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Fort Myers Beach hearing continues multiple code cases amid FEMA audit; MHC Fishtail case set for Oct. 7
Summary
A Fort Myers Beach hearing officer continued four code-enforcement matters to September and one MHC Fishtail LLC case to Oct. 7 after a code officer’s medical emergency and because staff is engaged with a FEMA audit of the town’s National Flood Insurance Program status.
John Lennyham, the hearing officer for the Fort Myers Beach special management hearings, continued multiple code-enforcement matters on Aug. 5 after town staff said a key code officer was unavailable because of a medical emergency and staff has been heavily involved with a Federal Emergency Management Agency audit.
A town staff member told the hearing that Officer Yazzo, “our code officer manager,” had a medical emergency and could not attend, and asked for continuances so the officer’s testimony and records could be placed in the record. The staff member also said the town has been working with FEMA to regain participation in the National Flood Insurance Program and that FEMA recently audited the town’s files.
The continuances: the hearing officer continued the Dimelo Trust violation (case no. 20241095) and a lien-certification matter to Sept. 2, 2025. The hearing officer also continued two other violation cases (identified in the agenda as Constantini and Bernas) to Sept. 2. The remaining violation on the agenda, involving MHC Fishtail LLC, was continued to Oct. 7, 2025, at the request of the parties and with no objection from town counsel.
Stan Martin, who identified himself as counsel and senior vice president for the entity that owns the marina including MHC Fishtail LLC, told the hearing he did not object to a continuance but asked that the MHC Fishtail matter be moved off the Sept. 2 date because he will be out of the country. Martin said the business intends “to come into compliance,” that the property is in a permitting process for a permanent structure, and that interim solutions are being discussed to address the use of a few shipping containers on site.
A town staff member noted the agenda includes a recent FEMA letter documenting noncompliant structures and pointed to that material in the record: “the latest letter that the town has received from FEMA, it is on page 208 of your 366 page agenda,” the staff member said, and added that the noncompliant structures cited are primarily the shipping containers being used at the marina.
Town counsel said the council had held a first reading of a rezoning for the property on Aug. 4, which moved to second reading on an expedited schedule for Aug. 18; staff said the rezoning is part of broader island redevelopment and could affect the compliance timeline. The hearing officer asked staff to prepare form orders memorializing the continuances.
No formal sanctions, fines, or other new enforcement orders were issued at the Aug. 5 proceeding; each matter listed above was continued as noted so that absent officers or witnesses could provide testimony and so the record could be updated before a future hearing.
Ending note: the hearing officer closed the session after scheduling the continued matters and asked parties to submit proposed form orders. “I will see everybody on September 2,” John Lennyham said at adjournment.
