/Fort Myers Beach News




Approval includes 10 deviations from town code

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One Particular Harbour, at the former Silver Sands Resort cottages site, was approved for 60 rooms, by the Town of Fort Myers Beach Council.

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Tom Torgerson, TPI

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Former Fort Myers Beach Mayor Tracey Gore spoke out against the proposed One Particular Harbour hotel project, to be located on her road at Primo Drive. Photo by Nathan Mayberg

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Megan Strayhorn, attorney for TPI

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Megan Strayhorn, attorney for TPI

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Town of Fort Myers Beach planning consultant Jason Green (left) and senior planner Jason Smalley.


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The Town of Fort Myers Beach Council voted 3-0 today to approve the One Particular Harbour hotel proposed by TPI with 10 deviations from town code. The Council approved the 60-room hotel, which required height and parking deviations, over the objections of neighbors on Primo Drive. Voting in favor were Vice Mayor Scott Safford, Councilmember John King and Councilmember Rebecca Link. Councilmember John McLean was absent. Mayor Dan Allers recused himself due to a conflict of interest regarding an ongoing business relationship with TPI, which developed Margaritaville Beach Resort across the street.

The approvals include allowing the developers to construct a pedestrian barrier, that town staff has yet to see any renderings or drawings for. The pedestrian barrier, a condition of approval, has yet to be designed and would still need approval from Lee County. TPI’s Tom Torgerson, who is leading development plans for the project, said that the barrier would go on the other side of the street from the Primo Drive intersection down to Crescent Street on property TPI owns in front of the Margaritaville Beach Resort. Torgerson also mentioned the pedestrian barrier may go near the Waistina Way parking lot, which is on property TPI gave to the town for the paid public parking lot in exchange for the town giving TPI land that included a public beach access, so TPI could build Margaritaville. Town of Fort Myers Beach Councilmembers did not ask Torgerson, nor the project’s attorney and planning consultant any questions regarding the pedestrian barrier. Lee County could not begin review until the town moved the project forward, as was done on Wednesday.

“It will be decorative, it will be attractive,” said TPI’s planning consultant Patrick Vanasse of the pedestrian barriers. Torgerson said he has met with Lee County Department of Transportation officials to discuss his plans and received some positive feedback. A spokesperson for the county said the meeting was informal

The approval allows the developers to construct a hotel that is 70 feet high, or 58 feet above base flood elevation. Town code limits the height to 30 feet above base flood elevation and three stories above parking. The hotel is between 5 and a half and six stories, with a rooftop pool.

Residents of Primo Drive spoke out against the plans at Wednesday’s hearing, objecting to the height and the impact the hotel would have on traffic along Primo Drive. Councilmember John King asked Vanasse to respond to the concerns by neighbors about the height. Vanasse said “we believe that it is consistent with the downtown district, it is consistent with the character of the surrounding commercial uses in other hotels.” Vanasse said “we think it is an attractive building.”

Town planning staff and consultants found the project to be consistent with the town’s comprehensive plan if councilmembers found the public benefit offered by the developers adequate to offset the deviations. Jason Green, a planning consultant for the town, said it was up to councilmembers to decide whether the public benefit offered by the developers, was adequate to offset the deviations from land development code that they were seeking. The councilmembers didn’t make any comments regarding the public benefits, which Torgerson said includes the pedestrian barrier, jobs, and a financial investment.

Among the other public benefits the developer offered, and agreed to, was to provide a five-feet wide easement along Primo Drive to widen the road. The developers will have to pay for the widening of the dead-end road, which is narrow and which has no outlet. As part of the widening of the road, the developers pulled back a proposal to add sidewalks near the hotel on Primo Drive.

While planning consultants for the town had previously stated that the developers were entitled to 18 hotel rooms by right on the site of the former Silver Sands cottages, Torgerson said he was entitled up to 46 by the land development code’s qualifier. “I am only asking for 14 more rooms,” Torgerson said.

The project will require TPI to eliminate the parking lot on the site that is currently used for Margaritaville Beach Resort employees. Instead, employees for the resort and the new hotel will have to shuttle to their jobs from an off-island location at Buttonwood Drive.

Another one of the deviations granted by the Town of Fort Myers Beach Council was for parking. The deviation allows the developers to construct only 51 parking spaces for the hotel. According to town staff, the hotel is required under town code to have 56 units, which would still be less than the number of rooms at the hotel. Planning consultant Patrick Vanasse, of The Neighborhood Company, said TPI may utilize the stacking of vehicles. Link asked Torgerson if TPI had any other property they could use for parking on the island, or could give to the town for parking, which Torgerson said they did not.

Vanasse said other public benefits include educating guests to use an Uber and refrain from using a vehicle to get to the hotel. He said the owners are “still fighting” for Fort Myers Beach Elementary School and would work on getting the children of employees to go to the school, which the town is working on turning into a charter school. Vanasse said there would also be a plaza in front of the hotel, and that they would work to enlarge the county’s sidewalks in front of their property on Estero Boulevard.

Torgerson expanded on the benefits, saying the public benefit should also include the investment TPI made in acquiring the property. TPI acquired the .74 acre lot for $7.1 million three years ago.

Though the project had previously been presented at a Fort Myers Beach Local Planning Agency meeting as not including a bar, the project’s representatives said there would be a bar at the rooftop pool. Torgerson said the pool bar would be private for guests and that there would be a wall barrier between a neighboring property. Vanasse said the buffer has been widened between the properties from the one originally planned.

Vanasse said the retail space on the first floor will likely be a sundry shop or convenience store. “There is some room for some other retail there,” he said. “It is still up in the air,” he said. Vanasse said there would not be a restaurant there.

Vanasse said he misspoke about a bar at one point during the hearing process, and that they are seeking a consumption on premises permit to serve alcohol for weddings and receptions. Torgerson said there would be alcohol served at the rooftop pool. Torgerson said the pool would be restricted to guests.

Town of Fort Myers Beach Vice Mayor Scott Safford asked Torgerson how the hotel would address the traffic with deliveries that currently is already a concern for neighbors, referencing to The Whale (which sits on the other side of Primo Drive), “Everything is always jammed up there,” Safford said. According to TPI representatives, the plans are to make deliveries to the hotel with golf carts from Margaritaville, to reduce the amount of deliveries. Torgerson said after the meeting that the construction of the hotel would be the busiest time for truck deliveries.

Torgerson said Primo Drive is a “busy street.” At one point in the hearing, he said the hotel would abut “transitional, residential housing.” Torgerson said there would be a 34-foot buffer between the hotel and a vacation rental home next door.

Former Fort Myers Beach Mayor Tracey Gore, a year-round resident of Primo Drive who has lived on the street for more than 30 years, had raised a number of objections to the project that she had sent to councilmembers. She expressed disappointment with the council’s vote but said it was not unexpected.

During the hearing, Gore criticized the councilmembers for their approach to TPI. “You have the leverage. Stop asking them ‘will you do something?’ They are asking for something they are not allowed to have. They want double the density, they want six stories, where three stories are allowed,” Gore said.

Gore said the 60 units was more than the town code allowed, and that the five feet of extra space on the road will not make it easier to get into and out of Primo Drive. She also objected to the plaza proposal. Gore wants the pool hours limited to 9 p.m. and no outdoor entertainment.

The Town Council did not address Gore’s concerns though a condition of approval that the Fort Myers Beach Local Planning Agency had called for, includes restrictions on outdoor amplified, live music.

Another neighbor, Tim Newman, said his objections were to the height and the number of rooms for the hotel. “The road is not being made wider at the corner part,” he said. He said drivers sometimes hit the curb turning into the street due to the narrowness of the road.

Link said she wants to ensure that the road is widened to also cover the entrance and turn into Primo Drive. Megan Strayhorn, attorney for TPI, confirmed the applicant would agree to work with the town to address the further road issues. Torgerson said after the meeting that would include widening the turn and entrance into Primo, as Town Attorney Nancy Stuparich said during a vote on the matter. Green said the condition includes that the applicant will cover the cost of that road improvement.

Vanasse responded to the concerns about the density by saying that the town’s updated comprehensive plan that was approved by the Town of Fort Myers Beach Council last year, allows the project to fit into the floor area ration restrictions.

The vote occurred one day after the Town of Fort Myers Beach Local Planning Agency (LPA) rejected a proposed expansion of the DiamondHead Beach Resort for 57 more rooms a couple blocks away. That project could still go in front of this Town Council. The LPA had approved the One Particular Harbour project, when it was known as the Silver Sands redevelopment.

Torgerson described One Particular Harbour as a boutique hotel, though he also said it will be closely intertwined with Margaritaville Beach Resort. “They are inseparable,” Torgerson said. Guests at One Particular Harbour are expected to have access to amenities at Margaritaville Beach Resort.

One of the 10 deviations approved by the Town of Fort Myers Beach Council will allow the hotel owners to construct a large “One Particular Harbour” sign which will go on the facade of the hotel.