The owner of a closed restaurant has finally been served with notice that he’s being sued by the city of Fruitland Park.
T.D. Burke, who owns the defunct Burke’s BBQ at 311 County Road 466A, was officially served with the lawsuit last Monday, according to Fruitland Park Attorney Anita Geraci-Carver. The city elected to file the suit earlier this month after Burke failed to honor a commitment to hook up to the city’s water and sewer systems, install a fire hydrant outside his eatery – an underground hose running from a nearby private swimming pool is the current method in place to fight a fire at the restaurant – and pay hefty impact fees that were due.
Up until last Monday, process servers hadn’t been able to locate Burke to serve him with the papers, Geraci-Carver said.
Burke also has hired attorney Lindsay Holt of the law firm Crawford, Modica & Holt, which is located in Tavares. Holt filed a notice with the Fifth Judicial Court in Lake County on Sept. 24 showing that she will be Burke’s “counsel of record” as the suit moves forward.
Fruitland Park commissioners agreed to charge ahead with the lawsuit after City Manager Gary La Venia told them that Burke had agreed on April 12, 2012, that he would have a six-month window to honor his agreement once sewer and water hookups became available to him. Last year, the city sent Burke two letters giving him until Oct. 6 to take care of the issues and La Venia said he then paid him a visit and “raised holy hell.”
“He said absolutely no way am I doing this,” La Venia said. “And he didn’t. He just didn’t want to pay the money.”
Geraci-Carver sent Burke another letter in March giving him until June 19 to take care of the outstanding issues. After receiving no response by that deadline, Commissioner Patrick DeGrave pushed for the city to file the lawsuit against Burke.
“While we’re a friendly city, if you sign an agreement with us, you have to live up to your end of the bargain,” DeGrave said. “So, I think we have to hold to the development agreement. And if the next step is filing that claim, we file the claim.”
DeGrave also pointed out that Burke had had plenty of time to come speak with the commission.
“If there was a hardship, he could have pled the case and brought that forth,” he said. “But there’s been no communication, so let’s do our best to enforce the agreement.”
On July 25, Burke’s BBQ announced on its Facebook page that it was closing. Four days later, the restaurant’s Facebook page contained posts announcing a going-out-of-business sale scheduled for the following day. The public and other restaurant owners were invited to attend and purchase supplies and equipment that was still inside the building.
News of the sale didn’t deter the city from continuing to pursue legal action against Burke, nor did a rumor that his family was considering selling 90 acres of their property behind the restaurant to developers hoping to put in a large recreational vehicle park.
“I think it’s important to keep going,” Commissioner John Mobilian said at the Aug. 8 commission meeting. “They haven’t lived up to their end of the deal, so far. I think it will behoove us to stay on them, even if they sell it.”
On Sept. 19, commissioners were told that developers Paul and Tim Rohan, Carl Curly and Daniel Gibbs were actively pursuing their plan with Lake County to build the Sun Recreational Vehicle Development park, which would include spaces for 631 RVs, many of which could be permanent, mobile-home-type models.
The commission expressed fears of the park being a way to bring low-income housing to the area and sent a letter to Lake County officials explaining its opposition and suggesting other uses for the property would be more beneficial.
Paul and Tim Rohan are the brothers of John Rohan, the longtime director of recreation for The Villages. Their proposed RV park, which is located where Burke’s Tree Farm currently sits, would back up to Villages homes along the Lake/Sumter County line and include a 3.4-acre “Amenity Village” that would offer a clubhouse with a pool, as well as multiple bathhouses and two lift stations.
It doesn’t appear that the property where Burke’s BBQ is located would be part of the 90-acre sale for the RV park. Geraci-Carver also has assured commissioners that any new owner of the property where the restaurant building sits would be required to resolve the issues with the city, which will likely cost them about $110,000.