The fight over Red Coconut RV Park on Fort Myers Beach

Reporter: Jolena Esperto
Published: Updated:

A decision was made despite what the people of Fort Myers Beach said.

The people who live on Fort Myers Beach don’t want to see 15- to 17-story luxury condos with beachfront views to go where the Red Coconut RV Park used to sit.

But the town council said it’s what’s best.

The homeowners we talked with said they are not happy.

They don’t want that big high-rise building out here in their small island neighborhood, and they don’t want the traffic and the quality of living that could come with it. They chose to live on this part of the island a little bit farther out from Times Square because they want a quiet, small beach-town feel, not a big city.

Steve Long lives right behind where Red Coconut RV Park used to be on Fort Myers Beach.

We caught up with him as he was doing some yard work outside his home on Tuesday, a day after the town council approved the plans by the Seagate Development Group. They approved 137 condos.

“All the rules said no structures over 17 stories; that’s good in there, right? I mean, do we have to draw pictures for them? We just follow the rules,” Long said.

However, Long and his neighbors’ main problem is the height. The condos would be between 15 and 17 stories high.

The local planning agency said not to approve it, and Mayor Dan Allers repeated that several times throughout the meeting. He was one of two votes against the development.

“But that goes back to the old days; money talks and bull hockey walks,” Long said.

Greg Scasney said Fort Myers Beach incorporated to stop the county from building tall on their little island, but now, seeing Seagate’s plan approved, he feels this is just the start.

“The people like myself who live in these small single-family neighborhoods, we made the choice not to live there, and they’re forcing it down their throats, and that’s wrong. They were elected to represent their constituents, and they’re not,” Scasney said.

Long and Scasney fear this isn’t over, and other projects and other developers on Fort Myers Beach will build higher.

That could change the island, which they don’t want. Long is retired here, and Scasney is raising his family on the island.

We reached out to the town council with their concerns but have yet to hear back.

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