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City Legal Staff Targets Tarpon Turtle

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By Mark  Schantz | The Suncoast News

Published: November 22, 2008

TARPON SPRINGS - City officials have decided to deal with neighbors' complaints about the Jack Willie's Tarpon Turtle Grill and Marina by seeking a legal remedy.

Interim City Manager Mark LeCouris said restaurant officials have repeatedly ignored the city's request that they alleviate problems between the eatery at the southern end of Lake Tarpon Avenue and its neighbors.

Restaurant officials did not attend a recent code enforcement hearing, which concluded outside patio seating at the Tarpon Turtle was in violation of the eatery's site plan, LeCouris said.

Don Alvino, the owner of Tarpon Turtle, says he wants to be a good neighbor and his seeming indifference to the complaints and the city's attempt to resolve them is merely a misunderstanding.

In a telephone interviewer Wednesday morning, Alvino said he was not aware of the recent Code Enforcement Board hearing or that city commissioners had discussed the complaints against his restaurant when it met Tuesday night.

"I'm really sorry I missed that meeting," Alvino said the day after the commission meeting. "I had no idea we were going to be discussed."

Alvino, a co-owner of Jack Willie's Original Tiki Bar & Grill, in Oldsmar, bought the small Tarpon Turtle Inn in 2004, razed the structure and replaced it with the larger current restaurant building.

He has been in discussions with city officials in Dunedin about opening restaurants there and may have been distracted from his efforts to resolve the complaints regarding the Tarpon Turtle, Alvino said.

In the interim, "Everything got blown out of proportion," he said.

During their Nov. 18 meeting commissioners asked City Attorney James Yacavone to begin the legal proceedings needed to bring the Tarpon Turtle into compliance with city ordinances.

LeCouris told commissioners peace talks between Tarpon Turtle representatives and neighbors never occurred and the city continues to receive complaints about loud music coming from the establishment.

Police officers have been unable to issue warnings or summonses, LeCouris said, because no one at the Tarpon Turtle would acknowledge being the manager on duty and accept service of the documents.

In response, Mayor Beverley Billiris said she has strong feelings about anyone who decides to ignore the city's ordinances.

Some residents living near the restaurant, mainly in the Lake Tarpon Sail and Tennis Club, have repeatedly complained to the city about loud music played from the restaurant's outdoor patio deck, loud raucous patrons and parking problems.

During a previous City Commission meeting, residents questioned whether the grill's site plan included seating on the patio area overlooking Lake Tarpon. They also asked if the Tarpon Turtle has more seating than allowed.

At that earlier meeting restaurant representatives said they want the Tarpon Turtle to be good neighbors and were willing to meet with nearby residents and city officials to resolve problems.

At the same time, the restaurant representatives said Alvino had purchased additional property for more parking spaces. Neighbors had complained about Tarpon Turtle customers parking on surrounding residential streets.

In Wednesday's interview, however, Alvino said residents living near the proposed additional parking area complained that they did not want their balconies overlooking the planned added parking lot, even if he agreed to provide a visual buffer. Having scrapped his plans for the extra parking area to appease the neighbors he is now stuck with the property he bought, he said.

Brenda Kleine, the Tarpon Turtle manager, said Wednesday, "We are not a nuisance and many of our neighbors come here on a regular basis. "

The original site plan drawings for the current restaurant did not depict the intended outdoor seating because the application for a state beverage license the Tarpon Turtle filed only required indoor seating to be shown, Alvino explained. The former Tarpon Turtle Inn had outdoor seating, he noted.

If the city wants site plan drawings that show the outdoor seating they will be provided, Alvino said. The omission of the outside seating area from the original site plan was merely a misunderstanding about what needed to be shown on the plan, he said.

The restaurant has an alcoholic beverage license from the state and certificate of occupancy that approves it for 240 seats, 150 inside and 90 outdoors, Alvino said.

Alvino said he has taken decibel readings that show boats on Lake Tarpon are louder than the music that is performed on the outdoor patio area.

He has tried to work with residents, but one or two hold a grudge and will never be content with anything he does, Alvino said. They are the people who keep calling police and complaining, he said.

Tarpon Springs has an ordinance that merely says the music cannot be a nuisance but does not set an allowable decibel level, according to Alvino. One person's music can become a disgruntled person's nuisance, he said.

Tuesday night city commissioners asked Yacavone to decide the best legal route to resolving the complaints.

A court may not find the noise complaints the city has received are compelling enough for the Tarpon Turtle to be declared a nuisance, Yacavone said. A judge, however, could force the eatery to comply with city ordinances, the city attorney said.

Although the restaurant has a state liquor license it needs zoning conditional use approval from the city to serve alcohol in the patio area, city officials said. This could give the city the leverage it needs to ensure the Tarpon Turtle resolves the complaints from neighbors, they said.

Later in the day Wednesday, Alvino called a reporter and said he had just discussed the situation with Renae Vincent, the city planning director. In addition, he has asked to meet Monday with Billiris and LeCouris, Alvino said.

Alvino also owns the Inn on the Bay, off Alt. 19 in Dunedin. He is planning to construct a building at the inn that would have a Jack Willie's sports-themed grill on the first floor and a fine-dining restaurant on the second, Alvino said.

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