Plan for Las Olas Marina approved

Developer to work with city to decrease traffic congestion

FORT LAUDERDALE — The Fort Lauderdale City Commission voted unanimously Tuesday night to approve plans for the new Las Olas Marina.

The marina, at 151 Las Olas Circle, just north of the bridge over the Intracoastal, will include 68 boat slips, a shop, offices and two restaurants, according to plans from the developer, Suntex Marinas. The company has entered into a 50-year lease with the city to develop and operate the cityowned space.

Steven Glassman — the commissioner of District Two, where the marina is located — made it a condition that Suntex work with the city to decrease the traffic congestion the marina could create.

Suntex also made an agreement with the residents of Jackson Tower, right next to the marina, to work to improve a roadway that will change from a one-way to two-way street.

Heidi Davis, legal representative of Jackson Tower, said that Suntex agreed to give extra land to widen the roadway and make it

safer.

Those in favor of the marina emphasized the history of the project. One resident, Abby Laughlin, said that she had been through three District Two commissioners and two mayors championing this project, and warned that the Suntex plan was a favorable deal and “one we will never see again.”

Glassman recounted older, bigger proposed projects. “If I had seen this project 16 years ago,” Glassman said, “I would have fallen down and thanked the lord.”

Ina Lee, who led an advisory board that worked with Fort Lauderdale’s Community Redevelopment Agency, also urged the commission to finally decide on the issue, calling it the culmination of everything the CRA was working toward. “We call ourselves the yachting capital of the world,” she told commissioners. “We’ve got to live up to that.”

However, the marina had been called a “bait and switch” by neighbors of the new development, and several spoke up at the meeting.

Paul Chettle pointed out that the current plan could put the marina in violation of the Endangered Species Act for manatees, and of a Florida statute stipulating that 90% of public marinas must be reserved on a firstcome, first-served basis.

Leisure Beach South residents Tim Stirling and Lou Tomassetti both protested that no representatives of Suntex had gone to their building to speak about the project.

However, Suntex was present at meetings by the Central Beach Alliance that included members of all buildings affected. Robert Lochrie, legal representative of Suntex, also said that they had met with Leisure Beach South residents on three dates.

Lochrie also clarified that 100% of the marina will be available to the public, and that Suntex will work with the Department of Environment Protection to make sure they are compliant with the ESA.

The marina will have two buildings, a 11,231-square-foot, twostory restaurant and a 24,401-square-foot, 3-story space containing another restaurant, offices and a rooftop gym and swimming pool for marina-users.