Holmes Beach commissioners shot down two restaurants’ requests for exterior walk-in coolers Nov. 15 after Commission Chair Judy Titsworth introduced an ordinance not even the building official knew about.
The Ugly Grouper, 5704 Marina Drive, appealed to commissioners during the work session to approve a site-plan change that would have allowed a walk-in cooler to replace the mobile kitchen on the restaurant’s site.
Bob Dwyer, representing the restaurant as the renovation project manager, said the 12-by-20 foot cooler would be attached to the building and provide food storage for a new kitchen.
Building official Jim McGuinness said he approved the walk-in cooler as an addition to renovations already taking place at the restaurant, including electrical work and construction of a commercial kitchen and U.S. Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant restrooms.
“It’s a real, serious restaurant, not a sandwich shop run out of a roach coach,” McGuinness said. He added that he would like the power to make small site-plan changes, such as walk-in cooler additions part of his administrative review, to be approved without commission input.
Commissioners rejected the idea foregoing their review and granting McGuinness more approval powers.
As a point, Titsworth quoted a supplementary regulation in the city’s code of ordinances, which states “all areas for storage and preparation and in which patrons of the restaurant consume food or beverages shall be wholly contained within the permanent exterior walls and under the permanent roof of the building in which the restaurant is located.”
City planner Bill Brisson said no special exception or variance exists to circumvent the regulation. “You’d have to change the code,” he said.
Dwyer said the cooler unit Ugly Grouper owners Scott Roland and Mike Ross purchased features a stucco-like exterior with its own roof. “It’ll blend right in with the existing building,” he said.
Commissioners, however, weren’t convinced.
After much discussion, commissioners agreed to go forward with the site-plan review if Dwyer could present them with an amended plan at the December meeting, making the cooler a small addition within the walls and roof of the primary structure.
Commissioners also denied Dwyer’s request to have the cooler delivered and stored onsite until the outcome of the site plan review is determined.
“You’re assuming you can build around it,” Mayor Bob Johnson said.
City attorney Patricia Petruff cautioned commissioners about being too lenient in seeking to assist local businesses by bending the rules for them. “This is how city commissions get into trouble,” she said. “You don’t know what other hardship issues you might create.”
Another applicant seeking approval for an outdoor refrigeration unit, the new Dunkin’ Donuts-Baskin Robbins store under construction at the Anna Maria Island Centre, 3302 E. Bay Drive, also was turned away by commissioners.
Todd Mathis of Benderson Development, owner of the plaza, agreed to provide the city with an amended site plan to enclose the cooler within the roof and walls of the primary building as an addition to the existing structure prior to the December meeting.
Mathis pointed out the existence of several unenclosed walk-in coolers behind the plaza. McGuinness said he did not know if the coolers were permitted, were placed illegally or were in place before the regulation banning them was adopted.
Holmes Beach Police Chief Bill Tokajer said code enforcement would be looking into the situation and report back to commissioners.
Commissioners next meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 13, for a meeting followed by a work session at city hall, 5801 Marina Drive.