FORT MYERS, Fla. — It's officially sea turtle nesting at Fort Myers Beach and we have confirmed that the town of Fort Myers gave out 68 warnings in the last week.
One of the businesses that received a warning was Lani Kai, a beachfront hotel, with 100 rooms right on the beach — which is where the sea turtles nest.
Lani Kai's marketing director Melissa Schiner sat down with us and explained why they received a warning.
“They were letting us know that there were a couple of residents that still had their blinds open, I’m assuming after the 9 o'clock time," Schiner said. "They were also letting us know about some lighting they didn’t consider amber lighting.”
Sea turtles are currently listed as endangered by World Wildlife Federation (WWF). In efforts to make sure the sea turtles are protected, the town of Fort Myers Beach has an ordinance to make sure they aren't disturbed. Before the start of turtle season, any light facing the shoreline must be turtle-friendly. Schiner said the Lani Kai does everything it can to remain in compliance.
“We let them know upon check-in, we got signage on the doors in the rooms letting them know. We even have a sign on the window to remind them to close their blinds,” Schiner said.
She says that they received the warning on May 12 and had three days to get into compliance. Schiner confirmed that they are back up to code.
We reached out to Mayor Murphy a couple of times but haven't received a response. We also reached out to the town of Fort Myers code enforcement but no one was available for an interview.
