Fort Myers Beach parking lot owner facing fines

When people come to Fort Myers Beach, they need a place to park, and a lot turn into the Key Estero Shops parking lot.

“We always park right down here at the end,” said Bob Hare.

As locals, Bob Hare and his family come to the beach quite often. They like this lot for the location and easy access.

“The beach that we like to go to is just on the other side,” he said.

This parking area is technically not a place for beach parking.

The Key Estero Shops are zoned for a shopping mall, not a parking lot.

“I hope he stays open,” Hare said. “This is my place!”

Carmine Naccarato, who owns the Key Estero Shops, has collected fines for the past four years due to the zoning issue.

“He would prefer to have it just run as a basic parking lot,” said Jim Atterholt, Vice Mayor for the Town of Fort Myers Beach. “Well, it’s a critical shopping plaza, and it’s zoned for a shopping plaza.”

Atterholt says this shopping plaza is crucial to Fort Myers Beach’s recovery after Hurricane Ian.

“It provides storefront opportunities for small businesses that provide critical services to our islanders like a doctor or veterinarian,” he said. “There’s no place for these places to open small businesses.”

The zoning issue is costing Naccarato.

The Town of Fort Myers Beach placed a lien on his property to get him to pay his fines.

“The most recent aggregate total was just a little bit under $200,000,” Atterholt said.

Last week, Naccarato paid a majority of the fines, but he’s not out of the woods yet.

“He has to get a special permitted use to run that as a parking lot as opposed to a retail establishment,” said Atterholt. “That would have to come before the council.”

If it did come before town council, the vice mayor doesn’t think it would pass.

“That’s going to be challenging,” he said. “We’ll certainly keep an open mind, but it’s challenging because the need is for him to run a retail plaza, which is really what it is. We want to encourage this to be a retail establishment. We need a shopping plaza, not a parking lot.”

“We’ve seen him here forever, man,” said Hare. “I just hope everything works out for him.”

Naccarato told WINK News he has hired an attorney and is in the process of applying for a parking permit.

He said he doesn’t have plans to reopen the Key Estero Shopping Mall.

He wants to keep the area as a beach parking lot, even if his permit isn’t approved by the town council.