Town council advances Fishtail Marina CPD amendment to second reading

A proposal to amend the Fishtail Marina commercial planned development (CPD) to restate prior conditions and add one deviation cleared its first step with the Fort Myers Beach Town Council on a unanimous vote to send the ordinance to a second-reading public hearing.

The council’s first-reading action advances ordinance 25-14, which, according to staff, is primarily a cleanup of prior CPD language and a request to recognize an existing restaurant deck that sits at a zero setback from the marina boat basin. Jason Smalley, senior planner, told council the amendment "is really to just sort of clean up some things, bring it into today's standards," and that staff recommended approval with conditions tied to the existing CPD.

Neighborhood Company civil engineer Brock Petrack and representatives for Loggerhead Marina described the scope as largely restorative and modernizing following damage from Hurricane Ian. Brock Petrack said the project team will rebuild damaged dry-stacking buildings, replace floating docks and bring upland retail and service buildings into current flood, lighting and ADA code. Owners plan an ADA‑compliant restroom and ship‑store building with showers, and to add about 10 parking spaces while reducing some dry-storage capacity to accommodate fewer but larger vessels. Petrack said temporary fueling will be installed quickly and permanent fueling will follow dock completion; the project has pending Army Corps and Florida DEP approvals for the docks.

Project ownership and operations: Petrack said Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) owns the Fishtail Marina property and leases the Walker boat-sales parcel; ELS will operate marina wet slips and dry stacks, and Walker will continue a sales-and-service operation near Estero Boulevard. The team told council they are negotiating tenant returns for the Fishtail restaurant site known as Pinchers; representatives said Pinchers’ reopening is likely to follow completion of the upland renovation and referenced a timeline of roughly eight to nine months for that portion of the work.

Smaller details: applicants said the total square footage will remain within the limits of the CPD (originally established by Lee County in 1988 and amended in 1994), the proposal will not increase height, and one new deviation is requested to recognize the existing enclosed restaurant deck at a zero setback from the basin where waterfront setbacks otherwise apply. The team said slip counts will be reduced by about 20 slips compared with previously approved quantities to better match market demand for larger boats.

Council action and next steps: Vice Mayor Aderholt moved to advance ordinance 25-14 to second reading; the motion passed unanimously. If the council again approves the ordinance at second reading, staff said a final adoption hearing will be scheduled for September 11, 2025. Staff indicated they will return with a revised ordinance text correcting references to a phase-2 designation that staff said is no longer relevant.

Why it matters: The amendment would allow property owners to restore and modernize marina facilities damaged in the 2022 hurricane season, re-establish fueling and public-facing services, and preserve wet- and dry-slip services for boaters. Council members asked timing and operational questions during the hearing; applicants said docks are close to receiving final permits and that construction of the water-side elements could begin within months of final approvals, with upland site build-out taking up to a year.

Evidence and procedure: Council accepted expert testimony from Loggerhead’s civil engineer and qualified municipal planning staff presented the staff report. No members of the public registered comments on the item at the hearing. The council’s vote at the hearing was recorded as unanimous to advance to second reading.

What’s next: The council will hold a second-reading and final-adoption hearing on the ordinance at a later date, tentatively September 11, 2025; staff will return with a revised ordinance text correcting references to a dropped “phase 2.”