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City officials are scheduled to meet with Marco Walk developer Leon Agami to determine what still must be done to get his shopping center up to code with the city.

Community Development Director Steve Olmsted said he will meet Agami Aug. 22 to "continue to discuss the need for a revised site plan" for the center at 599 South Collier Boulevard.

Olmsted said Agami has hired an engineer to create an updated site plan for the center, which will help the city determine what still remains to be done for the center to be in compliance.

The first story documenting numerous compliance violations for the complex appeared in the Naples Daily News May 19. A second story ran July 9 detailing several violations that remained unresolved, all of which were listed in a memo authored by Olmsted expressing confidence that the center would soon be up to code.

Since then, Olmsted said, Agami has resolved every observed violation with the exception of a shortage of parking spaces. However, Olmsted added that the developer still has not added a glass elevator and additional staircase included in conditional permits subitted to the city two years ago.

Though it is not part of a code violation, the improvements were contingent for any increases in square footage in the shopping center. Olmsted said the stairway and glass elevator still must be constructed to meet those conditions, though Agami could potentially petition the city to change this.

QUENTIN ROUX / File photo

The view from the west side of Marco Walk Plaza.

Additionally, Agami has not yet sumbitted a parking count to the city, which Olmsted said is required for the shipping center to be able to retain the 120 outdoor seats currently alloted.

The amount of parking required at the site is affected by volume of outdoor restaurant seating. Additionally, the complex cannot exceed the permitted amount of restaurant space without undertaking an impact study to find out if more parking is needed.

But the total measurement of leased restaurant space seems to vary from one account to another, which is why the city requested the revised site plan.

Olmsted said it's unclear just how many additional parking spaces the complex needs to add, and the exact number cannot be calculated until Agami submits a revised site plan to the city.

At last count, Olmsted said, the complex had 420 square feet of excess restaurant space from what it was permitted, creating the need for seven additional parking spaces. However, according to the July 9 story, older figures add up to a total that exceeds the allotted space by 1,900 square feet.

Additionally, none of the restaurants have scaled back space in the last year.

Olmsted said his department has not set a deadline for Agami to submit the site plan, but that Agami has shown signs of moving the process forward by hiring engineer Bob Mulhere, with RWA Inc., to draw up the plan.

Agami has also taken steps by reducing the number of outdoor seats at the complex's restaurants, Olmsted said.

"Those additional seats have been removed, and they're now in compliance with the outdoor seating," Olmsted said.

As of two months ago, Marco Walk lacked sufficient parking to accommodate the volume of outdoor seating available.

Because adding extra parking spaces into an already packed lot might be a stretch, Agami also has the option of scaling back restaurant space.

John Nachef, owner of 5 Brothers Pizza, fears that might mean the end of his lease.

Nachef said he has heard second-hand that Agami is not planning to renew his lease when it runs out in December. However, Nachef said he has been unable to get Agami to confirm that with him. He said has written several letters requesting word on whether he will have the option of renewing the lease for 5 Brothers, but Agami has not responded.

Nachef's restaurant takes up roughly 2,000 square feet of space in the complex and holds seating for 68 people.

"The only thing I can think is that by eliminating us as a food establishment he doesn't have to bring the whole place into compliance," Nachef said.

Marianne Tirri said she fears that even fixing the code violations will still not remedy what she says is a major parking problem at Marco Walk.

Tirri said her property across the street receives the overflow parking from Marco Walk, even during the off season.

Tirri went before the Code Board at its Tuesday afternoon meeting to complain about the problems she said she has experienced as a result of Marco Walk's parking problems. She detailed problems with people parking in fire lanes and in front of dumpsters, but the Code Board stopped her to say that there was nothing the board could do without a formal compliance violation presented by Code Compliance Officer Eric Wardle.

Tirri says she has photos of the parking violations, but there is no way to show that every car belongs to a patron who is crossing the street just to frequent Marco Walk.

Wardle spoke with her after the meeting to explain what avenues she could go through to register a formal complaint, but Tirri said she does not want to have to be the one to enforce proper parking.

"I really don't want to be the police officer of Marco Island," she said. "I think it's bad, but I don't want to be responsible for people getting tickets and receiving fines."

Olmsted said that Tirri's problems may be a wider issue beyond those problems caused by the Marco Walk violations. Both he and Wardle expressed a willingness to work with Tirri to resolve her parking woes, particularly if the changes at Marco Walk do not make that happen.

"We always prefer to work with someone o get something resolved," Wardle said. "Because going to the code enforcement board is kind of a last resort."