London Bay seeks to remake Outrigger site; LPA sends project back for more work after hours of testimony

London Bay Development Group asked the Fort Myers Beach Local Planning Agency on April 14 to approve a series of changes that would allow a large mixed‑use redevelopment of the former Outrigger property on Estero Boulevard.

The applicant said the project would reintroduce a hotel and public amenities on the south end of the island, and would include a site-specific comprehensive plan amendment, a planned commercial development (CPD) rezoning, special exceptions and variances for construction in an environmentally critical zone. The package proposes 196 total units — described by the developer as 150 hotel/lodging units and 46 multifamily residences — roughly 46,000 square feet of commercial space (26,000 private club; 20,000 publicly accessible) and about 340 parking spaces.

In a four‑hour presentation and cross‑examination, London Bay’s team described revisions they said respond to community feedback: reduced building massing, a widened public linear park and expanded public-access commercial space, additional bicycle and golf‑cart parking, removal of a planned neighborhood water taxi and a low‑profile ‘wave‑dissipation’ structure intended to lessen upland storm-wave energy. Engineer Elizabeth Fountain said the structure, sited landward of the dune and the 1978 coastal construction control line, is designed to reduce wave heights and could support a FEMA Conditional Letter of Map Revision (CLR) that, if approved by FEMA, would change the site’s flood‑zone classification in ways the team says would simplify some public‑facility designs, such as restrooms.

But the presentation did not settle the meeting. Dozens of residents — and supporters — filled the town chamber. Speakers who backed the project cited economic stimulus, jobs and the return of restaurants, restrooms and a public promenade on the south end. Opponents raised concerns about height, scale, traffic, parking, stormwater capacity, and the risks of expanding development seaward and adjacent to residential properties. Several speakers urged moving the restored tiki‑bar location away from the north property line next to neighboring condos.

‘Smart planning is not about stopping everything,’ longtime resident Ellie Bunting said, ‘it is about recognizing when enough is enough.’ Other residents countered that the scale of the proposal far exceeds the town’s newly adopted comprehensive plan limits for the area.

Policy questions centered on three technical issues. First, builders and staff debated how to measure height: the applicant presented elevations measured from finished grade (the tallest tower’s crown reached roughly 198 feet in the applicant’s exhibit), while planning staff and several commissioners emphasized the town’s measurement standard from Department of Environmental Protection or design flood elevation. Second, residents and members pressed the team over the proposal’s floor‑area/impact ratio (commonly called F), the calculation the town uses to gauge building mass; the applicant’s requested definition and exclusions produce an F near 3.0 in their submission, higher than standard mixed‑use limits in nearby districts.

Finally, the LPA debated whether to memorialize a lengthy list of ‘public benefits’ in the comprehensive‑plan amendment or defer the exact benefits and legally binding conditions to the CPD and later permits. Staff advised caution about embedding development‑level detail into the comp plan; several members said they want measurable guardrails that can be enforced if the plan is changed for a single property.

After extended discussion and repeated public comment, the LPA voted unanimously to continue every application tied to the Outrigger redevelopment — the comprehensive plan text and map amendments, the CPD resoning, special exceptions, the consumption‑on‑premises request, and the variances — to a date certain on May 8, 2026 at 9 a.m., allowing staff, the applicant and the public time to refine draft language, exhibits and technical supporting material.

What’s next: The project returns to the LPA on May 8 for continued hearings on the legislative (comp plan text/map) items and the quasi‑judicial rezoning and permits. If the LPA ultimately makes recommendations, the matters would move to the Town Council for final decisions on ordinance readings and any required special permits. The applicant has said it hopes the council hearings can follow quickly if the technical details are resolved.