FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. - Plans to build a sightseeing pier on the bayside of Fort Myers Beach is dividing islanders.

The pier would be built behind Mound house on Connecticut Street and would replace a much smaller pier already in place.
     
On top of a mound of buried shells sits Mound House, a historical landmark. Recently, town council renewed a lease to allow the building of a new observation deck. It could cost a half-million dollars and be up to 27-hundred square feet.

One neighborhood resident says,

"We get groups that come here from Immokalee, come from different areas that have never seen the ecosystem in the back."
    
The new deck would allow people to observe wildlife and will be used in educational tours.
Some residents say the money, raised mainly from bed taxes, could be put to better use. Others are worried their quiet island lifestyle would disappear.

Resident Eddy Creighton says,

"I think the traffic is critical and parking...there's not a good place to turn around."

Some have written letters to town council saying so.

Town council officials says they're still working out the pier details.
They're going to hold a public hearing May 5th to get input.