What approvals are required for the project to move forward?
The Athens Group has received the required discretionary entitlements necessary for the development of the Naples Beach Club, a Four Seasons Resort. A summary of those entitlements is included here. The Athens Group continues to work through the extensive permitting processes with local, state and federal agencies to ensure its responsible development of the property.
The City of Naples has a multi-step review and approval process that includes City planning staff and many City departments, such as Streets and Stormwater, FEMA and Naples Fire-Rescue, as well as the Design Review Board, the Planning Advisory Board, and the Naples City Council. In addition, key components of the project will be thoroughly reviewed and approved by the state, such as its stormwater collection and water quality discharge plans.
The Naples Beach Club, a Four Seasons Resort project received unanimous preliminary Design Review Board approval with some conditions on November 28, 2018.
The project received unanimous approval from the Planning Advisory Board on March 13, 2019, after two hearings for a Small-Scale Comp Plan Amendment, a Rezoning for a Planned Development, a Rezoning of the R3T-18 zoned area, a Traffic Impact Statement, and a Development Agreement. These same documents were unanimously approved by the City Council on April 17, 2019, and were approved again on May 1, 2019 with respect to the second reading of the resolutions and ordinances.
Following the first round of PAB and City Council approvals, City staff reviewed the development plan through the required Administrative Site Plan (ASP) process. The ASP application was recommended for approval with some conditions by the City of Naples planning staff on August 26, 2019.
On August 27, 2019, The Athens Group submitted the following project entitlement applications to the City: Conditional Use, PD Rezoning, Development Agreement, Parking Needs Analysis, Valet Parking Plan, and Supplemental Traffic Impact Statement. The Naples Planning Advisory Board reviewed and considered the applications at a public hearing on Friday, October 11, 2019, and the PAB approved the applications by four 6-to-1 votes.
The Naples City Council voted unanimously to approve the entitlement applications on November 20, 2019, and again voted to approve the resolutions and ordinances with respect to a second reading on December 4, 2019.
On March 24, 2021, the Design Review Board, by a 4-to-1 vote, approved plans for upgrades to HB’s on the Gulf and the Sunset Beach Bar, a decision that was unanimously upheld by Naples City Council on May 25, 2021.
The three Environmental Resource Permits detailed below regulate stormwater discharge offsite and follow strict guidelines as required by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Based on the analysis provided by the project’s civil engineer, the redevelopment of the hotel, residences and golf course will reduce stormwater runoff to the Gulf of Mexico while improving discharge water quality.
The three stormwater permits consist of the following:
- FDEP Environmental Resource Permit number 387544-001 (redevelopment west of Gulf Shore Blvd North)
- FDEP Environmental Resource Permit number 0387536-001 EG (redevelopment of Gulf Shore Blvd North)
- SFWMD Environmental Resource Permit number 11-103750-P (redevelopment of landward of Gulf Shore Blvd North)
The project received subdivision plat approval as follows: Resolution 2020-14523 was approved unanimously by the City Council on September 16, 2020, for a subdivision replat located at 851 and 852 Gulf Shore Blvd North, 1090 Crayton Road, and 485, 801 and 825 South Golf Drive. The Subdivision replat was recorded in Collier County within Plat book 68, pages 52-56.
The purpose of the replat was to create multiple tracts that are consistent with the zoning district boundaries established by previously approved rezoning entitlements.