Pelican Bay

Pelican Bay is a coastal community in North Naples, on the Gulf, seven miles north of downtown Naples, covering more than three square miles. The land was laid out from 1972, the Pelican Bay Foundation was formed in 1979, and the oldest homes here date to 1980.

The decisive fact here is that Foundation, and every owner is a member of it. "Every Owner shall be a member of the Foundation," say its Bylaws, and the membership is attached to the deed and cannot be separated from ownership. So the beach, the trams, the two beachfront restaurants, the Community Center, the racquets courts and the fitness center all come with the house. There is no application and no separate club to join.

How does beach access actually work?

The beach runs nearly three miles along the community's entire western boundary, open daily from 9 a.m. to sunset. Attendants set out chairs and umbrellas and hand out kayaks and sailboats. Nothing between the housing and the water was ever built on. Over 500 acres of protected estuary, mangroves and beaches sit in between. A raised berm through that conservation land carries 8 stations for the open-air electric trams, and boardwalks carry on to the sand.

Both the beach and the trams are card-controlled. "The beach may only be used by persons holding a Foundation Issued Card and Accompanied Guests. Persons holding a Guest Card may not bring guests." The allocation is fixed too: "Each residential Plot shall be allocated a maximum of two (2) Resident Member Cards per Plot." Two cards per home, so the access covers two people.

Dogs are out. "Pets are not permitted in the following areas: ... Any Pelican Bay Foundation or Collier County Beach. Trams or any boardwalk." If you have a dog, hear that before you get attached to a floor plan.

What happens if you lease the home out?

Your own access goes with it. "All member cards will be suspended by the lease start date for their tenants." Lease paperwork reaches the Foundation at least 30 days before the lease starts. There's a processing fee and a fee per tenant card, none of it refundable even if the lease never happens. So the beach can't be let out and kept at the same time. Anyone buying partly to rent should price that in.

Who sets the fees and the rules?

Two layers, and the lower one decides most of what an owner lives with. The Foundation sits above about 6,500 residences in 95 separate associations, and fees, pet limits and lease terms are set by the association rather than the whole community. Two homes of similar size can carry different monthly costs and different rules.

Each association collects the Foundation's annual assessment from its owners and remits it. Three quarters of the homes here sit in a condominium building, so for those owners that share sits inside the association's bill rather than arriving as a second one. Fall 90 days behind and access can be suspended, with a lien to follow.

Worth getting on the building:

• The association's documents, for the fee, the pet limit and the lease term.
• The building's inspection record, and whether the reserve is funded.
• The capital resale assessment amount, as the Foundation states it.

What do you pay when a home changes hands?

A one-time capital resale assessment lands at the closing: five figures, separate from the annual assessment. The Bylaws are precise on who pays. "The Resale Capital Assessment shall, unless the transferor and transferee otherwise expressly agree, be the obligation of the transferee." The buyer is the default, not the rule, and on a five-figure item that distinction is worth using.

The amount is set by board resolution and steps up on a schedule, so only a fresh figure is any use. A buyer under contract can ask for it in writing, and the Foundation answers within 15 days. Which amount applies turns on the date the deed is recorded, not the date of the contract.

What kind of homes are here?

Three quarters of them sit in a condominium building, high-rise more often than low-rise or mid-rise. Homes measure about 1,000 to about 10,600 square feet, with 1 to 6 bedrooms. A span that wide is why no single monthly figure describes the place.

Because that housing is mostly condominium and the oldest buildings date to 1980, Florida requires structural inspection and real reserves against what it finds. What the last one found, and whether the reserve is funded, decides whether a fee holds steady or a bill lands. A detached house isn't covered by any of it.

Is the golf part of it?

No. Golf is not one of the things the Foundation provides, and its Bylaws treat the course and clubhouse as separate property. Club Pelican Bay is a private, member-owned club on Gulf Park Drive, opened in 1980. It has 27 holes, as three par-36 nine-hole courses named Club, Pelican and Bay. The terms are worth getting from the club rather than assumed.

The towers were set back from the sand on purpose when this place was plotted in the 1970s. The berm and boardwalks were built to reach the Gulf without cutting through the mangrove forest. That is why the beach is reached rather than walked out to, and why an address well inland here still sells on its beach access.