Planning Board Chooses Safety, Grants Variance

The Marco Island Planning Board met on March 4 and will reconvene on March 18 to address several items that were rescheduled for that date, as well as to discuss the work needed to revamp the city’s Land Development Code.

Planning Board Chairman Jason Bailey informed the board that Vice Chairman Larry Honig had resigned his board member position, as had moved out of state with his wife. This will require the board to replace Honig as a board member and elect another member to fill the Vice Chairman vacancy. Marco Island City Councilor Rich Blonna, who had originally nominated Honig to the Planning Board, will nominate his replacement at the March 7 city council meeting. The Planning Board will then elect a new Vice Chairman.

The Planning Board dealt with one relatively complicated issue regarding a request from Joseph and Doreen Oliverio. The Oliverios are developing a new Mexican restaurant on the site of the old NeNe’s Restaurant at 297 North Collier Boulevard. Originally, the Site Development Plan was approved by the Planning Board at their July 2021 meeting, but the Oliverios had second thoughts about the parking layout, which required customers to enter and exit from the Collier Boulevard entrance.

Joseph Oliverio explained how the potential need to back out onto North Collier would present unnecessary safety risks for both patrons of his establishment and motorists on Collier Boulevard. He proposed minor variances to side setbacks, as well as some minimal changes to vegetation buffering on the property. These changes would allow the property to be entered from North Collier and then exited behind the property at 297 North Collier, traveling south to Saturn Court, where traffic will intersect with the northbound lanes of Collier Boulevard. This will give drivers exiting the restaurant the option of traversing to the southbound lanes of Collier Boulevard. 

City staff did not recommend the proposed changes and could find no “hardship” to justify the request for the variance petition. Board members disagreed and viewed the safety issue as an overriding concern. Board Chairman Bailey agreed in principle regarding the safety issues but made a symbolic vote in opposition. Bailey hoped to bring attention to the need to provide city staff with flexibility in the process to deal with this type of issue.

The board voted 5-1 to grant the variance petition with Chairman Bailey casting the lone dissenting vote.

The Planning Board will meet on March 18 to deal with several variance petitions regarding the Site Development Plan for the Marco Island Academy. The meeting will convene at 9 AM on March 18 in Council Chambers.