Four Seasons Naples Beach Club gets OK for 2-lane entry covering
A decision finally has been made for the entry of the Four Seasons Naples Beach Club under construction on Gulf Shore Boulevard.
Entry to the luxury hotel will be via a two-lane covering, City Manager Jay Boodheshwar decided March 8, according to Monique Barnhart-Tiberio, Naples communications and public outreach manager, in an email March 22. The new design and landscape are subject to final design review and approval by the Design Review Board. The board meets on Wednesday, March 27, however Naples Beach Club design is not on the agenda.
Four Seasons will need to submit a site plan amendment for administrative review. "When it is found sufficient, then the Porte Cochere and landscape design plans will be submitted for DRB. No submittals have been received at this time," Barnhart-Tiberio said Monday in an email.
City Council put the fate of the "pore cochere" in the hands of Boodheshwar after members failed to come to consensus on a design.
The approved design is a combination of two of the four proposals presented to Naples City Council since October – one for two cars, one for one car. It includes two-car coverage but with the shorter, flatter roof of the one-car proposal that architects said was unacceptable for a five-star hotel. Beach Club architect Hart Howerton suggested the combination proposal in January to City Council, without a formal presentation of it.
"After a thorough evaluation process, which included comparing the four proposed options (the original 2-lane design, a 1-lane design, a reduced 1-lane design, and a reduced (lower-profile) 2-lane design) and receiving input from the Planning Director, Chief of Police, and Chief of Fire-Rescue, Jay concluded the benefits of the lower-profile 2-lane Porte Cochere significantly outweighed the costs from a public safety and architectural standpoint," Barnhart-Tiberio wrote.
Naples City Council sent the decision back to Boodheshwar in January after considering three proposals in three months from Beach Club architect Hart Howerton. Council members couldn't decide on whether to allow Four Seasons to build the covered driveway cover most said a luxury hotel should have. The designs all required encroachment on setbacks – minimum distances required around a building set forth in the city's Land Use Ordinance.
"Emphasis was placed on public safety throughout the decision-making process," wrote Barnhart-Tiberio.
The 216-room hotel is under construction by The Athens Group where the Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club stood for 70 years. It is located in a residential community, and with that in mind, Boodheshwar is asking that "Naples Beach Club include mid-story plantings in their landscape plans," Barnhart-Tiberio wrote. "This addition serves to enhance visual screening from the street."
Four Seasons is planning to include at the Naples Beach Club 150 residences within 125 acres "walkable coastal village," club amenities, an 18-hole Fazio-designed golf course, a "Market Square" town center, spa and wellness center, racquet courts and high-end dining.
Earlier: Naples City Manager to decide fate of Four Seasons porte cochere by mid-February
More: Naples City Council sends Four Seasons porte cochere plan back to city manager to decide
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Four Seasons Naples Beach Club gets OK for 2-lane entry covering
