Bradenton Beach commissioners hoped for a quick resolution to the city’s March eviction of Cast-n-Cage Restaurant.
That now appears unlikely.
The city is highly motivated to install a new concessionaire in the restaurant on the Historic Bridge Street Pier.
But the legal system is not served like fast food; more like a four-course meal. It has its own set of rules and timelines.
Cast-n-Cage owner Roland Pena continues to run the restaurant while he contests his March 10 eviction by the city for not paying his rent on time. Mayor Bill Shearon laments that the case could be costing the city $2,000 a week.
The rent is being paid. That was the purpose of the April 13 meeting of attorneys in Judge Charles Sniffen’s hearing room at the Manatee County Courthouse. The parties agreed that Pena will continue to pay $6,800 per month for March and April for the restaurant, bait shop and the harbormaster office. He also will pay property tax.
The lease and tax payments are going into escrow, but Shearon said that doesn’t mean the city will ever receive it, because the outcome of the case is uncertain.
“That’s my concern,” Shearon said. “It’s $2,000 a week that this is costing the city. On top of that, we have attorney’s fees that are building. Not only that, but this is holding up the process for us to find a new tenant.”
The city commission held a workshop April 21 — after the deadline for the April 22 edition of The Islander — to discuss establishing a new request for proposal and lease agreement.
Shearon said all signs indicate a new concessionaire, if there is one, would not open on the pier until summer, with that tenant justifiably seeking lower rent during initial months of operation. It’s possible, the mayor said, the city could be without a tenant — and no income — for six to eight months.
Despite the excitement surrounding the dedication of the renovated pier in February, the restaurant does not appear to be a moneymaker in 2015. Still, Shearon has no regrets about pursuing Pena’s eviction.
“We didn’t have any choice,” the mayor said. “There was no choice at all. It’s very simple. He wasn’t paying his rent.”
Fred Moore, an attorney specializing in evictions for the Bradenton-based Blalock Walters law firm, is handling the case for the city.
Pena’s attorney, John Fleck of Bradenton, is scheduled to depose Shearon and Bradenton Beach Police Chief Sam Speciale, facilitator of the pier team committee, at 9 a.m. Thursday, April 23.
The parties agreed on a trial date of May 4 at the Manatee County Judicial Center, 1051 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton.
I don’t understand! The writer of the article says the rent is paid, but the mayor says he wasn’t paying his rent. Which is right?
I say give the restauranteur a chance!!
Both are right. Pena allegedly violated his lease when he made LATE rent payments. He now pays rent to an escrow account, which, depending on the outcome, the city may or may not receive. — editor