Mediation to Continue on Old Marco Restaurant Issue

On Tuesday, October 18 a mediation hearing was held in City Council Chambers at the request of the Marco Club LLC, located at 1202 Bald Eagle. That property was previously the Marco Resort and Club and purchased for $4,250,000 in September of 2020. 

In May of 2022, the Marco Island City Council rejected an off-site agreement for shared parking with properties located at 1117 and 1123 Bald Eagle Drive. That property shows ownership by 1121 Bald Eagle Drive LLC out of Grand Rapids, Michigan. The off-site-agreement would have allowed the new owners the ability to build a multi-story restaurant/bar with a capacity for 268 seats.

The Marco Club, LLC requested mediation under the Florida Land Use and Environmental Dispute Resolution Act process after council’s denial of the off-site-parking agreement.

Neighbors in Old Marco came out in force during the March 2022 council meeting as the petitioner came before a packed council chamber of residents seeking some relief from what they considered was an untenable situation regarding that area of Old Marco. Neighbors felt the peace and tranquility of what is referred to as Old Marco would further change for the worse with the addition of a three story, 268-seat restaurant and bar, adding to the congestion, trash, parking, noise and safety concerns.

Council felt blindsided in March by the fact that there was no recent traffic studies or data in evidence since a 2012 report. They would then request staff to contract for one, allowing them to make a more informed decision.

That report was contracted with Ty Lynn Engineering and was done over the weekend of April 7,8 and 9 and presented at the next council meeting in April. This would draw serious criticism from residents as well as councilors who questioned the validity of those findings. That report may have created more questions than it answered for some.

The 268-seat restaurant would require a total of 72 parking spaces to accommodate their operation which are being proposed as follows:

• 37 actual spaces at the location of the new restaurant.
• 5 boat slips. ***
• 28 parking spaces at old Marek’s site.
• Two parking credits within city right of way.
•  Two additional parking credits are being allowed for a bike rack, benches and recycling.

***The five boat slips are presently located in a basin which has silted in and is in need of work, which is not yet permitted. That work requires a new seawall and docks, but also dredging which requires state permits.

Only Councilor Grifoni would vote in favor of the applicant’s plan to utilize off-site-parking and the vote would fail 6-1.

It was obvious that during Tuesday’s mediation meeting the mediator was shuttling between separate rooms to find a potential middle ground that would appease both the city’s negotiators and the applicants. 

Due to the inability to find the necessary compromises, it was agreed to reconvene on Monday November 7 at 9:00 AM once again to continue discussions. The goal in this exercise is to find a possible middle ground for the city’s legal team to bring forward to the city council.