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The Fort Myers Beach Local Planning Agency has voted unanimously to recommend approval of a development agreement for a three-story building to house Meli’s Ice Cream and a two-floor residential apartment at Times Square. The Town Council still needs to approve the agreement. Photo provided
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The Fort Myers Beach Local Planning Agency has voted unanimously to recommend approval of a development agreement for a three-story building to house Meli’s Ice Cream and a two-floor residential apartment at Times Square. The Town Council still needs to approve the agreement. Photo provided
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Meli’s Ice Cream, currently operating out of a mobile trailer at Times Square, would be part of permanent three-story building under plans proposed by property owner Carlos Chavez. Photo by Nathan Mayberg
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The owners of Bella Mozzarella Pizza & Grill at Times Square have proposed a new three-story building to house an ice cream shop and a residential unit next door on Fort Myers Beach.
The Fort Myers Beach Local Planning Agency unanimously approved a development agreement with conditions for the three-story building that would house Meli’s Ice Cream and would be constructed next to Bella Mozarella Pizza & Grill. The building would include a residence for the owner, Carlos Chavez.
The Town of Fort Myers Beach Council must still approve the development agreement.
Meli’s Ice Cream currently operates out of a mobile trailer next to Bella Mozarella Pizza & Grill, offering ice cream, milkshakes and ices. The pizza restaurant also offers ice cream and Italian ices in the rear of the building.
The new building has been proposed to be constructed on a three-hundredths of an acre lot at 50 Old San Carlos Boulevard which was formerly occupied by Kilwin’s Chocolates and Ice Cream Shop. That shop was destroyed by Hurricane Ian in 2022.
The new building would reach a maximum height of 47.5 feet as measured from grade to the highest peak of the roof, or up to 30 feet as measured from the minimum Florida Department of Environmental Protection required elevation (lowest horizontal structural member) mid-point of the sloped roof, according to town documents.
The building would be located on approximately 1,119 square feet with a three-story building totaling about 2,787 square feet. The ice cream shop would occupy about 1,000 feet of space on the ground level in a mobile unit that could be removed in the event of a major hurricane. A residential apartment would be constructed on the second and third floor.
Meli’s Ice Cream, currently operating out of a mobile trailer at Times Square, would be part of permanent three-story building under plans proposed by property owner Carlos Chavez. Photo by Nathan Mayberg
Carlos Chavez, who owns the property, said the second and third floor of the building would become his new residence. There would also be a balcony in the front and back.
Town planning consultant Jason Green said the property owners need three deviations from the town for the project, including a deviation from the rear setback from 10 feet to allow a zero setback. The second deviation will increase the floor-area ratio from 1.8 to 2.5. The third deviation would allow the owners to have no plantings on the edge of the parcel.
Chavez told the Local Planning Agency (LPA) that construction would be difficult and costly. “This is a really difficult project to be able to present,” he said.
“This is a very small lot, with very limited options for us,” Chavez said. “All of the regulations that we have to follow to comply with FEMA, with the town, the cost of building basically makes it almost impossible financially to build something there.”
Chavez said his plan is to use the building as his residence and not to rent it out.
Selling ice cream, he would never be able to cover the cost of constructing the building, he said.
“This is going to be my residence,” Chavez said. “I am not planning on renting it to anybody.”
LPA Chair Anita Cereceda noted the new building would make it visible from over the Matanzas Pass Bridge.
Cereceda congratulated Chavez on getting approval for his project but said she believed the LPA and town council needed to have a conversation about helping the businesses at Times Square move forward with plans for rebuilding and getting past any roadblocks.
The LPA unanimously approved the new building while expressing concerns such as a question from James Boan about whether the new building would change the character of Times Square through the mixed use of the building.
Green said the building meets the town’s zoning code for allowing both residential and commercial units.
Vice Chair Jane Plummer, who ultimately voted to approve the structure, said she had some concerns about allowing the property to be used by a mobile vendor. She suggested that the seating be located on the ground floor while the business be located upstairs.
“I don’t like the look. I don’t think it will be what we want,” Plummer said.
“This is affording a small business an opportunity,” Cereceda said.
Patrick Vanasse, a planner representing Chavez in his proposal, said the mobile vending issue is one the town needs to grapple with, and that the proposal in the development agreement will meet the FEMA standards and code requirements that the town has been dealing with for mobile trailers in town.
Vanasse said the ice cream shop has to be ground level.
“I don’t think there is a world where people would want to go upstairs choose their ice cream and then go sit downstairs. I think it has to be at ground level. I think for other projects (for) a restaurant, if you do have a restaurant upstairs and seating at the bottom that would make sense,” Vanasse said.
The owners of Bella Mozzarella Pizza & Grill at Times Square have proposed a new building to house Meli’s Ice Cream next door on Fort Myers Beach. Photo by Nathan Mayberg
Vanasse said he hopes a wave mitigation wall along Times Square will help the owners enclose the ground floor . “We are hoping this happens,” Vanasse said. If the wave mitigation wall is built, he said, the owner of the building could close the downstairs fully. There would be a permitting process with floodplain managers to take this district and make it a coastal zone and enclose the downstairs, he said.
Vanasse also addressed staff comments regarding plans for drainage in Times Square. Vanasse said it would be “physically impossible” for the owners to build a separate drainage system on site. “I think we are exempt from requirements. The best solution is some type of underground drainage. Our client is not in the position to build a system for everybody else,” he said.
Vanasse said there was mention of runoff from the rooftop and said there may be a need for gutters.
Town Attorney Nancy Stuparich said the development agreement that is being sought by the owner, which will now require approval by the Town of Fort Myers Beach Council, was a preferred route for the town for certain projects that may need quick approvals.
“The purpose of having these development agreements is that there is a project that is coming before you that is so unique, and so beneficial to the town, it needs to happen and it needs to happen quickly,” Stuparich said.
The town updated its development agreement process last year, in a process facing scrutiny as part of the lawsuit challenging the town’s approval of a development agreement for the Seagate condo tower project.
Cereceda reappointed as chair
The Local Planning Agency unanimously reappointed Chair Anita Cereceda and unanimously reappointed Vice Chair Jane Plummer.
Cereceda had been reappointed by the Town of Fort Myers Beach Council to the board by a 3-2 vote earlier this month. Councilmembers John King and Karen Woodson had voted against her appointment. Woodson had sought earlier this year to remove Cereceda from the board for her support of the group Protect FMB, which is supporting a legal effort to overturn the approval given by the Town Council for the Seagate condo project.