Neighbors in Iona hire attorney to fight against RV park expansion next door

Reporter: Zach Oliveri
Published: Updated:

Neighbors in the Mobile Haven Estates community in Iona are frustrated at who might be moving in.

The Lee County Commission is allowing the neighboring Fort Myers Beach RV Resort to add 45 short-term rental spots in an empty lot in their community, with many residents potentially having RVs only feet away from their homes.

People in the Mobile Haven Estates say they already hear noise from the RV park and they fear it will only get worse when it’s essentially in their back yards.

Neighbors say they moved to this area for peace and quiet and they feel that won’t be the case if the RVs roll in.

Paul Vieira, who lives in Mobile Haven Estates says, “We use it for either walking around, or a little gathering if we have a big birthday party. We set it up over there. You can go back there we keep the place clean.”

But not for much longer.

Lee County commissioners have given the owners of the neighboring Fort Myers Beach RV Resort the go-ahead to park 45 more RV’s there.

The site plans show a 6-foot fence will be erected around the land as well.

“We don’t want to have to look out the back window and see an RV generator going on in the middle of the night when we’re trying to sleep and people have to get up and go to work in the morning,” Vieira said.

A group of neighbors hired a lawyer to force the County and the RV park to pump the brakes on the expansion.

They argue the County allowed the RV resort to expand despite county code regulations that call for 40 feet of separation.

They say, at best, the expansion is just 20 feet from the neighborhood.

Attorney Ralf Brookes said, “Since 1985, there’s been a 40-foot buffer that’s been required in the Lee County code, and you really shouldn’t be changed to 20 feet just for this one particular park. Every other RV park and every other RV park expansion has to comply with the 40-foot buffer. And that’s really meaningful when you have single-family residence, right next door.”

Vieira vows to keep the fight, to keep his peace. “It’s supposed to be a peaceful neighborhood and we’re not going to have that if RV campers come in the middle of the night and stuff.”

WINK News reached out to representatives from Fort Myers Beach RV Resort for comment but have not heard back by the time of publishing.

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