Leonardo Arms condominiums seek state aid as Fort Myers Beach awaits renourishment approval
As the Town of Fort Myers Beach awaits approvals from Lee County and the State of Florida for its planned beach renourishment projects, residents of Leonardo Arms on the south end of the beach believe they are running out of time.
“We are one storm away from devastation,” Gene Duffy, president of Leonardo Arms Building 2 Board, said at a recent public informational meeting on the town’s beach renourishment project with the town’s engineering consultant Michael Poff.
While other property owners on Fort Myers Beach have seen the beach behind their properties grow and some are looking to opt out of the town’s beach renourishment project, Leonardo Arms needs help quick. The seawall underneath its parking lot collapsed several months ago.
Leonardo Arms Property Manager Tim Baggett said letters have been sent to state officials and the governor’s office to emphasize the urgency of the situation. “We could be just one storm away from having water underneath the building,” he said.
“We’re doing the best we can with what we’ve been allowed to do,” Baggett said. He said the condo association received approval from the Department of Environmental Protection for 134 sand bags over the last two weeks to protect the seawall. They had requested 204 bags. The condo association has also applied to the state for permits to install a new seawall.
“They have a very serious problem on their hands,” Mayor Ray Murphy said. “I hope that they can get an emergency declaration of some sort to do the remedial work before the renourishment project.”
With the hurricane season about to begin, time is of the essence. Murphy said the beach renourishment project is unlikely to get its state approvals and funding to begin until next year. “That doesn’t help them now,” he said.
The town has been awaiting word from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection for a critically eroded designation for sections of its beach so its beach renourishment project can get underway. The town is also working out a local agreement with Lee County for funding.
Messages left with the DEP concerning Leonardo Arms were not immediately returned. The DEP has been “very responsive,” Baggett said. “It’s a process you have to go through. Is there away for them to speed it up? I don’t know.”
On a scale of 1-10, Baggett said the need for beach renourishment behind Leonardo Arms is “100.”
When the beach renourishment happens, Duffy wants to make sure Leonardo Arms is first. The erosion is threatening the building of Leonardo Arms, he said.
“It’s at our front door. We can’t wait in line,” Duffy said. “We are going to get wiped out if we aren’t first.”
To reach NATHAN MAYBERG, please email nmayberg@breezenewspapers.com