Planned expansion to Fishermen’s Village scrapped after pushback

A planned expansion to Fishermen’s Village in Punta Gorda has been scrapped, but a new plan is in the works. What went wrong, and how are city leaders moving forward?

On any given day at any time of year, Fishermen’s Village is packed. Right in the middle of Punta Gorda’s historic district, it features a hotel, restaurants and many mom-and-pop shops.

“This is a Mecca,” said Gary Skillicorn with Smart Growth Punta Gorda. “This is a magnet for the visitors”

“It’s the quaintness of this area that kind of brought us to look at it,” said visitor George J. Thomas.

In August, locals became fearful the small-town feel would disappear. Fishermen’s Village applied with the city for what Vice President Patti Allen called a “quality of life expansion.”

“We had a very robust plan for the property, and we were very, very excited about it,” Allen said.

A new hotel, condominiums, more restaurant space and additional parking were planned. But what they didn’t expect was the amount of pushback from the community.

“The question is, is there more that’s needed from this?” Skillicorn said. “And does the developer need more than the goldmine that it already is?”

Locals like Skillicorn feared it would change the look of the area. They worried more attractions would bring more traffic to the area. On March 29, Fishermen’s Village decided to pull back, but not for good.

Planners will regroup, get community input and then try again.

“What people need to understand is that the secret is out, and people have discovered Punta Gorda, and just kind of putting our heads in the sand and closing the door behind us is not reality,” Allen said. “And we really need to look at the infrastructure in our town, and we need to look at what we’re doing for the next 20 years.”