Board recommends rezoning for Hickory On The Bay waterfront plan; asks staff and applicant to explore landscaping alternative to proposed courtyard wall

The Bonita Springs zoning board recommended approval of a rezoning for the Hickory On The Bay project, a 5.07-acre property proposed for a commercial plan development that would allow a waterfront restaurant, retail uses, one drive-through, and up to six multifamily dwelling units. The board approved the rezoning with revised staff conditions and directed staff and the applicant to work together before the city council hearing to consider an alternative landscaping approach in place of a proposed courtyard wall required by the overlay setback standard.

Applicant representatives, including attorney Rich Yovanovitch and owner Tracy Kautzman, presented a history of the family’s Big Hickory Waterfront Grill (formerly on Little Hickory Island), which was damaged by Hurricane Ian. They said the family bought the 5.07-acre site as a waterfront replacement location. Planner Bob Mulhare and other consultants described the master concept plan: roughly 23,717 square feet of commercial uses shown on the master plan (the applicant initially requested up to 25,500 square feet but said the master concept plan governs unless a future transportation analysis supports the larger amount); up to six multifamily units; and a marina program with a maximum asked-for total of 37 transient wet slips, subject to state and Estero Bay Aquatic Preserve approvals.

The project team told the board they had coordinated with city staff on landscaping and architecture and had submitted a valet-parking plan to reduce required parking. The staff parking matrix showed 272 required spaces across the proposed uses; the applicant requested a reduction of 97 spaces using a valet plan (about one-third of required parking), which staff supports. Traffic consultant Ted Trish said the most recent traffic analysis was submitted at the end of December 2024 and showed that at buildout Bonita Beach Road would operate at level-of-service C with the project trips added; additional traffic study will be required at the development-order stage and any required turn-lane work must be permitted through Lee County DOT.

Environmental consultant Tim Hall outlined site history and ecological considerations. The interior canal on the site was dug decades ago and filled using on-site material; the project would involve filling a portion of that interior canal and would remove some mangroves that lie inside the canal. Hall said the project team plans mangrove replanting and a mangrove shelf along the outer shoreline and that final slip counts and other marine aspects will be resolved with multiple agencies, including Florida Fish and Wildlife, the Estero Bay Aquatic Preserve staff and Lee County.

Owner Tracy Kautzman described the restaurant’s history and economic rationale and asked the board to consider the project as a waterfront amenity for residents and visitors. A member of the public, Doug Grant, raised stacking and left-turn concerns for the drive-through, citing local congestion examples; the applicant and traffic consultant said access is proposed at two existing median openings and the master plan includes cross-access to the adjacent 7‑Eleven property.

A contested design element was a courtyard or “million-dollar” wall the applicant said is being used to meet the overlay setback while placing the restaurant on the waterfront. The wall is shown at about six feet in height and acts as a visual screen and a mechanism to comply with the overlay’s requirement that buildings be located relative to the road. The applicant said it preferred landscaping to a wall but did not want to delay the project; staff said the wall approach complies with existing overlay standards. Several board members and the applicant agreed to explore an alternative deviation that would allow landscaping to meet the setback buffer, subject to council review. The board voted to approve the rezoning with revised conditions and with a recommendation that staff and the applicant work between the zoning-board hearing and the city council hearing to prepare a setback-deviation alternative or landscaping plan; the motion passed with one recorded no vote.

The approved conditions in the record address permitted uses, development standards, hours of operation (indoor: 9 a.m.–10 p.m. Sunday–Thursday, 9 a.m.–11 p.m. Friday–Saturday; outdoor: 9 a.m.–9:30 p.m. Sunday–Thursday, 9 a.m.–10 p.m. Friday–Saturday), live entertainment allowed subject to a sound engineer’s analysis, valet-parking allowance per code, and identification of kayak storage and marina details at development order. The board’s recommendation advances the rezoning to the city council with the staff-revised conditions and the instruction to develop and present a setback-deviation/landscaping alternative prior to the council hearing.