San Carlos Island
2009 Vacation Rentals Owner Listing
San Carlos Island
Florida Maps
By
Peter Bishopp from Naples News March
3, 2009
Lee County Florida - San Carlos
Island high-rise resort development is
closer to heading skyward.
Lee County commissioners last week
adopted a land-use amendment to make
the project possible. Some say the
project could transform the island
into one of the county’s biggest
tourism draws.
The planned development would bring up
to six high-rises, a waterfront
promenade, restaurants, retail shops
and office space to a small community
that is currently home to retirees and
the county’s struggling shrimping
industry.
Local business people say if completed
the project will provide a boost for
the island.
“This is the first thing that’s
happened to this island that’s very
positive in a long time,” said Dennis
Henderson, a 45-year resident who owns
Trico Shrimp and Beach Seafood Market.
“To have a 450-room resort, I imagine
that it will bring in 200 or 300 jobs
alone. It is change, but for us it is
change for the better.”
The project would be on almost 30
acres to either side of the island’s
Main Street, stretching from Hurricane
Bay to Matanzas Pass.
In addition to the convention resort
and commercial space, plans call for
271 condominium and time-share units.
Salty Sam’s Marina, a restaurant and
the Oyster Bay and Ebb Tide mobile
home parks now occupy the land.
Darrell Hanson, owner of Salty Sam’s,
and Ramon Alvarez are the developers.
Residential density at the development
will be limited to 271 dwelling units,
matching the number of mobile homes
currently on the land.
Commissioners voted 4-1 last Wednesday
to change the island’s future land-use
from a mix of suburban, urban and
industrial to a new category,
destination resort-mixed use-water
dependent.
Critics say the plan threatens the
existing community character and puts
Estero Bay’s fragile ecosystem at
further risk.
“My main concern is that this is going
to have a huge negative environmental
impact,” said Mary Ellen Ruddick, an
island resident since 1987.
“Traffic intensity is an issue too,
but there is a critical manatee
habitat here and they are talking
about a lot of development and
additional boat slips.”
Building height is capped at 230 feet,
or between 18 and 20 stories including
bottom floor parking areas, said Joe
McHarris, the project planner.
McHarris said plans have been scaled
back considerably due to feedback from
the county, state and San Carlos
Island community.
“The density was really the biggest
issue for us,” said McHarris. “We
originally wanted more residential
units but there was back and forth.
You don’t go and try to shove
something like this down your
neighbors’ throat.”
Lee County planning director Paul
O’Connor said he has received mostly
positive feedback from businesses and
residents and the project actually
lessens the problem of stormwater
runoff into the bay.
“That trailer park is all crushed
gravel from end to end and there is
virtually no water management system,”
he said. “The new development will
have to meet all the requirements for
water retention and stormwater
management. It should be an
improvement.”
The town council for neighboring Fort
Myers Beach declined to take an
official position on the development,
but at least one council member
worries the land-use change will alter
the island’s character.
“They lowered the density from the
original plan considerably and I’m
pleased with that,” said Babcock. “But
the height at 230 is massive, I think,
and inappropriate for a flood zone.”
“But the real issue is when that
comprehensive plan change was made
they changed the character of that
whole island.”
Other concerns voiced at commission
meetings include increased traffic on
congested San Carlos Boulevard, which
links Fort Myers Beach to Fort Myers.
Traffic to Fort Myers Beach can line
up for miles on weekends and during
peak tourist seasons.
With density capped at 271 dwelling
units, the residential parts of the
plan should not affect traffic,
O’Connor said.
The developers have also agreed to
establish a water taxi to Fort Myers
Beach, an airport shuttle and a
connection to the Fort Myers Beach
trolley service to lessen automobile
traffic between the planned resort and
the beach.
Now that the land-use amendment has
been adopted, the developers will
apply for rezoning and begin the
permitting process. It will likely be
three years before construction
begins, said McHarris.
San Carlos Island Florida 33931 Fort Myers Beach Florida
