A resort in Islamorada is adding some 50 units, and its workforce is getting a new housing opportunity following the village council’s approval of several requests by the developer at a Dec. 12 meeting at the Founders Park Community Center.
Located at MM 82.1, oceanside, the Islander Resort requested a zoning change for its Creekside Inn property, 90611 Old Highway, from village center to neighborhood commercial. The request and subsequent approval via 3-2 vote will allow developers to transfer the 50 hotel/motel units at the Creekside Inn to the Islander Resort, which currently has 114 units on the property.
Developers would then turn the Creekside Inn, which they bought more than three years ago, into housing units for the resort’s workforce. Bart Smith, attorney on behalf of the applicant, said village code requires a minimum 500 square feet for each unit, which would equate to anywhere between 12 and 15 units.
Smith said the developers will secure early evacuation units for the workforce housing project, which would require employees to evacuate 48 hours before a storm. Smith said the units would likely be for managers and couples who work at the resort.
Council members voted 3-2 to approve the transfer of hotel/motel units to Islander Resort. A major conditional use request was also approved for the additional units.
Requests didn’t go without concerns from the community. Former Councilwoman Elizabeth Jolin lives in the neighborhood near the Islander property. Taking to the podium, she asked how the community benefited from the proposals.
“We talk about the need for workforce housing, but let’s be frank here,” she said. “This workforce housing is to accommodate the expansion of a resort.”
Carroll Street resident and fishing guide Frank Ortiz said the project at Islander Resort will affect his neighborhood.
“You drive down by the water and you can look and it’s just building after building,” he said. “And the environment is really getting hurt from all of this. It needs some relief.”
Vice Mayor Don Horton, councilwoman Deb Gillis and councilman Buddy Pinder voted in favor of the requests. Horton said the council had to vote based on substantial evidence and testimony given and whether the request met code during the quasi-judicial hearing. He said he didn’t hear testimony that said the project wasn’t meeting the code.
“If I based it off feeling, I’d be instantly saying ‘no,’” he said. “But we’d instantly be appealed if we did, that because there’s been no competent and substantial evidence that has said that this is not what we’re supposed to do inside our code.”
Mayor Sharon Mahoney voted “no” alongside Councilman Steve Friedman. She asked the developers to come back with something better for all sides.
“I almost would like you guys to find more housing,” Mahoney said. “Fifteen units to me doesn’t do much.”
Councilman Steve Friedman expressed concerns with another small mom and pop motel going away. He also stated his opposition to overdevelopment in reference to more hotel rooms on the Islander Resort property.
Smith told the council they will see “100% improvement at the Creekside Inn.” Developers must secure a certificate of occupancy for workforce housing units before they obtain a certificate of occupancy for the new rooms at Islander Resort, per contingencies in the village’s approved request.
