FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. \u2014 Fort Myers Beach residents are questioning the lack of progress on a $200+ million resort project planned to replace the former Outrigger Resort, which was a popular local gathering spot.
Hear from Fort Myers Beach Community Correspondent Anvar Ruziev and Estero Island neighbors about the paused project:<\/b><\/p>\n
London Bay hits pause on Outrigger plans for Fort Myers Beach<\/p>\n
The London Bay Development Group has paused the project while they review comments from town staff and community members, according to President and CEO Mark Wilson.<\/p>\n
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“We’re here everyday that ends with a Y,” said Sewell, describing how locals still gather on an empty lot next to where the Outrigger once stood.<\/p>\n
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Most neighbors agree something needs to be rebuilt, but many feel the initial plans presented last year were too ambitious for the area.<\/p>\n
“We want nice local fun with visitors too, but we want music dancing, and food and drinks, we want the old Outrigger, ” said Sewell. Her friend added, “We want like maybe six stories,” to which Sewell enthusiastically agreed.<\/p>\n
The six stories residents are suggesting would be significantly less than the 17 stories that London Bay Development Group initially proposed.<\/p>\n
Every neighbor I spoke with emphasized that restaurants are essential to any new development.<\/p>\n
“If we need anything on this end of the island, it’s more restaurants, if it’s a higher end restaurant probably not so interested,” said one neighbor.<\/p>\n
Other residents like Beth Ann Magouirk, who lives directly across from the proposed development site, believe the developer should provide more than just dining options for the community.<\/p>\n
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“It’s right across the street from me, right across Estero Blvd,” said Magouirk.<\/p>\n
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In response to community feedback like hers, the developers are now revising the design of the project.<\/p>\n
“Thrilled with that, I think they do need to go back to the drawing board, we have these comprehensive plans and these rules and limitations for a reason. We don’t want to be a cement jungle here, that’s not what Fort Myers Beach is about,” said Magouirk.<\/p>\n
London Bay Development Group plans to re-engage with the town in the near future and will schedule a meeting with the local planning agency.<\/p>\n
This story was reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. \u2014 Fort Myers Beach residents are questioning the lack of progress on a $200+…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":89079,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[42353,42354,1500,748,393,42355,42357,42358,42356,42359,42360,42361,4884,257,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-89078","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-anvar-ruziev","9":"tag-big-update-on-fort-myers-beach","10":"tag-breaking-news","11":"tag-britain","12":"tag-england","13":"tag-estero-boulevard-project","14":"tag-fort-myers-beach-community-feedback","15":"tag-fort-myers-beach-construction-delay","16":"tag-fort-myers-beach-florida","17":"tag-fort-myers-beach-hotel-controversy","18":"tag-fort-myers-beach-local-planning-agency","19":"tag-fort-myers-beach-real-estate-news","20":"tag-great-britain","21":"tag-london","22":"tag-uk","23":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114481480893542849","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89078"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89078\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}