within reason I mean if it if it makes better sense from a corridor standpoint to move it behind the beach club how does that does that adversely impact you guys or what I'm just thinking out loud with you I assume you've wrestled with this I'm just curious we have not wrestled with the design of exactly where the bathroom was going to go we were committing to providing a temporary bathroom as part of the beach park yes we will have to permit that with TP and the town I had I had thought excuse me I had thought that we that that entrance there we 86 that that we didn't want any cars going in there was the turnaround the turnaround was like gone it's gone right the turn round is gone yes that is our only vehicular access to the beach club gotcha okay so you still have so there's still cars access is just not a mat we can't you got to come up here so the the access to the building now sorry Matt Bry for the record um the the turn in now to the beach club will be directly into the beach club we're getting rid of the circle that was a push back from a lot of people on Council and some on LPA um so that that will be gone when when we when we come over to the beach uh the beach park park access we're going to add a bathroom right now it's designed as a trailer as a temporary trailer to move on and off as necessary through the M magistrate process we believe because we should be able to store that trailer somewhere in our place we could easily have a reasonable way of getting an approval process on that that we can move it very quickly we can move it into our buildings so we have places to store it so that was that that was the goal of the process to get the B I guess my question is and and you guys see the beach club there it has almost like a little parking spot where the public restroom could go where that little L is on the right right next to yeah I I I can't agree to put a bathroom in the middle of a private club that's just not going to work no but is it in the is it in the middle of the club or is it outside no the the the game plan would be to put the bathroom in the restroom would be in this area right here but but I'm seeing see right next to it there's that little almost like a little parking spot where you could park the trailer next to the beach club see that right literally next to it so that that's the patio on the second second floor so so that's where we put that red line there that's the by I got you I got you step's a step yeah so Tina just clarify so yeah because I'm I think I'm a little confused Scott too now with how the car is going to get into the private beach club there's a direct access off off of sterile okay so none of these cars that are shown in this that's all gone that's all gone got it that was the request from yeah just want to make sure yeah okay you clear yeah I'm clear you long as as soon as he said it was off a ster that's that's all I needed to hear right okay okay clear as mud Tina yeah um so the height um H page four item H you had all asked that we include the range of the stories just just since we're I just that deck m is that elevated in other words it can't go under under the deck can't put anything on the first floor underneath it you can't even a portable restroom trailer can't go underneath the deck okay I just I gu give him a microphone or something yeah that way it would impect the view corridor yeah maybe just hold on to the microphone here um we can look into that for second reading um because then you have you have a really nice aesthetic Park and then the restroom is not necessarily part of the park it's underneath your deck which people wouldn't be able to see one of the issues we run into though is we have a parking requirement that we with with staff so we couldn't take any up but those parking spaces unless staff was okay with that as being part of that deviation that if we were to move the restroom inside then then that we could take up a couple spaces Sarah I don't I don't know what that would be I mean again we could look into that be will it's a lot more complicated right now because we have to design the building we have to go through it I mean it you know it's a it's we're we're really really getting into the weeds here but well we're we're getting into the weeds but aesthetically though you're you're literally walking along the beach you see that beautiful Park you see the beautiful park from a stero and then if you could tuck the the temporary restrooms underneath the deck which would potentially be unseen then aside from the people are going to utilize it I'm just thinking out loud man yeah we can look into that we get to a second reading we can we can come back with the information again I I tried to answer the question as quickly as and no no and and if if you need help with staff can work with Sarah to see if we can amend that to remove we can look into it again I I I just want to you we we'll do everything we can to provide what we're trying to provide here right but we have rules that everyone are trying to work into that I know frustrate everybody so we're we're all trying to work as is um as best we can to to give the town what they're looking for gotcha yall are looking but I'm going to flip the slide um so when it comes to the height which is listed on page four item H you had all asked that we include the range of the stories which is from 9 to 14 for the residential structure that aligns with the concept plan that's on the screen um specifically I tried to shade in the different areas so we have the larger rectangle is where the 15 stories is located on the concept plan smaller rectangle is the Nine Stories so you can see that gradient and tier that occurs across the property um and that's been added to the text generally the other um items across the next few pages are changing shall to Will and starting on page five through Page seven we've added that the developer is responsible for the improvements to the utility system um and the drainage system so that would be at our cost should those those systems need to be upgraded to serve the development um on page eight item 8G we added the view cordor to manan's pass and um page 10 item nine we collapsed two sections that were repetitive so that text shows in red but it's just a a repeat of something that was on an earlier page and on page 13 at the top there was a request that if changes certain changes to the site plan could be made administratively through staff While others had to come back in front of council and so we added language that any substantial deviation including any alterations to those residential Towers needed to come back in front of Town Council for consideration and how will you quantify a substantial deviation so uh we felt that the um residential Towers because of the height deviation if those were shifted in any way that needed to come back to you all um if there was a major change to the concept plan that didn't fit within the permitted uses listed that would need to come back in front of everyone okay I don't know if it's a good question question or bad question when the attorney gets involved okay uh Richard has pointed out that there was previously languaged that um changes to the site plan that do not increase building intensity density height reduce open space those things staff can review anything that's not included in that list has to come back to town Council does that help answer the question better yeah if that's record that what you mean by substantial that that gives clarification yes okay we did work with Sarah and staff on that wording um so they they did did have input in that there obviously was a um I I think Mr Mary you brought up Margaritaville having to come back for uh you know moving something 8 feet or 8 in or whatever it was that's the type of stuff that developers it it costs time and money and it and it delays projects for no reason so we tried to work with staff on language and obviously if there's other language that make sense that that even is better that we're we're okay with it we're not trying to Ram it through it's it's a it's a but if there's small questions that come up that that could easily be taken care of by staff that that was the reason for that language okay um and then the last major item on page 14 item 22 the effective date and the duration we've dropped that down to the five years um number one we have to apply for a development order um within five years and then um within five years of the effective date if we haven't applied for anything the agreement terminates previously that was at 10 so we've reduced that um those are the the major changes that were made in between the two hearings to the development agreement can I can I just while it's on my mind it's an easy one believe it or not Matt would you be comfortable adding the language that Neptune added to their CPD about encouraging your Workforce to utilize the beach school just educate them and potentially craft work schedules around it if it's in if it's in everyone's interest put those in there yeah I I have no interest as long as I can see what I you know if there's a baseline or something to that gym that I can look at just very general but it's it's it's if you put that in there yeah I have no problem with that as somebody who's trying to help them out right now I think I think it just helps keep it front of front of mind for people that the beach school is available for their employees yep that's all actually works out well for the employer because it their employees are likely to be retained because their kids are in school on the island so it's it's a win-win for everybody okay I I do want to talk a little bit about height um we are hearing some different comments about that now than we heard previously um so to the question about what what's aw weely you just pull the mic down just a little there you go um I do want to talk about height because that's some of the commentary that we've heard in between the two hearings and and some of the comments are shifting in Direction and um Sarah was correct the height on the south side of Aero is different than the North side of Aero so on the south side it's 40 feet and three stories and on the North side it's 30 feet and three stories so um when we when we consider height height across the island is not static I I think there's a misconception there that it's the same thing across the entire Island and it's not your comprehensive plan identifies height and the way that it can be adapted across the island in policy 4c4 and so it sets a height parameter if you are not within a Redevelopment District which we are policy 4c4 says that if you are in a Redevelopment District then the Land Development code may have an alternative height which we do that's where the Baseline of the three stories on the 30 feet or the three stories on the 40 feet comes from um that that height that's listed in the Land Development code is from base flood and so on the south side of Estero our base flood is 17 feet on the North side it varies between uh 15 14 and 12 and then you're allowed to have 1 to three feet of freeboard so we can be talking about a specific amount of height under base flood before we even get to the 30 or 40 feet that means with any Redevelopment the first two stories are going to be an open non-habitable area in the vzone that is your pedestrian realm so unless you have landscaping or enhanced architecture to address that every pedestrian is just going to unfortunately see open parking which is not what we want and it's why when you look at our conceptual plant and the elevations we've tried to add that water feature we're screening the parking garage we're wrapping the building with out outdoor paos and things of that nature to create that pedestrian realm um the policy goes further and says that when you ask for a different height than what's in the Land Development code consideration is given from the town so that the council is the ultimate deciding factor based on N the number one primary uh consideration is view corridors and then the other public benefits and we went through this at the last hearing we have provided significant view corridors as part of this project there are two on the south side of a stero each are 120 ft and then one on the North side adjacent to matan's pass which is also 120 F feet so in total we have 360 ft of view corridors The Village District only requires 50 and so we've exceeded that by 310 ft consistent with policy 4c4 when you also consider the other public benefits we are meeting the intent of the comprehensive plan with this request now before you move on from that I do want to push back on that just a little bit I understand how you're coming up with those numbers but if I M memory serves me right at the last discussion there was talk about potentially allowing the pool to be elevated a little bit so that we're not dealing with a normal flood would you'd have to drain your pool every single time we get a storm um with that potential increase in on your renderings it shows that the fencing is pretty much covered with Green Landscape on your renderings so is that truly a view corridor if you you're putting grass up on the fence and the fence is elevated so is that 120 ft actually going to be viewable or are you going to block it with vegetation and things on the fence rendering that view mute so the street scaping that is offered as part of the development agreement is part of our offering to you all based on the comments that we heard if you would prefer that we not offer that to ensure that the corridor remains open we're happy to consider that well it's always been an issue of M we talked about enhanced landscaping and view quars they kind of fight each other and in this case they to me they kind of fight each other I will tell you that you're Town staff felt very strongly that the street scaping needed to be enhanced I I don't disagree with them but if you want to make sure that that Corridor is wide open in perpetuity we don't have to plant it okay I just wanted put that on the record that to me I don't know how that's going to be a view C or if it's blocked off but if this is a staff issue and ultimately a policy decision then we'll cross that road we have to cross okay um I think the other thing that um I know Matt has been questioned about that he asked me to address a little bit is a a comparison case um related to Diamond Head and the incorporation of the Town first of all every property is different the land area of diamond hend and where it is is different than the land area of and and what we're proposing for the Red Coconut um what I do want to point out is in my professional opinion having worked for the town of Fort Meers Beach and having worked for the civil engineer that did the do for Diamond Head um the town's primary um commentary so far has yes been the height of Diamond Head but what I want everyone to remember is that that building was permitted by a development order there was no public hearing there was no public meeting there was not the process that we are going through right now hold on hold on everybody everybody's going to get their chance compl agree that's what I'm saying I agree that more public input and meetings and commentary was needed for a decision like that and that is why we are coming through this process it is why Matt has been willing to hold individual meetings it's why we've held several Community meetings it's why we agreed to have a third public hearing was so that everybody could be heard and so I'm want everybody to understand that we've been very very open in taking in the feedback and very very willing to consider the site plan and so when we look at the intent of that I believe that we are meeting the community design element and listening and trying to make adaptations as you just heard related to the bathroom and the public benefits that are coming as part of this project just on that that point there Tina I won't disagree that you've had all those meetings and I won't dis disagree that you are taking and making a lot of concessions based on what you're hearing in the public but I think the elephant in the room as everybody keeps referring to is the height right and as you just heard and as you have heard in the past please come on guys please we'll get to I just my question is and I'll just ask it directly would you consider any deviation from the height that you're asking now to be more compliant with what could potentially be approved I don't know how I want to say approved but um would be would be more in line with more in line with with what some of the public feels is is why we incorporate it does that make sense please like everybody's gonna get their chance unfortunately your question is being bifurcated by other comments and so it's very difficult for me to hear the question well I'm certainly glad that you know what I'm thinking but uh what they're saying is not bioca or or leading any question I'm asking a question because I have said it publicly and I've talked with Matt about it you know everybody likes to use Diamond Head you just used it here as an example as well and we have a comp plan for a reason and part of the reason that as you said you worked on was because people were not happy with the height of that specific building my question is is there any consideration from the developers to potentially lower that below what that potential height is or what that height is I mean it's a better question for you Matt so yeah it is a better question I think and and I think I've been very clear with how we went through designing this building right um you know Fran got up and talked about it and never wants to rip on Fran and that's fine because you made money um but the reality of the situation is is that every other developer that met with her came with a way more intrusive plan to the OM she said it in a public meeting so so what I did was I listened to the feedback and I took the units off the beach and I put the height on the other side and fitting 141 units on a piece of ground looks like this and my my question is is your question is can you make it shorter the buildings and the response is it's a volume question so so if the tallest tower is 17 right now could you bring it down two stories maybe but that fills in the rest of the volume because you still got to fit the units let me just ask it this way because then it's easier for both of us sure if for some reason this was denied as it's proposed is there a possibility to still do what you need to do at a lower the way it's going right now I would come back for more density because that what seems to be is very openly looking at all the other projects right now it would be easier for me to fight the density battle so to me I would come back and try to Max density I'd look at some of the people that got two and three times the density on their site and I'd look at starting there because at that time we're talking about multiple years of going through it design process and we're at the 11th Hour of a project right now and you can't just come in and say hack off four floors because units need to fit you at least honest okay I appreciate it go ahead Tina just wanted to cover while we were on the height discussion sure so when we're considering the consistency of the comprehensive plan my professional testimony remains that policy 4c4 permits a property owner to ask for additional height through the process that the town has you have two right now that would allow for a height deviation to come forward this development agreement process and a uh residential plan development or a commercial plan development we've chosen the development agreement process because again we are not asking for an increase in density we are not asking to change any of the Baseline uses we are asking to convert an intense commercial property to a primarily residential use we also wanted the ability to have a holistic package AG that when you look at the development agreement and exhibit a the legal description B the concept plan C the public easements and the public parks that that are going to be granted to the town and then D the pattern book ensuring the future architectural character of the building you have a comprehensive package that regulates the land uh tear down the height provides step Backs from the adjacent Street ensures that the facades that front a sterile are consistent with the Land Development code maintaining that pedestrian scale um and supporting The Pedestrian environment so it is consistent with 4c4 and then on top of that the view corridors that are provided greatly exceed what is required by the Land Development code I did mention at the beginning that we did have a deviation for f going from 1.2 to 1.5 it's because we have a mixed use building when we add commercial and resid itial together we did ask to eliminate the parking from the F because it cannot be used for anything else we can no longer have commercial retail that fronts the street and is enclosed as a result of the base flood um we did not we have not changed that since um the first council meeting and that continues to remain the 1.4 or excuse me 1.5 is consistent with the maximums listed in policy 4c2 so it is consistent with your comprehensive plan and then we also have several deviations related to the design standards and building locations which we touched on earlier to address some of the comments we have purposefully pushed the building back off of the setback requirements um to so that we're not overwhelming the public Street um we've asked for some flexibility from the traditional neighborhood design simply as a result of what can and can't be done in the different flood zones um again that's regulated by the pattern book instead of the commercial design standard it's an easier mechanism to um evaluate that building permit moving forward um and then the screening regarding the rooftop equipment because once we're above four stories it won't be seen um that's still the Crux of the presentation um given some of the other comments that we've heard I do have a few housekeeping items and that is that this is the first step in a multi-step process what is before you today is a concept it has detailed texts in the development agreement and a conceptual set of plans that will regulate the future permits with the town which is a development order that will include any improvements related to utilities and what's needed for the fire department we will also have to secure an environmental resources permit with the Water Management District which will govern the storm water management of the entire site due to its size um and then as we talked about we'll have to go to the Lee County Department of Transportation regard ing the driveway access and the street separations on a stero Boulevard um we did not talk about them specifically at length but the project does have a number of public benefits in addition to the view corridors we have several public parks we are granting Perpetual access easements to the town we do have the linear Park that we talked about Central to the property to get people moving and off of a stero Boulevard we have public beach access uh to the gulf and then we have we have sidewalks and Landscaping although if you all feel that they conflict with the view corridors we are open to some other alternative um we've provided a commitment to public art along to Nora and then while it may be debatable we are transferring the density from the Gulf side to the Bayside so that we can reduce that intensity along the beach uh we do do have a restaurant um and we have not asked for a deviation from parking although if you want to put the bathroom underneath the beach Club where we do have parking we need to talk about that flexibility a little bit um and so I think when you look at the comprehensive package that is in front of you today you will find I know that you will find in my professional opinion a comprehensive package that is consistent with your comprehensive plan has appropriate deviations from the Land Development code um and has been Justified uh and has additional detail to ensure those commitments in the development agreement and the changes that we've discussed I know the public wants to speak I know you all have questions so I will stand by for however you'd like to proceed with the public hearing okay Matt you want to um so there's a lot of people here they've been here for a long time so um they've heard me talk a lot so I'm going to think i' just defer to them and let them have a have their time um I would like to offer up to anyone in the public again we've we've sat with anyone who wants to talk to us about the project if after this meeting you have any information you want to share with me you want to talk about any suggestions I will stay as long as necessary and talk to each and every one of you uh if you would like me to just like I have open and honest through this whole process so that offer on the table to anyone here and but unless you guys have any questions I'd like to let the public speak they've been here a long time so all right with that are there any members of the public who would wish to comment on this matter if so please come forward to the podium and identify yourself provide your address and whether you were sworn in who do you have first we got hold on a second we have a list first he's got a list first um up first I have Kim beaver and there's a handout coming around from her okay um and on Deck will be Dave Lee than hi guys thanks ladies and gentlemen for everything you do for us I'm Kim Beaver 1920 Bay you drive and a full-time employee on Fort Meers Beach and yes I was sworn in earlier today I did send out a petition via email that we have done over the last couple weeks I sent each and every one of you a copy of that I gave Amy additional copies we have 640 residents Property Owners whether full-time or part-time and Friends of Fort Meers Beach sign this petition um everyone that signed the petition stands with one voice against the Seagate development one of them to if you look at mque Beach Towers over on John Morris and bunch Beach these 17 to stories are on 50 acres with a 70 acre preserve surrounding them these towers can be seen for a long distance do we really want the massive building to change the character I don't think so if the development was on 50 acres maybe we could see a it but not on 10 what about the other Towers these next to the 17 I haven't heard much discussion about those Towers we're not at the 11th Hour as Matt just said we're actually at the very beginning a little bit about myself we moved here in late 2010 due to a job transfer to punaa we could have chosen anywhere with an hour and a half of pagora and we chose here because of the quaintness and the character and we want to remain here for the rest of our lives I know that many feel as we do we beg you to look at what our founders believed in and keep the belief into our future our children's children can enjoy what we all love about for me beach we're at our second infancy for our beloved Island first was when we became a town with vision to remain a small developed island with families and character Ian brought us our second chance to remain a town of character to grow as responsible stewards of the island Now's the Time to get it right so that future Generations thank us for our thoughtful processes and keep with the belief that we're not allowing developers to dictate to us what they believe is in our our best interest we should be telling them what is in the best interest of the island many say build it now get it done nothing will happen overnight smart development takes time we have a rare opportunity to get it right so let's take the time we have been gifted and do so as a final request I believe that Council meetings for the projects one should be in the evening many of us work during the day like I do I had to take the day off to be here today whether fulltime or part-time many of us can't be here they're out of town for the holidays I think most of these decisions we should wait and not rush through the process until after the New Year use the time we've been gifted do it wisely and let's do what the town and keep our character thank you for all your time thank you Kim now I know you probably have some questions on the position we'll we'll ask about them we don't go back and forth in public okay and there's a lot of people so we try to respect and I got to get to work at some point today still so us too I know and I appreciate everything you guys do thank you right uh Dave Lee after Mr Lee is Jay bur my name my name my name is Dave Le I'm the displaced resident of 1920 baby drive I was sworn in uh I am in opposition to seate as proposed uh two things I want to cover first is the survey that beach radio did and second is my conversation hourong conversation with Matt price uh the we've talked about this you're all copied in for the record but we had a h survey for Beach talk radio which one specific question that I provided you the answer is and the question is what is the highest that you allow a new development to be built we had 900 responses and at a ratio of 7 to one it was the opp were an opposition to the tire uh unrestricted height on the on the projects so um if everybody's looking for a data point start from that's where it start from and it's basically the same sentiment the town has in how the town was uh developed in the first place so basically seven to one against just to let you know second my conversation with Matt price I I had an hourlong conversation I reached out to him he called me back right away that was great I think Matt's really been that way with everybody so I I think that's a to his benefit however I listened and tried to understand his positions and I'm sure he says the same thing to all of us individually or as councilman or whatever unfortunately he takes positions that I felt were one-sided and really would require the town to hire a expert a developer to refute or to agree with the statements that he makes I am not an expert I don't think anybody in in the crowd as an expert on this so you can't really refute the arguments that he makes um so what we did agree on was that we need an expert entity somebody at the very beginning of these projects that could express what the town's needs and wants are uh early on uh Judith uh at the combined meeting talked about the importance of having a needs and wants list and to put the town in a position of strength when we go into these discussions with these developers that did not happen on this project and so I'm going to jump down basically to what and you've seen it on the Neptune proposal is the economic e e e economic impacts of these developments and that needs to be cessed out right at the very beginning and other U benefits which are more important I think even view corridors and the other public benefits we' talked about are retail and services on the island worker housing more attendance at the Beach Elementary School employment and where the workers were come were going to come from amenities and more things to do on the island these are all things that need to be developed as needs and wants of the town that we give to the developer at the beginning height limitations is really one of them it's a de facto requirement and transportation options there there's a dozen more that you can add to the the equation all these things are needs and wants and they're not on a list of public benefits that are really more important than public benefits so I implore the council to reject the project as proposed uh and bring it back to review of the town's needs and wants and also to propose a more appropriate scale project in line with the de facto height limitations it down has so thanks for your time thank you Dave good time yeah Jay Bur after Mr bur is Greg scne wow I'm 66 I hope I live through these meetings and the Redevelopment of this island and get to enjoy everything we're talking about so I'm a resident of bayew I was born and raised in Virginia Beach and this whole thing reminds me of what we went through decades ago down the ocean front we were a small M and pop organization had great reputation but couldn't sustain what we had if you look at Vin beach now we have grown and we're very successful we have big buildings we have nice restaurants and our tax rate is 097 not 0.27 so back to Seagate I'm in 150% agreement what they're trying to do we should be proud that they're begging us to spend their money on this island and make us something very very special they're not worried about traffic I'm not worried about traffic we'll make that happen Virginia Beach wasn't worried about traffic and it turned out excellent so I know back in those days when they were working with Virginia Beach all the doers were out there and it was very tough to get these through but I wish you would review Virginia Beach and I challenge you guys we have seven or eight really big projects on the board here if they were approved what does that mean for us potentially in our tax base the goal here would be see our property value sore and our tax bace to come down and I don't ever hear much about that uh agreement or yall conducting a survey on that I'd love to know in these big projects what does it mean for the town we're overpriced and we pay a lot of taxes but I I'm I'll leave this with you guys just a little thing the wife and I Rebecca typed up about Virginia Beach and while I'm all for Seagate and everything you guys are trying to do we need to move forward and get the tax base right in look at the picture can you imagine this on our Island it would be awesome so thank you thank you J go ahead all right Greg scasny and after Mr scasny is Kevin Sullivan I'm Greg Sky I have a cold so I apologize yes I've been sworn in and I don't want to be here um I'm tired I'm tired of fighting um I'm tired of fighting with FEMA I'm tired of fighting with my insurance companies I'm tired of fighting with my Builders I'm tired of fighting with the school board and I'm tired of fighting with my town government to get them all to do what they promised um I'm asking you for to vote for a denial without prejudice on a Seagate pro project um to be blunt it's just too tall um and it's not consistent with our comp comprehensive plan um we need to unify unify our community and an approval by this Council for this project at 17 stories and 255 ft will do just the opposite I will guess no other project has garnered more negativity and requests for denial to council than this project in addition the development agreement process used here is inappropriate for development of this scale enacted just last April the town did not think about the long-term consequences of enacting this development agreement process as it was to us smaller developments by removing some of the rigor and detail that goes into the CPD process but yet the first project out of the gate using a development agreement is wed to put the two tallest structures ever built on our Island and bypass the rigor and detail a project like this should be required to have and a CPD is more appropriate for projects of this scale excuse me I've been fighting the cold um finally this project is not consistent with the comprehensive plan if you don't like the comprehensive plan fine it we have a process for that um but voting to approve this um this with the comp plan as it is um as the way this project sit sits is not not consistent with that plan specifically it's not consistent with policy 4c4 as contended by Cate the property is in a Redevelopment area um they they are allowed different heights right um they take out of context to say that 17 stories in 255 ft is consistent with that policy um they totally ignore the entire comp plan section on the building Heights and what was trying to be achieved with that plan um you cannot read the comp plan and state that a new development 17 stories tall taller than anything else on the island is consistent with that document adding a floor or two yes you can definitely see that in intent but not 17 and I have it if you'd like to read it I actually printed it out that section it's not too long um we all know that property is going to be developed it's inevitable let's get behind a project um let's get the project to a place that will make a majority of the residents on our Island proud to get behind proud to get behind Seagate um unfortunately this iteration of the project isn't it it's just not um again I ask that you vote for a denial without prejudice on this project thank you Kevin Sullivan after Kevin will be Mike dagnes good afternoon uh Mr mayor Mr vice mayor counselors and town staff I'm Kevin Sullivan I live on H Bay Beach Lane with my wife we've V there since 2004 and resided full-time since 2019 I'm in complete support of the town's progress in rebuilding the town's made Solid progress so far and I'm I'm in also in support of thoughtful Island development and you're beginning to see it everywhere on the island however I I am against SE Gates proposal of two 17 story buildings this proposal's dramatic height exceeds what is granted by right and intent of our comprehensive plan in LDC I'm simply at a loss to best communicate the logic for denying Cates deviation request in a manner that'll resonate with you I wondered should I talk about the foundational density intensity objectives established by our 20 5 year old comprehensive plan or should I talk about the complete lack of real benefit seates project brings the on for this dramatic height deviation request should i h I mentioned how many of the endorsements for this project are from bought and paid for individuals or organizations or from self-serving Realtors and development companies should I talk about the count 's remarkable lack of negotiation in cate's first reading where the council traded pennies for $100 bills what about the future lawsuits the council's teeing up when you seate 17 story building and then try to deny London Bay 17 story building or anybody else's for that matter should I mention a comparative example of how a code compliant High public benefit development like Margaritaville can be a success even without o over-the-top giveaways like this one and finally should I mention traffic what hasn't already been said about the curse of Island traffic well based upon your first reading performance I'm not so sure you've been listening to any of the arguments and that's disappointing but listen to this there are great risks in not listening to your constituency with today's negotiation you're establishing your personal legacies on this island I'm asking you to step up and negotiate something that's consistent with the town's Vision there's no need for panic here the result of your negotiation will either be a milstone for compliant and sensible development or a millstone hanging around your necks for generation to come thank you Mike dagnes after Mr Mike dagney is Dapper Davidson that Mr Mayor yes sir point of personal privilege um I'm being sent to the operating room so I have to sign up so thank you for this opportunity oh well best of luck best of Lu thank you I appreciate all the U good will I've had it's just another good feeling of why I picked to live on Fort Myers Beach thank you so much God spe John thank okay I'm sorry before you start who did you say was following after Mike uh Dapper Davidson okay hi my name is Mike dagy I live on Shon Boulevard right next to this monstrosity if you drive down Shon Boulevard when you get to dinor all you're going to see is a wall of cement nothing else with going to lose all our shade and all we're going to have is shade no more sun and it's just not right they should take them tall buildings and put them in the back and put the houses where the small buildings were first place they shouldn't be building anything that high what they need to do our comp plan's two stories do something similar I hate to say it but you guys really need to get a plan together for all of them not just two stories here four stories there six stories there we need to come up with something that's Universal you know we going to have all these highrises you're going to add all this traffic you guys don't know it but you're moving down to the south end so if you live up here I guarantee you every day you're going to be sitting in traffic from the town hall to here and then beond okay now all the people that are working there where are they going to be staying they need housing is there any housing around for anybody to work here no you're going to add a lot more people coming yes they can go to our Beach school would love that but where else are they going to go they're going to sit in traffic you're not going to move when you get out of work at Neptune here wherever you're just going to sit there and you think people going to want to come here just to sit in traffic every day and not move it's one thing is slowly mov mov you know from public to here was a half an hour from here to the end was another half hour you're talking hours it's not going to be minutes it's hours to get off the beach would you want to come to a place that you going to sit in traffic every day that much I don't think so you know the setback on Denora is usually like 10 ft from the street back okay they're talking building close to what they're going to put a sidewalk in so that's take some of that away you know where's all the water on enough going to go they're going to hopefully take care of all of that uh what else we got what crr needs to do is go back to the drawing board okay my house is full bedroom full bath from what I hear that's what they want to put up there in all of their units my house is 33 by 60 2,000 square ft they want to put 3,600 Square ft every in each unit that's four beds and four bath that's twice the size of my duplex for one unit that's awful big you wonder where oh we can't survive unless we go 17 stories you don't need that big of a room okay we're not Miami or the millionaires that they want us to be we were a nice friendly Beach that every everybody knew everybody okay when you stop bringing in rooms that are that big you there's no purpose for it no reason for it you can still put the same size as my whole house and cut the height in half okay there's really no reason to build that high they can take that road if they had to build on top of it and call it a day thank you Mike thank you all right Dapper Davidson and after Mr Davidson is Melody King how you doing hey my name's Dapper me and my wife Kim we own two properties here on the beach and one over bridge and one of our condos is on the shellmont area on dinora so it's a nice neighborhood small residential it's the town council's job to protect us from develop ERS so our condos shellmont I mean denor Boulevard is a half mile long street it's all residential all the way in the back most houses are 10 feet or 20 feet tall so now you're going to have seate coming in to build this this is two scale at 250 ft this is my condo which is right across the street literally the closest place to them is our golf wind Condo Association we need to protect us I'll be waking up in the morning look out and you see this building the first building is 60 feet off the stero Boulevard this room is 60 feet long so the first building from a stero is going to be 180t tall 10t off of dinora that's so close to sterile you got to push them back the Red Coconut property is 10 acres you can move everything to the back you have to change that road change the road let's get the buildings way in the back away from the residentials areas and that's about it I just want you to help protect our neighborhood there's at least 500 houses there going be affected also we're going to see this big huge wall every morning every night Sunset will be behind the building we'll be able to see it last thing is on that beach access on the beach side they don't even as far as I know they don't even own that where the rotary is there's a public way a private way that owns someone else owns that piece of property so I don't know how they have access over that piece and give it to the public when they don't even own that piece of property if you know I if you look at the rotary part there's a little line that goes to a different property it's a 10 foot wide access that someone else owns so I don't know where the beach access they're given to us that is it thank you what's that after Melody uh Melody after after Melody will be Samantha Campbell hello everybody can you hear me in the back okay uh my name is Melody King and I am a proud year round resident of Fort Myers Beach nearly six years uh I might be the last uh single family income actually living here year around my son is actually a product of the fort Meers Beach Elementary in Bay Oaks he is a train uh aspiring pilot right now um he's about to be 15 he goes to Fort Meers high so we stand as testimony to the fact that everyone is different and whether you like my personality or not Karen everyone belongs here on Fort Meers beach with that being said in a few years I raised my three grand kids here I'm manifesting that for the king family and there's nothing anyone that doesn't like me can do to stop that not even seag Gates development that's actually in my hood so ladies and gentlemen I'm speaking for many long-term full-time residents that I've lived here and I please ask without interruption and if I go over 3 minutes I promise it won't be more than five and I've seen people extend past so I ask for the grace of that in advance the topic here I'm speaking on behalf of residents that have lived here as long as I intend to they've lived here 39 years and they're my neighbors and they still can't rebuild their home I have absolutely no idea why somebody invests $57 million in this after Ian without proven mythology that these storms wouldn't happen again but with that being said our hurricane Milton that came to our Shores actually devastated us and if we had the infrastructures in the middle of being rebuilt they would have wound up in our neighbors front yards like you've heard discussed here uh prior after Hurricane Milton our structure struggles and the erosion is real and you can see it at every break in our Barrier Island we live in a dysfunctional Paradise as we admit vice mayor I appreciate that at least we're real about it what I find challenging is that our Islanders love our Island in its current form even though it's destroyed and our Wildlife okay let's talk about that no post hurricane Milt and bioengineering tests have been conducted to ensure the soil and the viability of seates land and it's impossible to actually do those tests until the soil is settled how are we even standing here today wasting our taxpayers dollars paying our Town Council to come in front of our community oh my gosh our broken Community I'm definitely standing on 1A all day here very brave and I'm bold and I'm not afraid of your backlash so seate I have a question and I'm airing with all due respect but are you delusional building on a sinking Sandbar directly on top of a preserve that needs sunlight to survive and where are our Advocates of our active Menan past preserve 501c3 standing here like the autobond when Eddie Rood wanted to build a simple little wood plank walkover for 10 years Council you gave him trouble you're going to kill our birds back there they've been here longer than you've been in office so with all du respect realators failing to disclose that they cannot build here that tall does not entitle Seagate to bypass our rules to rescue their $57 million bad investment and I'm quoting somebody on Council hold on just a second out of due respect of everybody that's here please wrap it up everybody gets three there we go okay so in closing to hell with your clubs Mr Mayor to hell with the Clicks in the politics FMB was never raised on those foundings and apparently the US ethic committee which you guys can reach on the internet the Department of Justice and the FBI who I know have already been involved in your political gain problems see that greed is being prioritized over your community members and shame on any of you that vote Yes today thank you Samantha Campbell and then after Miss Campbell is RA Raphael gurk I'm sorry if I destroyed that name hello for the record my name is Samantha Campbell and my family owns a home on Caro Street we know that uh while seate is not directly in our neighborhood it will affect and obviously as we've seen today every project brings up the next project that was approved we're facing London Bay we're facing horrible neighbors as London Bay you might be great at Seagate that's fine but we setting a precedence and we don't need a 17 story building I've live we've had properties on condos here nothing against condos they're great a lot of people live in where I live full-time but the problem is it's not consistent with what fort Meers Beach was I stood here as a child I spent my first trip here at 3 months old at the Red Coconut so I have nothing against development it's not de it's smart development remember that the decisions you make today will still be a problem 20 years from now we throwing things out there got to quickly rebuild that's we're not we're looking at 10 years before Seagate will even be open if they're not going to start their their permits for five years there also should be a stipulation that only Cate gets this development that they can't sign off and sell it to somebody else because you're giving them air rights over that property and every story they go up that condo costs more that's more to their investment and more to what they have so please do not approve this project in the current status I have nothing against development development's great I'd love to have a restaurant to be able to walk to hey it would be great we don't have that anymore on the south end but we're also not going to be able to even come here if the traffic is worse than it is I can remember days as a child at Island winds not being able to even leave the island because we couldn't get to Time Square unless we walked so please don't throw away progress just because you think oh wait if we don't do this every developers come up here and said well if I don't get what I want then I'm going to do something worse or we're going to we're not a dying Community but we will be if these projects are approved thank you thank you Rafael after Mr gurk is Arnold shond hello good afternoon my name is rafhael gurk I'm on palmo Circle and I've been sworn in I want to remind us all of something um the Red Coconut were 141 units but those were like 450 Square ft trailers there would be one person or two living in them these condos they're going to be three four or five bedrooms there's going to be eight or 10 people living in them that's four of five times as many people driving to the grocery store taking showers flushing toilets so density wise it is an great increase I'd also like you to like to remind you that the LPA has recommended to deny this special exception and I would like to remind you that the founding fathers and mothers of this town um did it um and Incorporated the town because they wanted to keep stuff like that from happening thank you uh Arnold shaml after Arnold is Lind dnes uh thank you Town Council uh my name is Arnold shaml I have been sworn in uh we've had property since 2010 on B via 240 B via and uh we welcome the town to move down to our neighborhood soon and maybe we'll get our road finally repaired to uh modern standards um I'm asking the Town Council to follow the lpa's lead and uh ask seate I think cate's done a lot of good things I appreciate Mark Price being open and communicating his ideas and his thoughts but it really comes down to just a simple thing it's just too much height for this island uh he has a lot of good ideas it seems like it's either this project or nothing and I don't think that's the case I think seagate's got a lot of smart people a lot of good investors they can come back with a proposal that more fits with what the island wants to do long term and that's what I'm asking the Town Council to do follow the lpa's lead work you got a good I think the CGA people again are good let's work together to get a a more appropriate project for the island thank you Lind and after Lynn is Susan bun Figley hi my name is Lind dagnes H good afternoon Town Council folks in the back there while I know we have a contemp plan here and stuff like that I just wanted to know are we still Incorporated so we do have a height limit right within that Corporation was that not part of our reasoning for Corporation is to keep a height limit so that people have sunshine in all their yard cards not just in the pool of Seagate cuz I'm going to lose all my son along with everybody else on dinora shell Mound all the way up to as you saw that big old thing will be a shadow almost to Publix so if that's what you want to live in that's just fine because you all probably live in condos anyways I definitely say nay to the 10 stories the seven stories or any of the stories they want to put in seate that's what I have to say thank you L Susan bun Figley and that's all I have signed up okay hello again Susan Bon Figley I live inage a little bit and uh I I don't live right in that area I formerly owned a house on dinora and I can say that I would not welcome a structure of that size just outside my front door I understand the neighbors and their lack of sunshine perhaps the uh wind noise Direction the impact on matan's past Reserve that's a place I like to bring family and friends when we come by and the idea that it's going to be overshadowed by these monstrous buildings is is not to my liking I also worry long term about the cost of all of us who own property on the island does this mean that our fire department has to pick up new equipment hire more people and yes you'll say that well these new homes will bring in additional taxes but they bring in additional costs for which we all share and I'm really not eager to do that I'm hoping that I I do like their idea but wouldn't it be nicer if they just could shrink the units to something that probably might sell faster um and and bring down the building Heights and perhaps even the um Flor uh square footage on the ground level thank you thank you Susan that's all I have signed up is there anyone else that did not come on up how hi Council cash is something again born and raised for Miners Beach uh I highly I think Matt's a great guy I think this project is absolutely terrible uh before we became a town the tallest building ever built is 184 ft on this island since we became a town the tallest building is pink shell and they had to give up a lot to get what they got now we are Incorporated and we do have a comp plan yet it doesn't seem like you guys want to follow that at all not only are they trying to build two buildings that are 250 ft high they want to add two additionals they're going to be over 200 so now on one project you have four buildings that surpass the tallest building ever built on this island if you guys approve this it's a travesty to the island and you should all be in the shrimp fest and the Shriner clown clown cars next year if this goes through honestly this is not what fort Meers Beach is about it never has been and this is a money grab thank you good afternoon Mr Mayor Town Council and staff I can really appreciate the passion today in the room what's your name for the record Christopher smutz one of the team members London Bay Development Group the developers of Outrigger charlies's Sam Piper and Grand View at Bay Beach we greatly appreciate your dedication of Fort Meers Beach and your commitment to building back a stronger community as Fort Meers Beach developers we encourage you to consider the islandwide economic impact of seagate's proposal for the former Red Coconut property this project and so many others like it not only has an obvious economic impact related to the permit fees and impact fees but will also increase property values and property tax revenues lead to job creation and wage creation and also resulting in a cascading economic impact on the Fort Myers Beach Community in the two years since hurricane Ian several other storms have swept through causing a significant flooding and demonstrating the need to build a more resilient Community this project and others like it takes current building codes and regulations into consideration ensuring it will withstand storms and flooding events for years to come Seagate listened to the desires of community leaders including a variety of public benefits such as public parks walking paths and a public restaurant these amenities not only provide the city with additional beach access an open space but also create much needed spaces where residents and visitors can gather together for a meal a cup of coffee or to enjoy sunset by approving this project you're sending a message that Fort Meers Beach Town Council is committed to rebuilding a resilient Island for future generations to enjoy thanks for your time and dedication thank you history John hi I'm John cson I've been sworn in um just real quick I want to make a comment about our comp plan I think we're doing a real disservice with our comp plan because we have a comp plan like when you look at I'm hearing from a lot of developers the value of this land is so much money that we need to build more well when you have a comp plan that says you can bypass our comp plan and put it and put in something that's much larger than it what are you doing you're making that property more expensive if developers are looking at this land and saying this is what I can build on here then they're not going to pay as much money as they end up paying for the land because they can't build as much there so I think it's a loophole that's doing us a disservice that we really need to look at that being said I'm not in agreeance with everybody in here sorry regarding I I look at things in two different ways I look at height and density as different issues I've talked with Jim about this multiple times I do believe that I like the density on this project I do believe that we're going to see less people on the island than we saw on Red Coconut um the type of people that are going to buy these condos how much they're going to be here I think it is going to be less people which makes it easier for me to get my kid to baseball practice I do not believe they should be given as much height as we're looking at giving them here right now I do believe that I'm not a person that says three above flood but I am a person that says that they shouldn't get any higher than the buildings that are in that neighborhood there's a couple multi-story condos in that neighborhood that I think they should bring it down and match that um that being said Matt's been awesome he's helped our school he's always been there could be a great partner for our island in the future but I do think we need to be a little apprehensive about what type of precedent we're starting I know we say it's not a precedent it's a precedent in developers Minds as developers are looking at Parcels of land and saying what can I build there you know and feels like our comp plan's kind of out the window and I don't think that was the spirit of it thank you than good afternoon mayor and Council my name is Barbara Hill a full-time resident of Fort Myers Beach I'm uh not in favor of of this um 17 the two 17 story Towers um I happen to like um seag seag gate in terms of the quality of the construction that they've done uh in Southwest Florida in the past but we have to recognize the culture of our community Fort Meers Beach is not Naples it's not boa Grand it's not Bonitas Beach it is Fort Meers Beach it is unique let's keep it unique and that was why the comprehensive plan and why we incorporated um happened 25 years ago and we need to honor that you all as Council people um had said publicly that you would support why we incorporated by keeping the building Heights at a reasonable level with the comp plan please honor your promise thank you thank you okay I guess I made it in the nick of time I came running out of a luncheon so excuse me if I'm a little out of breath um I didn't hear anything that went on this morning so forgive me if I'm repeating say your name excuse me just state your name for us oh Kathy Turner I'm a full-time resident in Shell Mount Park um I don't know what happened this morning toward the presentation I pointed out that there were two errors in the development agreement one was on the rentals that said one one month rentals with a minimum stay of seven uh days I thought we had change that was changed to three months so I don't know um on the Florida friendly plantings that they mentioned as a benefit would that require no irrigation um your commercial plan requires 75% native plants and 25% Florida friendly plants uh there is no plantings you're going to make that require no irrigation so you can stand out there and Water by hose but every every plant has to be acclimated um I'm not in favor of the project I live in shelmar Park you're probably not going to find anybody in shelmon park that is in favor of this particular plan um you have the opportunity to destroy our residential neighborhood with the 17 Story Tower and the runway between dinora and Connecticut Street um as far as the public benefits I disagree with the utilization of the term linear Park a park provides an opportunity to recreate and to it's not a plot of Garden in between two sidewalks um The Pedestrian overpass I live here you have no problems crossing the street at any time day or night I do it all the time and not necessarily at the crosswalks so that's not a benefit to the town of impediment to the um traffic um don't consider a public membership to the beach club to be a public benefit um dinora service entrances I believe dinora street is a residential street as categorized so there are limitations on what you can do on a residential street and the encroachment of um into the residential for commercial activities deliveries whatever is going to be detrimental to our neighborhood so I don't think anything that is being supplied here and it's not a matter of whether I trust Matt I think he's a you know trying to do something and work with us but it's overdeveloped it's 433 more than he is as available by right so I implore you vote thinking of your residence not the town the town is nothing without its residents and deny this proposal send it back to the drawing board and come up with something reasonable something between four and 17 floors so I thank you for your time sorry I'm out of breath and have no voice thank you uh good afternoon uh my name is Ellen fure I am the owner and displaced resident from 168 habiscus I was worn in uh you guys are negotiators please negotiate for us so far all discussions have been about how to get segate what they are what they are asking for please negotiate on what we are asking for Less height um please push for a compromise that's all thank you please now who's next come on up man good afternoon my name's Valerie Brown I'm from bayew Avenue here on Fort Meers Beach and I was not going to speak today but I heard someone mention Virginia Beach and how the highrises helped them I'm from New Jersey move forward a little bit what you say there I'm from New Jersey our Coastline has all Barrier Islands very similar to Fort Myers Beach s miles long we got slammed with Hurricane Sandy in 2012 we did not need Rises to come back and our short Tales are doing great thank you good afternoon all Michael Brie uh hibiscus full-time resident um sworn in um couple observations it seems that we're using this word feasibility it really means profit that's okay people need to make money great presentations today uh by a lot of folks followup uh detail um these folks uh are not used car salesmen uh they're developers and developers are similar to uh musicians they like the Ring of the cash register and the deposit of money so whatever happens whether this is approved or another uh idea they're going to they're going to make some money I think what's happening a lot is uh I don't know if you've seen slight of hand smok in mirrors magicians where they'll say look over here we're giving you this green area not so close to the street and we'll say what about that 17 story building no no don't look at that look over here you have these single family homes in the back okay but what about this other 17 no don't look at that look I think we've seen it uh we've seen a number of comments it's the building uh whatever happens seagate's going to be okay they go figure something else out it won't be a 13-story parking building with five stories of residents although some parking might be a benefit to that area um I urge you to vote against this proposal um to help keep Fort Meers Beach Fort Meers Beach and we haven't even talked about the lights uh how they might affect our Turtles my name is Mark leixen I put my hand in up and SW swore in um I'm probably repeating myself here uh I know myself I'm a carpenter I know there's a plumber here I know there's an air conditioning man there's electrician a lot of simple folk uh I had a beer when I moved here in 1989 in Casey's and I saw people doing their laundry in the back part it was like wow it was shrimpers it was basically a shrimping F industry here a fishing town where anybody could talk with anybody uh I know the changes uh have come around a lot a lot of changes but we didn't steal instill a comp plan and the comp plan is for you people to you have a hard hard time going between the suit and ties and the intelligence and attorneys the the you know and and we as simple people just saying keep this simple if you follow the comp plan to a certain degree we know there's allowances but 17 stories is not an allowance you know is it I I look at it and say people invest I when I invested money into Fort Myers Beach I looked at what I could build and what what what I could could afford and you people somebody told me that that's what I could do I didn't think that I could build fivestory building because I I could buy a little beach cottage on the Back Bay for $150,000 I built what was told what I said I had that's what I built and now we have people that are coming into this town and and they're investors and they're saying well let's go for the sky and you know if we get for that maybe it's good maybe but we have a comp plan and uh for us people here that have been living here a long time we'd like you to follow it thank you hi there I'm Bill Simmons 315 band Road uh came here in 1973 on spring break in state I've seen it all come and go and was any you here in 95 that's on the council is any of you been here since 1995 on the island anyway I have and we I watched Porter go come in here and sell us on on incorporating and it was the be Beach voters Association Don Austin and a bunch of people uh said this is the right thing to do uh we we're tired of Lee County coming in and telling us what we're going to do how we're going to do it we can be our own bosses we paying 10 % of the tax for Lee County and only getting 1% of was back to the beach so the math was there it's a smart thing to do and he assured us that we wouldn't have to have big government unfortunately that changed but uh what we have is we have a comprehensive land use program didn't we have an LPA did they have any input on what we should do I think we ought to listen to them they've been there uh they've been here forever and uh uh like I said it's just uh the highrise you're going to set a precedence and and that's the thing I'm afraid of I I don't want to see us set precedence and then have to fight you know uh the veil thread of hey if we don't get the building we're going to come back and triple the density that's up to you if you tell them you're not going to T triple the density you won't so long story short uh I'm I'm for Development I've been here through it all and I'd like to see good solid development there has to be a better way that makes everybody happy the residents happy and the commercial people happy you know there's got to be a media there but you can't just say this is it take it or leave it that's wrong yeah that's all I got to say so thank you is there anyone else that would like to speak in public comment see come on up hi everyone again Cindy Johnson seminal way I think what's obvious through all the discussions today is that we really need to get together as our community and our public going over of our comprehensive plan all the charettes we're supposed to be doing to reaffirm what I think we probably know if it's your if it's your constituents that are going to be entering into what goes into our new comprehensive plan I think the comprehensive plan is going to be similar to what it is right now but you might have more details we can flush out a lot of details because we never knew this was going to we knew this was going to happen way back then I wasn't here but the details will be we can fill in the blanks we can fill in the details more on what we want for the next 25 years and what do we want for the next 25 years what what are the people that are going to be coming here in 25 years will they be coming to Fort Meyers Beach if Seagate is built I wouldn't buy here we went to Marco Island we drove on the island we w we drove right off the island that's not what we were interested and we're not interested in this overdevelopment this is not what we want for our future and I think you have a lot of people that are invested here and there's a lot of people right now that have been kicked back out out of their homes because of Helen and Milton and they are watching right now and are they going to reinvest in our community that's the big question and are they are we even going to have a community anymore that's mostly residential or is this going to be just a tourist Beach like Frankie has called it I hope not because in the future people aren't going to come here they're not going to come to a place where okay I'll answer the question about will seag Gates lights affect the turtles even if they're all Amber yes even Amber lights the taller the building the more light pollution there is and so that that increases our accumulative Lighting on the island it will also affect our our migrating birds which many are protected so it will affect of the environment and what are the people that are 25 years younger than us what are they what what's important to them they care more about the rights of a potato chip and they will stand up for that then then they do theirselves their own self-interest so what are we protecting are we going to protect something or are we for our self-interest right now because we didn't care we didn't care we bought on this island not to make money on our property so I don't think we care I think most of the people here that live here don't care to make money on their properties maybe you do if you're an investor but not the people that are your residents not the people that are your constituents so thanks for all you do thank you Dan for speaking up today thank you Cindy coming back because I debate what I remember coming up here but I'm back welcome back thank you um yes I was born in and I'm a resident on and I live on a sterile um and your name say your name again oh sorry Jean guzzy um and I'll be real brief everyone I think did a good job it sounds like from what people are saying Matt is does a lot for the community I'm again 17 stories we got to meet somewhere um but no one has addressed this and my concern is that these are going to be potentially if this was approved four bedroom four baths sleeps at least eight um and originally there was going to be Matt put it in there that they were going to be at least monthly rentals if we go to weekly rentals that's potentially being conservative about, 1300 people a week potentially could be staying in these towers and in these buildings I live four blocks away I I keep saying harping on it but I'm so fearful of traffic infrastructure just the whole concept of what's going to happen to us as someone who lives in the neighborhood um that's all thank you is there anyone else come on up Tom I'm back Tom Brady um I'm an owner and full-time resident at 339 Madison and yes I have been sworn in I own not an investment property I own my home on the island I'm not a 183-day resident I am a full-time resident of the island my only interest is in creating an environment where we all want to live um I did not sign the petition I would have if I had ever seen it but I'm against it and I and I'm Pro development I'm very Pro development I'm especially Pro development for small businesses this is not a small business the quicker we can get small businesses back to this island the quicker the life that I came here for will come back um they so much admitted that they had not engineered this facility yet because they were waiting to see what you would do I ran a 3,000 person $300 million a year Revenue business with engineers in it I could re-engineer this building in a week if I had to don't don't think that they they can't these are conceptual drawings there's nothing behind them that can't be redone in a couple of days and it could be engineered again and not a short period of time if if they had already started it but they said they haven't started it send them them back to the drawing board send them back to do something that all of us can agree on we can get there we're not there now thank you thank you anyone else that hasn't had a chance to speak yet is there anybody out in the other room there's anybody Jason you just check real quick make sure no one's sitting out there speakers we're good okay seeing no other speakers we will close public comments Let's uh I'm guessing there is the applicant would like to come up and I guess I should ask it are there any additional comments rebuttal or closing statements from the ACT there I read it from my sheet good evening members of council Tina eblad principal of sage entitlements for the record um briefly the property prior to hurricanum was the Red Coconut RV Park which had a memorialized density of 27 dwelling units to the acre if all of those RVs were limited to the area landward of the Coastal Construction Control line that's over 250 units that your comprehensive plan identifies as commercial activity and that had nightly turnover and the traffic associated with it the request before you today is 15 units to the acre at 141 residential units a 10,000 ft restaurant and a limited 29,000 foot private beach club so when we look at the intensity and the impact of the previous development versus the proposed development there is actually a decrease in traffic when you go from commercial to residential when it comes to hey everyone hey come on you guys let her let her speak please continue when you consider the actual commitments of the developer that are written into the development agreement we have specifically limited rentals to three times a year a month or longer so I think that when we hear what it is going to be we need to be very specific that we're looking at the conceptual plans and the development agreement and the commitments that de the developer has made to limit the intensity and the impact of the proposed development Tina before you go on can I just ask you a real quick question on that because I have it written down and you just mentioned about the rental part of it how does that work in the development agreement let's say this is approved and then it goes to an HOA maybe this is an attorney question I don't know but do those restrictions still stay in place when it goes to an HOA or can an HOA change those no they cannot they could make it more restrictive but they could not make it more expansive okay that's all I have sorry Tina thanks it's my understanding the development agreement runs with the land okay um there was a lot of comments about height the height that we are asking for is 235 ft not 250 not 260 not 265 I want to be very clear that the maximum please everyone give me just a second te if you would let's try to be respectful I mean they're being respectful of your time they listen to all of you please be respectful of their time you will have an additional public comment at the end of the meeting if you would like to come up and speak but please be respectful to Tina and her team they were very respectful while you were speaking so um please just keep that in mind go ahead Tina I want to put that out there because I want it to be very clear that the numbers that were provided were taller than what our request actually is the 235 ft would be limited to the area that was called out for the 15 stories over parking only it would be less than that for the portions of the structure that tiered down between the 19 and the 14 stories it is correct that we have not gone through Structural Engineering for this building yet it is a single building with multiple Towers it is not multiple buildings the purpose of the development agreement process was to establish a concept plan think of it as a box rules that we have to abide by so that we can then go and yes have the building structurally designed get architectural elevations come back through the development order process the environmental resource permitting process Lee County Utilities town of Fort Meers Beach Utilities Lee County Department of Transportation and when it comes to the question about lighting and birds and turtles there is also permitting with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection that needs to be done just like the other developments on the island we have not moved forward with those things in recognition that this process needed to happen first in recognition of the negotiation that is supposed to occur and has occurred if you look back at the development agreement that is in your packet and the one that I handed out you will see a number of items that have been added that will impact those future permits and what we have to do so I don't want to belabor the point further um it is my professional opinion that this development is consistent with the comprehensive plan the comprehensive plan does not include a specific height limitation for redevelopment areas it allows you to ask for a deviation which we have done it identifies view corridors as the specific primary benefit our land develop our uh zoning District requires a 50- foot View Corridor we have expanded that by 310 ft we have met the intent of policy 4c4 along with all of the other public benefits that are being offered which includes public parks pedestrian and bicycle inter connections Mobility landscaping and a myriad of other things should you want uh additional commentary regarding the landscaping and the view corridors we are happy to discuss that we are happy to continue to work on the the temporary bathroom um and the location of that in between this hearing and next reading but we would respectfully ask that you'll allow us to move on into second reading and I'm happy to answer any questions that you may have real quick hey Matt just a second I just want to make sure nobody has questions for Tina before you jump Scott you have any questions for Tina no I'm good thank you Jim no okay um thank you everyone for your public comment um again I i' love to hear from everybody I'll be here afterwards if you want to talk about it um or any specifics um I did hear a lot of comments from people that didn't really get into specifics it was I'm against this project because of the hype um and I heard a comment that we weren't here at the 11th Hour well I'm going to be going into my third meeting if we get past this meeting we already had a vote from Council in favor for one to move this on to a second meeting so forgive me for at least assuming that we were close to the end of the process um there have been a lot of comments from people in the audience I've seen those comments before I've tried to address those and I've also said on y or two days ago on Ed Show I was concerned because um people were hearing the back and forth from the audience so a lot of people didn't show up today and talk because of that exact reason they didn't want to go through this show to be honest with you excuse my language you take it out the record but we've been here we want to talk to people we want to go through it and I don't making tweaks I've done it every single time we had a meeting after one I would come out with brand new suggestions that we would incorporate into the project but it is the 11th hour we already had a vote and we were going on to a second reading and just because of a technicality we're having another meeting I'm okay with that totally fine with it and I'm here to talk to people if they want to have discussions afterwards but I think I'm I'm here respectfully asking to have the same boot that we did last time because about a month ago when we had our first read nothing's really changed other than there was an election and the one person running for a Council seat that came out against my project 100% lost they lost and I love Greg he's a good guy talk to him all the time but he lost and I don't think that's an insignificant change from the last vote I think it is a significant change um questions Scott any questions for Matt uh not right now Camen U Jim no I just have one I'd be remiss if I didn't ask you this yep you've obviously heard what everybody's talking about I have you've admitted the height is the issue I have you've also admitted that this is just conceptual yes if if indeed height is the only issue that people really have why is your stance that you don't want to potentially take a different look at this because I have to fit the units and the units have to be marketable units and they have to be a representation of what we want to build and I think I presented that project to council and I'm looking forward to a vote on it I know there's people here against the height but there's also people not against the height and and I've talked to him as well so I mean again there was an election there was ton of people that voted in that election and the election went the way it did and I don't know how else to take that other than support well all right everyone um you answered it I asked the question you answered it so um any other questions for Matt if not we will go ahead and close the public hearing I will now close a public hearing request a discussion or a motion from the Town Council to well is this actually going to be the same script now because it's I guess I need your input as how this is going to move forward yes it is and and basically you you have a decision to make to go ahead and and move it forward to um the advertised second reading uh of the matter or if there is the intent to deny it you would need to deny it for a specific reason based on the evidence that you heard and the criteria um and that those are your two options or if you wanted just to continue but I mean continuing an additional meeting that's kind of I mean this is really above and beyond what your your uh resolution with your procedures in it requires okay I have a question on that so so you're saying that we could could vote today and not continue it to another meeting because we've already had two and this is three you you have that option if if you feel like you want to deny it um based on what you've heard to date uh what we would end up doing is canceling the second reading and not moving moving it Forward I don't think that would be PR without confused so without councilman King here right in all fairness to to both sides um I think he needs to watch the meeting I need I think he needs to understand the opposition um Matt's point of view and you know this this is really important I think we should push it to a second hearing so so Mr Mr King can be here and that's that's how I feel no I agree with that I was just confused when you said it like wait are we moving it forward to another meeting or not or that kind of so no I totally agree that we you have the option right something you want to say no just standing there stretching your legs no I just I I potentially heard something I needed to clarify but it got clarified to okay very good uh Jim any further discussion well uh I'm a little disappointed Matt that and I'm sure it's the Heat of the Moment that you describe this as a show I I I think this is democracy and this is part of the process I respect the people that took the time to be here today and and voice their concerns I may not share their opinion postan I certainly shared their opinion Preen I think the circumstances have changed dramatically postan just by by by opinion based upon my experience and all the folks I've been associating and talking with uh so I'm sorry Matt hopefully you'll regret saying that uh nonetheless I I do agree with my colleagues that this should move forward to another hearing so John can be here we have we already have one uh as part of the process I think that's fair to everybody involved I do appreciate everybody taking the time to be here uh and I think their points are well taken and well heard um I just again I'm I'm I feel the pressure and the challenge of a postan environment I don't like it uh and it's been hard for everybody on this island but I do think uh we've got probably five or six projects that are out there to redevelop on our Island I think again if if this was a case where some developer came in and bought 15 small parcels and was aggregating them into some Mass development and asking for all kinds of extra benefit I think that would be a serious cause of concern this is an existing property that we know needs to be redeveloped and I understand the challenges with the height but I I I think we've got a unique Dynamic here poan and and I'm I'm concerned about stagnating the island uh n nth less I do support my colleagues and and again having an additional hearing on this where everybody can be here and everybody can be heard well we technically closed but we'll I'll ask what do you can we do that if Council uh would like that to happen yes you have that discretion you can wave your rules I mean you have a pending motion I believe right not no motion I thought there was my concern is if someone else wants to then have a comment because it's discretionary on your part because it's your meeting well I don't know what you were going to say Matt and out of fairness of everybody that's here I think that I think we all know what you're going we're planning on saying but um you know I guess I'll I'll I'll ask my fellow council members I I feel that if you allow one person at this point now to speak then you're doing a to everyone else that wouldn't get the same opportunity but I agree I agree okay um I guess my point of view is is you know I tried to ask the questions I think that the public wanted us to ask um I don't know that there's been a substantial change I do agree that you know not having councelor King here is is unfair to him um I don't know that there's been other than the testimony from the public I don't know that there's been a huge difference between the first heing and and this um other than the unwillingness to to come into compliance or I shouldn't say that way come to to meet what I feel is is um consistent with the comp plan I agree with the LPA and their and their verdict or their ruling on it um that it is not consistent um I think that we've heard the elephant in the room um I think it's it's something that could easily be adjusted um that developers have their rights to do they'd like to do um so I at this time I wouldn't be switching my my support to move this to a second reading but you know I can count so if that that being said is there a motion would someone like to make a motion parliamentary inquiry Mr chair uh Madam Town attorney is it are we moving for a second hearing or is it the third hearing what's what's what we're moving for a second reading it is second read second reading of the title of the ordinance and upon a second reading you have the opportunity to adopt okay so the first hearing is is basically the first reading has already transpired this is an additional hearing so we so we've already had so this in essence is that we be moving to have the second reading hearing is that necess we're doing yes and it has been advertised for December the 16th I would move ordinance 24-34 for a second reading by vice mayor adhal um second in by councelor Safford any further discussion councelor vice mayor ad hi councelor Safford hi councelor Woodson hi and I am a no the motion carries three to one see you on the 16 thank you all for coming does anybody need to take a take a five minute break mayor we have have 10 minutes we we'll take a a brief 10 minute break e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e wonderful ready yep okay we're going to call the meeting back to order it is 304 next is our administrative agenda the first item is an interlocal agreement between the town and the tax collector is a request to approve an of an interlocal agreement between the town of Fort Meers Beach Florida and Lee County tax collector for the collection of non-ad valum Assessments related to demolition costs of unsaved buildings so mayor and councel um this is a uh required agreement between the town and the tax collector that's required under Florida law to allow um the town to put any um demolition costs that it incurs on a uh resident's tax bill this is only and I want to emphasize that it would only be on residents tax bills if the town demolished a structure that was on their property it is not going to be on everyone's um tax bill it's just the next step um on at your meeting on December the 16th you're going to see a very similar um interlocal agreement with the property appraiser and again that's a statutory requirement um and then we will have fulfilled those um those steps and in the event that uh we do need to recover demolition costs uh for unsafe buildings then we'd be able to put it on the tax bill for next year okay and again that's just for that property only if the town goes in and demolishes on that property yes questions for Nancy can you explain I'm sorry go ahead uh can you explain item four on page 640 with the 1% and what there way too much legal EAS for my I believe the 1% is the fee that the tax collector would be charging us us okay for his Services of putting it on the tax roll and collecting it for it 1% of the total bill or 1% of its property value says no of the cost of the cost okay so that would be the cost of the of the demolition okay Karen any questions no I'm good I mayor no I did not have any El and either is there a motion to approve the interlocal agreement between the town and tax collector so mooved motion by councelor Safford I'll second seconded by councelor Woodson any further discussion councilor Safford hi councelor Woodson hi Vice May hi I'm an i as well that motion carries unanimously with councelor king um being absent next is Item B special event for the FMB Women's Club Festival of trees this is an FMB Women's Club is requesting an approval of their special event permit to hold their annual Christmas Tree Festival on Friday December 13th 2024 and Saturday December 14th 2024 from 1 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at boks recreational center to serve cocktails out of outdoor music and have a food truck on site I have to abstain from this as my wife is on the board so um I don't I think you have it in front of you or don't have the form the form um I have one I'll get it I have so I have a question I'm a member do I have to abstain as a member no um because you are one of many um however as a member of the board of directors I think there's there could be a better more of a benefit it's kind of debatable if if you um receive any type of special benefit um if my uh if since Dan's disclosed his wife's my wife is on the committee for the Christmas tree committee approve but are you getting any type of special benefit by virtue of I quite the contrary yeah so I I don't think you have a conflict um the mayor you may not have a conflict but if you feel like like you possibly do then I would say go ahead and fill the form out I don't feel like I do I think you're GNA need my vote anyways yeah need for quum have a quorum we have four but you can't have a two two three you need a majority to vote you're just going to be volunt told like I am all the time ex you'll be okay I just wanted to I just wanted to disclose it I don't think it's a conflict I just want that's a continuation of the norm isn't it yeah all right is there a motion to approve the uh special event FMB Women's Club Festival of trees so moved motion by councelor Safford second second by councelor Woodson any further discussion counc Safford hi councelor Woodson hi Vice May ad hi motion carries three to one with mayor allers abstaining and councelor King being absent right next is item C resolution 24- 282 authorizing budget adjustment number two New Year's Eve fireworks this is a resolution of the Town Council of the town of Fort Meers Beach Florida approving budget amendment adjustment number two to fund the New Year's Eve fireworks and providing an effective date Joe good afternoon Joe ank Finance director this if you remember um at the last meeting I brought to your attention that we had approximately $2.5 million of savings from the previous fiscal year and we move $2 million of that into um the emergency fund so that leaves about $542,000 remaining and that can be allocated for other purposes is and since the Town Council presumably desires to have fireworks for the New Year's Eve um celebration we could set aside $80,000 of that savings to pay for the fireworks and if by chance we were to receive um any donations then of course we wouldn't need to use this but um it would be there if there were no donations okay questions for Joe Scott I do not have one no councelor King you have any questions for Joe welcome back I thank you and I'm back I just didn't get just got in so I didn't know what was covered so I have no questions at this time this is just for the fireworks um approving The Bu a budget amendment for the fireworks nope I'm good thank you okay and I do not have any is there a motion to approve resolution 22 24- 282 so moved motion by councelor saff seconded by councelor King any further discussion councel Safford boom councelor King hi did counc Woodson hi vice mayor hi and I'm an ey as well that motion carries unanimously next is item D resolution 24255 strategic planning research agreement this is a resolution of the Town Council of the town of Fort Meers Beach ratifying a research agreement with the University of South Florida Board of Trustees for strategic planning Services as described in a prop proposal unanimously approved by the Town Council on September 9th 202024 in the amount not to exceed $225,400 and authorize the use of the American Rescue plan act arpa funds for the project and authorizing the town manager or mayor to sign and sign any and all documents needed to implement their agreement and providing for an effective date Jo yes this is um basically to ratify um an action that's already taken place and was um informally approved by the Town Council through um discussion and and minutes of a meeting but this is to formalize that approval and it's also to clarify that the funding for um this project would be mostly paid for out of the um arpa funds but since um this is a a two-year project that will cross over Beyond the deadline for actually spending the dollars of the arpa fund um the very last payment of $46,000 would be pass that deadline so of the total 225,000 only 17879 of the scheduled payments could actually be covered by the arpa funds and so this um resolution is authorizing um the use of arpa funds to pay for that and then it's also Al acknowledging that there'd still be $466,000 left that could be covered um by savings that were carried forward from a previous fisal year okay councelor King any questions for Joe I have no questions for Joe I do have some questions about the process go go ahead um Andy I don't know do have we set up a schedule and when are we going to go forward we have a tentative schedule we we had a we had one until the Hurricanes pushed us back in early end of October 1 of November hopefully Jason's working with that hopefully by the first of January we'll be having uh our first um public hearings and our our public meetings to get this going thank you very much anything else sir nothing for me I've got a few things to say to Andy but I can do that offline because I just came out a major surgery he had surgery last week he drove back from Jacksonville but I have back on a meeting so he's one up tou vice mayor yeah Jo Joe is this the last of the remaining arpa funds no there are more arpa funds to be spent and actually um we're in the process of compiling a list and so uh at the next town council meeting we'll bring more items forward to you to approve use of those funds to for and we've got to expend that we have to at least designate those before the end of the year we lose them is that correct that's correct well beside designating it we also have to have like signed contracts associated with it very good thank you all right Council Woodson I'm good CC Safford I'm good I'm good as well is there a motion to approve resolution 24255 for strategic planning research agreement I'll make a motion you want to Second it John sure all right motion by mayor Al second by councelor King any further discussion I'm an i councelor King hi Vice May hi counc Woodson hi counc Safford hi motion carries unanimously next is item e resolution 24256 sta number 16 for fiscal year 24 access infrastructure services this is a resolution of the town of Myers Beach approving a supplemental tax authorization number 16 with access infrastructure LLC in the amount not to exceed $280,000 to provide technical support GIS and special project management for the 2024 2025 fiscal year authorizing the town manager to sign the agreement providing for severability and providing for an effective date basically this is just a continuation of the services that aess provides us on a daily basis and seeing that go goes through without a hitch uh we've had a little lapse in a few of the agreement and they've been patient enough to get this moving so this is just a continuation of that okay and I don't know if this is a question for you or Jason or where we're we're g to get an update soon on the impact fees yes um actually after this meeting um I'm going to be talking with you and you uh to get some additional information that we're waiting on uh in order to potentially have a meeting in January where there will be an update for you okay perfect any other questions for staff John uh you asked the one I was going to ask thank you mayor okay vice mayor no I do not have any more councelor Woodson good counc Zord you asked my question all right is there a motion to approve resolution 244-256 for the STA number 16 for Access infrastructure services so moved a motion by councelor Safford second second by councelor Woodson any further discussion councelor Safford hi counc Woodson hi vice mayor adal hi councelor King hi and I'm and I as well that motion carries unanimously um our next item is item F this is a resolution 24255 for Carlos Circle sta this is a resolution of the Town Council of the town of Fort Meers Beach resending resolution 24177 and author authorizing the town manager or his designate to approve an updated standard task authorization number four in the amount of $46,988 for tier one project Carlos Circle and any Associated documents and providing for an effective date yes mayor we had already you had already approved this resolution but it was under fy20 20 um budget and we needed to just move it to an fy2 24 budget this is just housekeeping okay Contra a contract contract sorry contract contract counc saff questions not this time cson no no mayor counc King thanks for the explanation no questions I do not have any as well is there a motion to approve resolution 24255 so moved second motion by councelor Woodson seconded by councelor Safford any further discussion councelor Woodson I councelor Stafford I councelor King I vice mayor adal I and I'm an i as well that motion carries unanimously our last administrative agenda item is item G resolution 24- 286 ib- 24- 08- Lanas pass moing field dinghy doc construction project this is a resolution of the Town Council of the town of Fort Mar's Beach Florida to award it B-24 d08 end to Kelly Brothers Inc as the lowest responsive and responsible bitter to complete the dingy DOT construction project providing for scrier errors severability and an effective date so as you're all aware the dingy dock was destroyed by Ian um it's kind of got pce meal together I know um Smith Light was very nice to us and gave us a temporary dock which we purchased from them they were no longer using um it doesn't really meet the needs this was already in the process of design um since then G out for ITB and it's been awarded to Kelly Brothers which was the lowest fter at that time um so this is all stuff that's kind of been going on for like the last six months off and on and we've been bringing to you and bits and pieces either through Chad's reports or through reports to the Anchorage committee okay Council Safford questions no council Woodson where does the dingy doc go in it goes in you know where the the temporary trailer was right to nervous Nell's underneath the Doge be right underneath the bridge there yeah May uh this was brought forward by the able leadership of of uh the chair of the Anchorage advisory committee Chris King and the Anchorage advisory committee was in full support of this measure all right councelor king tread lightly hear she sitting right next to me in the recovery room so I have no further questions and I guess we know your vote wow is there a motion to approve resolution 24286 motion by vice mayor adalt second seconded by councelor Woodson any further discussion vice mayor I councelor Woodson I councelor Stafford hi councelor King I appreciate all the hard work by the anchor advisory committee and I vote I and I I as well that motion carries unanimously all right brings us to final public comment there is no one in the room nobody here so I will close final public comment next is the town manager items thank you mayor council um just a couple actually four things we have the Bay Oaks Park uh project update uh bid opening on 1210 uh next week so we hopefully can speed that process up get a contract in place and bring it back to you about on the 16th of not it could be a special meeting if we don't have a contract in place but it's it's for basically what's going on where we're sitting and back here the the um Jeff you can help me if I forget something the multi-purpose field pickle ball courts parking drainage walking Track U Pig M there'll be a pavilion that'll be put in so we have a million-dollar matching Grant one million will come from arpa funds so that's another part that's going to be coming before you so we want to make sure we utilize that money so this has been a ongoing process since I got here actually and finally culminating with uh hopefully a bid uh awarding uh next Wednesday or I believe it is so uh 7-Eleven closing is next week right after that before you going go back to BS if you don't mind real quick since we're on Bok any update on the pool when are we going to see those cdbg funds to start working the the funding for the three projects that we got approved through cdbg we're still in the initial phase of changeing comments uh where the comment phase it's called I know it sounds ridiculous but it is um and um once we get past that we go into the paperwork phase we're probably to answer your question sir probably looking at about February or March before we actually have a plan to put together to develop yes and that's just the the normal progression of okay working with but that's our plan is that was through the cdbr that is correct is to redo the pool with that funding correct as well mut Park and yes sir okay all right sorry Andy that's okay 7-Eleven closing is going to be next week Nancy's been working Monday Monday so we moving forward with that we'll need your signature mayor we'll need to make sure you're available then um and we'll start demo a building and doing what we need to do get with Andrew site work about the storm Mor and maybe have a a revision to their contract to be able to do that so we I put it about for bid and it can go faster so we're really excited about that um Town Hall we had furniture delivered today to town hall um now we got to figure out how to get it together but we'll figure that out but it's part of the furniture has been delivered we'll put that together and then as we get that together we'll order more uh we fully anticipate having the top two floors ready by the end of this month um seeing how we're dealing with um the magistrate and with with FEMA on these trailers um and getting out of here and our conaes and things could be in January we start operating out of there to a some sort of capacity by the end of the month maybe finance that type of thing slowly transitioning to that building as as we can working on the parking lot as soon as that's ready there'll be some things going on there that that that will slow that part down but we'll still be okay uh they should start this week uh spray washing and painting the outside of the building so that should be moving progressing quite along pretty quick we still have an RF P to put out for the downstairs yes Andy so you say the exterior of the of the new town hall will the painting will begin within a week it should be so either later this week or the first of next week I think there was some misunderstanding there was I thought the town did a great job of putting out that survey getting input for the color I think some people were Mis misled a little bit not intentionally that the uh painting was just sort of willy-nilly in the sense that I think it's important for you guys guys to stress that the painting wasn't just to change the color it was actually done to preserve fil cracks preserve the building itself could you just spend a minute on that I heard a number of people on social media say why don't you just save the money and do something else or could you just explain why we're painting the building changeing col first of all we have some insurance money and we understand that and that's what it's supposed to be used for you don't really get to save your insurance money you get it you need to do something with it that kind of goes in flies in the face of that but secondly there's some upkeep some maintenance some some some uh repairs that need to be taken care of outside of the building um to make sure that it's preserved it's it's gone through everything else that everything gone through here since it's been built two three hurricanes um a lot of wear and tear um there's some chipped off places the plaster missing things like that so it's got to be repaired we got we got to seal all the cracks and and and and um um C the CL the cracks will the will the will the another people ask this too it's going to be this lighter blue I forget the name of the blue that but it looks it looks great yes but but but is will it will the white Parts remain white the blue okay yes very good the spindles and the columns will be white excellent thank you correct so anyhow we're trying to move there it could be that temporarily as we move these trailers out of here that we we move back to Bay Oaks because of the Ada accessibility looks like it might be the end of February by the time the elevator's ready but again today's December second all this is going to go really quick over the next 90 days so just be mindful of what we're striving to get accomplish in the next 90 days parking lot new building getting rid of these trailers moving in that that sort of thing we hope to be able to have the trailers ready to go so we talk to the magistrate we can say we would like you know request to be to withdraw could be hard for Nancy to argue against town that pays her so we're going to ask to hopefully withdraw hours because we already moved we already got the trailers moving we're already off the site there's no need to really enforce anything on it so that's kind of the thought process that Nancy and I have gone through in the last couple weeks as we're starting to discuss how we transition out of here and into the new the new location so it's really going to happen it's it's been a while Jeff and I've been going through and the cold and Frankie what we need to do down there but we're really getting close the downstairs is going to probably take the longest but we're right at the at the edge of getting that started that's going to be not a lot it's probably going to take the parking lot equally as much time so hopefully it's all ready the elevator is going to be the thing we're waiting on the most which is what a lot of people have been um the last thing I have is on um December 9th at five o'clock in Time Square we'll have our poia tree lighting and I understand Santa will make an appearance uh we're pretty excited about that I know there's a lot going on this weekend so we pushed it to the middle of of next week just because of timing and and it kind of flows I think with the boat parade with the vent down here in the in the um now that's the next weekend but with the uh party the school bonfire and all that so coming in the next week so the next 10 to 10 to 12 Days going to be a lot of things happening in town so a lot of events that that are really positive for the town and and this time of the year go ahead to the Tom maners Point our conx will be out of here by the end of the week as well all Town conexes yeah so we have the two here at the ball field we have some in the back and then one that we're using at the temp the new town hall those will all be vacated off of town property okay good to hear and what we're doing is we're moving to to trailers that are portable we'll have equip Jeff's team will have equipment in those trailers so we'll be able to mobilize and move and do things even quicker around town trailers station at different parts of the town for the the employees to be able to get to them but we're going to be pretty good about and you know lock them down the could maybe take tires off of them who knows what we're going to do with them but we're going to make sure that we we vacate and we do comply with everything the f is asking everybody else to do the um poia tree is that you said in our conversations you had mentioned that the frame might be going up today the plan was today they got some of them got sidetracked on a different project but un loading furniture today or tomorrow but by Friday we should start to see the plants in there the plants they said should be here tomorrow or Wednesday with this meeting I didn't get confirmation no okay so but the actual lighting of it will be next week on the 9th that's right yes sir okay yes sir just a just a question a broader question on on the direction of FEMA's decree are we hoping to get some further clarification on that soon or what's the yes um we have a call tomorrow afternoon with Senator Scott's office that's tomorrow I and also we also are responding with a letter this week um outlining a few things what we've done Frankie prepared the letter we're going to discuss with the attorney this afternoon after this meeting and um get that back to FEMA but we're just continually stay in touch with them about what's going on thank you okay Town attorney Adams um so earlier this uh in the meeting today I mentioned the the small mistake that we had in the minutes um regarding the Ortiz foreclosure or the foreclosure on Nature's View so I'm happy to report to you well first of all the we had it set up for an auction for a sale of the property on November the 21st and they were trying to sell the property to a private individual and so we told them they had to close before the 21st so on the 20th everybody worked really really quickly and we closed the transaction and um I could not have done it well they closed the trans transaction but we got the money that's the important thing and working with Joe um I'm just looking at an email we recovered um $725,000 one but it was a team effort um Joe was very instrumental Tom was very instrumental Linda got involved helping tracking the wires Danielle did a great job with code um on my team uh Paul Khloe and Christina we all had our hands in it trying to make this happen um because they wanted to close their transaction but we were like hey you know you've got to um we've got to have the money we've got to you know make everything correct or we're going to go to sale it was better for the town to go ahead and get the money through a private sale rather than wait for the auction wait for the funds to be transferred back Nancy that's that's great news could you just for folks who might be watching just give a 30 second history as to what what we're talking about here so this was um back in gosh I think it was 2019 2020 there were some leans that were placed on a property on Nature View and um and they were placed there because code violations I I don't know right off hand off what the violations were but they were they were valid leans that are recorded of record um and uh in the meantime at one point you all authorized um the prior Attorney John to go ahead and initiate a foreclosure proceeding and that proceeding kind of you know worked its way but very slowly the property owner came to you and asked for reduction she asked for zero I don't if you remember that and you denied her um and we proceeded as quickly as possible to try to move that case forward and take it to sale because there were really no issues of of material fact because of the fact we had valid leans that's 750,000 that just goes into the general fund Joe it does but it's not budgeted yet so right found money and we're looking for more too we there is one more foreclosure that's coming up that I think Karen is going to participate in a mediation and maybe we that's the white sand property that also came to you for a reduction of the leans so while you're on that roll there Nancy could you just give folks an update as to the KERO property what's the status there the kisto property um there was a code enforcement hearing the magistrate ruled in favor of the Town um they then filed an appeal to the Circuit Court and we are in the process of waiting for their brief to be filed and then we will respond to that and then hopefully the court will make a decision on that and they're still being fined every day for being out of compli they still are yes the appeal does not stop it and that fine is how much per day oh my goodness it's at least oh it's a repeat so it's $500 per day thank you I just have a question with that too so if the so we're waiting for the briefs and everything and then if the um judge rules in our favor then what are the next steps we would go back to the magistrate to get a certification of the lean then we can wait three months um we will once it's certified we record it then we could wait three months and then initiate foreclosure proceedings if that is the intent of or the will of councel so if that owner then decides to pay the fines again then does that start it all over again can he that would eliminate the lean yes and you would recover the money that's owed for the lean and should he violate again then we would initiate another code enforcement procedure so do we get to go then to $1,000 a day no the statute limits us to 500 so so in other words this just could keep going on in definitely well it could um but and the other hand too he's he does have leans against his property um which we can foreclose upon and should he choose not to pay then his property would go up for sale if we went that far but we have to wait the three months because that's some kind of that's statutory but to Karen's point if he just keeps paying it starts over it just keeps starting over in other words do we have the ability to do a issue a cease and desist or is there any sort of enforcement mechanism that we can use against the prop so I I guess what I'm hearing you say at least maybe two of you is that you do not want to see parking there regardless of his his constant violation and paying the penalty for violating I mean the last time he did this didn't we recover like 250,000 or something 180 180 sorry I'll just I'll just speak for myself and I and I don't I don't suggest any sort of leniency towards the uh the person involved here the entity involved I I do think at some point I I I really would strongly encourage the town to begin negotiations with this person or their attorney understanding the challenge that's involved in and of itself just that task but we we've got to figure out a way to get that retail Plaza back open and if there's some kind of negotiation where we could incent or encourage that retail closet to open in some capacity or have it to be sold or whatever we need to do to get that property activated I think it could really be helpful for the town and I'm I'm All For You Know holding this guy to the letter of the law but at the same time we've got a retail Plaza there that desperately needs to create opportunities for small businesses is on this island and I I just want you to put your thinking cap on and how best to approach that so the other thing too that I need to add is that he has filed um for a special exception he has applied for it but I understood from Sarah that um that the application is not complete is that correct a special exception for what to allow for shared parking because right now he's operating without a permit yeah is any in violation of some other constructions there too he was yes he he started building a wall without per so our building official stopped him on that um Joe Speck who's not here this week has been in numerous conversations with him as far as how to come into compliance with that um and that that one just kind of sits there right now okay but he has been noov and he is that since you're closest to this entity and its Council and is there any hope for negotiations to engage him in opening a retail Plaza again and becoming a good actor I can I can speak with his councel and see kind of what what the status is but right now what we have pending is is an appeal and we have a fine that's continuing to acrew so do we know what that fine is up to right now I don't know right off hand NY I think what I'm hearing is a concern that this just becomes an infinite infinity loop where this process just keeps playing out and playing out and playing out and frustrating everyone but but the owner it can unless he comes forward and gets his special exception which he would come to you and and ask you for it which you would it's quas a Judicial so you'd have an open mind and listen to the testimony and see where it's at all righty anything else NY no none okay next is council member items and reports John uh 75 to 80% blockage so it's a new stin I will be spending the night hope the pudding's good jello jello jello jello I don't want to say anything but I've lost five pounds in the time I've been here and it's very good uh weight loss program but it's very expensive all right vice mayor well I Andy do you want should I raise that issue about the medical facility on the island P should we you want to work on that and then come back or we can talk about I just I I'd asked Andy if there was any uh grant money available we have a medical center on the south end of the island uh where there's offices and there used to be a a physician assistant in there and uh that the works work needs to be done on that whole office complex to refurbish it to have it be functional again but there is a section that would be specific specifically designated for the physicians assistant and I was just seeing if if everybody would be comfortable with seeing if we could find some Grant dollars because it's so laser focused to providing Medical Services to an island recovering from a hurricane I thought there might be a niche there where we could get some not only to refurbish the office space but also put some basic equip equipment in there like an X x-ray machine Etc probably be be under 100,000 and I just asked Andy at the break if we could begin to research because it's you know it's just amazing the dollars that are out there especially for these unique niches that it might might be helpful to help incent the owner of that building to to get going on that particular uh option so just see if anybody had any concerns about that I do not okay I didn't think it was terribly controversial I great ra ra for uh the other thing uh and I I'm sorry Frankie I was going to mention this at the brink but I was curious now that we're slowly getting back to normal life again on this island whatever that is uh the micro grid study is there is there still is that is that process or strategy to to to scope that still in in in in sync yes sir so basically that's tied into our planning grant that we got from the cdbg uh the $1.5 million for use for planning uh we've had three talks already with the purveyor of that Grant um they have a little hang up with the sole source um they don't have a hang up with the fact that it's a government entity so they're just trying to uh it's one government agency trying to diffuse another government agency and we have not gotten any Clarity on that yet so uh we we have another talk scheduled for two weeks from now we should see get some idea by then how we can proceed that's great and lastly I wanted to thank your special uh permit person is that Tracy it is Tracy she's very helpful to the beach school kids and and help thanks to the town and everybody involved for Expediting that process and I think it'll probably be the first legal bonfire on the island in probably years I'm guess legal yeah so thanks thanks for your helped anything else no council Woodson no we've been here long enough sorry three quick things um quick can you gentlemen update us on Time Square at the farmers market so we I uh had a few emails sent to me by the Millers wondering when they would be able to get back to Times Square um and have their Farmers Market since uh Milton um Andy s and and and uh Jeff has spent a lot of time going down there and looking at what the infrastructure is in that area especially with the clock still not being put in yet um new trees having to be planted uh possible cement barrier wall going on the beat side that we had briefly but I think with between Debbie and Milton we'd like to put that back as a permit just to keep people from going on to uh the old construction debris that's there um we also agreed that for Public Safety because of the undermining of some of the bricks pavers the water lines that are there that we would keep the ballards locked um people that needed to get out like the two food trailers that are there if they needed to get out we could unlock them and let them out but we did not want any more Transportation going in and out of that not even on a one day a week basis um we feel that there's spots that might be compromised and that's all we need at this point is to have other accidents or liabilities against the town for that um I express that to the Millers obviously that's kind of their whole gig to get their people in unload and and and go park um we've kind of come to a stalemate as far as what can be allowed and what won't be allowed um I don't believe in the sight of Public Safety we can waiver on our stance um we must keep it locked until we get a better View and and and and get a bigger hand in there to help us with the infrastructure have we looked into mean for years that the farmers market used to be on under the bridge have we looked at alternative sites I mean we we have to reactivate that area as much as we can on the a weekly basis to get people downtown I mean those those businesses it it's I mean I think it helps all those businesses down there I mean of course we have the concert of Bayside Park on suay but I think we need an activity weekly where those restaurants are getting you the shops and the restaurants are are getting and get getting people more engaged downtown we we' definitely be open to an alternative site the problem with under the bridge is that's where most of the parking that they go and get with their permit or the people that come to visit them and and use the downtown area are forced left to park with there's not a great deal of parking as you know just on old St Carlos or even in that just a little immediate lot that the town has behind the Sur Style Shop um well what about uh maybe one of John Rashard properties I did notice that when they were down here or I haven't talked I haven't talked to anybody I'm just throwing out ideas here but I I mean the MOs Marine C caddy corner to I thought they could set up in Lin Hall Park and just get with the county and just get an agreement right there and then get Park they could park and be they want to have their vehicles right with their tents and things can't do that down there's not enough space lenol Park is perfect for that they Park I mean but they need to talk to the county I'll be happy to talk to the county manager but that to me seems to be the answer and you keep keep people out of that walkable area and and vehicles they really from what I understand they because down here at Santini they had their vehicles parked right behind their tents and it I mean I I get it um but that would be the only place unless you're under the under the bridge and they Park and they they occupy both they don't take up extra parking spaces right that they can park and be under the bridge or we can work with try to work with the county to see if the because in the mornings LOL Park doesn't fill up that quick it's usually after lunch and all that stuff so it's just something I thought about the weekend they're out of here by a manable time of 1 two o' and that's usually when you start getting your Beach traffic down here anyway during the season when it's a little warmer in the afternoons anyway um so yes we'll be willing to work with them anyway but for safet standards sake and for liability standards we have to keep those ballards lock okay I'll reach out to Dave Horner and willing to adjust their hours a little bit if they're amable to doing it at Lal Park I mean it makes sense to me but and the other two things uh I was remiss with the thanking Meers side and the Neptune for providing parking for sand sculpting and let's not forget the boat parade is this Saturday starts at six o'clock um hopefully we'll be able to do two two laps we so far have 20 boats registered which means we'll probably end up with 30 but our goal would be 40 so hope everybody can can attend supposed be 75 degrees in Beau I did think of one thing okay go ahead sorry um you know you talk about Time Square and the condition of Time Square what can we do to get those lots and things cleaned up picked up it I mean I walked up there safe yeah safe it it it's horrible so I've reached out to joose Spector building official when we started talking about this whole red tag process and uh especially when we ran into the the property that's at the end of northo that just seems to be hanging on um and if there was ways to kind of clean up everything uh we can follow the same red T process and it it it it's not a structure but it's the remnants of a structure and it's unsafe the ways conditions and Joe spec sorry uh felt that there's plenty of meat on the bone for him to stand behind that and write up those properties that are letter terms they've been purchased by individual but they left abandoned um they're not magically going to rebuild themselves they're not magically going to take care of themselves and um as we know this is starting to get into our meat and potatoes time of year and we don't need people having accidents on those structures or around those structures um they've been good players in putting up fencing when we've asked them to um I don't think the fencing goes far enough so starting on Monday uh we will be getting with the town attorneys and we're going to be approaching those as lack of a better term red tag properties also and giving them a a sunset on when those properties have to be cleared off or the town will come in and take off that reel and build back I've already had a preliminary discussion with the land owner and he understands that he has to do something it's one of those times now where say it's push or shove time and we're definitely pushing why are we going to wait until next week why can't we I can't do building official has to make he's gone G okay all right but it be like that Tropic Sun or that property finally got that clean it's nice and clean and it's a good spot so yeah same concept same things we want to do we still have palm trees coming to plan in there this week and the time clock the clock's going to go back and things like that the wall like we were talking going to go up but we're trying to at least address things we can and eventually we're going to be getting in there and redoing that whole thing anyhow because it just needs to be done so it's it's coming what about the other project that has been pushed back the not remember what it was called before but su's thing there that building that it's got to come down too well they she came in and asked she was going through some things and she got granted a little more time and she's moved now she's not even there the trailer's gone everything's gone well but the building next to it that the Joe has had issues with stuff falling down that hasn't been secured and Joe Joe's addressed that with her several times and I can get you and fill you all in individually and we can bring it bring it to is it red tag I don't know if it is or not but I know he's had several discussions with her in the past maybe month and a half okay because they still got stuff hanging that was supposed to be taken care of that was anything else no thank you you sure I'll think something I'm sure I've got just a a couple of things one um any updates on the wagon idea that we talked about um the beach thing and yeah we nany's going to bring some information to you hopefully the next meeting about how the process will go through with the the Cent contractor current vendors we have and we just need to make the purchase of the trailers okay okay it would be nice to try to have that for the season correct um the other thing is um kind of like the bike or the not the on the 21st we'll be doing our bike carolling thing um we'll be starting at Bayside park at 4 o'clock biking down at six o'clock down to Diamond Head turning around going back um and then there'll be a free concert at Margaritaville from the Ben Allen band who was a finalist on The Voice so it's open for anyone so Joe if you want to decorate your bike and come down from 6:00 to 7:30 we'll be we'll be riding down it's always a fun event golf cart scooters kids it's all ages I see yeah bring the cats you know take put the little put the little thingies on and uh so you know this year we we just asked that everybody if they can bring an unwrapped toy for the beach kids Foundation that will be getting any of the toys so it should be a fun um nervous there's a lot of sponsors but um C Gypsy is one we'll be covering the the nervous n Snug Harbor and wo Willies will be covering the band that will play from 4 to six at Bayside Park and then I won't go into all the other ones I'll cover it probably on the 16th again but the last thing I have is speaking about Matt he and I had a long conversation when we met at his property he actually had a good idea you know looking at going through what you're talking about by mayor is activating and getting some more retail open what does the town have as an asset that could help Kickstart that and I know we talked about the Old Town Hall property and his suggestion was actually pretty smart and I didn't think about it but is the town willing to put something out to entice developers to come in and do some sort of long-term lease where they obviously will get the benefits of the residential above it but the lower level because it's outside the ve Zone we could do ground floor commercial at a discounted rate because the town owns a property and then we can maybe start enticing some of these essential services that we've all talked about to bring in it might be worth having the discussion my guess is there's probably plenty of developers that would line up at the door that would want to come in and at least take a look at it but that might be something that we could do to to be proactive on our side to to bring something in how it would work I don't know it's a little different I've I've had experience with with business incubators where you come in you the town has space and for short term it can be a low rent office or whatever and and you just start your business eventually with the understanding you're not going to be there 10 years you're going to be there you know 12 months maybe or something and then you get out but there are things I talked to the vice mayor at the break earlier about potential Grant programs when he brought that up that the town could do a 50/50 Grant with something I'm not saying we do that I'm not there yet but we've had commercial facade programs where I've been before we wanted to redo like the downtown and the business owner applied for the grant the owner of the property and then they would air conditioning storm window you know whatever they needed to put in the facility and then it'd be a a grant period of 10 years they'd have to agree to that we put a lean against the property and then if they didn't stay 10 years they had to pay back what they had borrowed prated or we got the property so there the lean was when it was sold that type of thing so there's a lot lot of things you can do but yet we'd have to probably dig deep on that about building a building and what we would what we'd want to do I'm not saying the town gets in the business of building the town's saying we have a piece of property that we own that could be put onto the tax role is one benefit but entice a developer that doesn't have to put out that money to buy the property that you lease it to you're you're leasing them a long-term lease but part of the covenants of the lease is that res you know you you can sell your residential if that's what it's going to be be up above it but the lower level or the first two levels are commercial they're for small businesses that can get back on the island or choose to open back up at a subsidized rate potentially um to be able to make it affordable for them kind of like that grant program where forever year you stay what you owe back to the town right is reduced what you owe to the town you know just at the surface it sounded like this was something that could be done at no cost of the taxpayers obviously to be able to achieve some things that we've been trying to achieve but I just before we go down the road trying to look it up I just wanted to talk to the fellow counselors to see if that's something you're interested in um it would not be a it would not be a Workforce housing type thing it would be a condo my guess T type of thing where people would have even even the potential owner of the business could live above it sure yeah sure I like it I like it I think we should look into it I'm sorry John what did you say definitely worth exploring okay I'll work with Andy and staff and see what we could see out there in the past but other than that I don't have anything else to add anyone else John move to that's it wow that's it gry the anesthesia is kicking off yeah going well all right got motioned by councelor King to adjourn all those in favori by saying I I