Beach chair battle brews on Fort Myers Beach

FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla.- A battle is brewing at Fort Myers Beach over public versus private space.

The town says people are getting kicked off portions of the beach if they don’t pay up to certain chair vendors! Now, Fort Myers Beach is acting quickly to come up with a new set of rules.

“Of course there needs to be a line in the sand.”

The rules for Fort Myers Beach chair vendors are very vague, almost non-existent.

“There is a need for the beach chairs in this neighborhood,” said owner of The Jungle, Chris Schaab.

Schaab owns The Jungle at beach access 33. He has 90 chairs and rents each one for $5 a day. He’s worried that if the town regulates them too much, he will lose money.

“Everyone deserves a front row view whether they are bringing their own chair or renting from someone in the neighborhood,” said Schaab.

WINK News found out some vendors are being too aggressive. Town staff on Fort Myers Beach have been getting complaints about beach chair vendors asking visitors to leave the part of beach they rent on, if they do not rent from the vendor.

“That is no way to create new business, it’s no way to treat the tourists.”

The town has come up with a list of ideas to change how vendors operate.

“It’s not going to be an easy decision for our city council,” Schaab told WINK News.

Vendors could soon have to have a permit to stay in business, versus just the certificate they have now. Town staff is also looking into things like defining public and private beach, how many chairs a vendor can have, how many licenses to approve and making sure the chairs are at least 15 feet from the waterline.

“I’ve lived here seven years and I don’t know what’s public, where I can sit, and where I can’t sit,” said one resident.

The City Council says they hope to have the rules set and in place by October.