Mar Vista submits fifth application

Chiles Restaurant Group owner Ed Chiles’ plans to expand Mar Vista Dockside Restaurant & Pub over the past year and a half have been met with opposition from residents of the Longbeach Village.

Chiles recently submitted a new application to the Longboat Key Planning Zoning & Building Department, seeking to build a second-story tree house with dining on the second level that would add 11 seats to the restaurant.

Asked whether he believes the latest plan will generate controversy, Chiles told the Longboat Observer:
“I hope not, but you never can tell.”

Chiles’ application includes a site plan and petition for a special exception to increase the restaurant’s seating from 169 to 180 seats.

“The proposed renovation includes the relocation of existing seating to a new, upstairs dining area. The two-story office/storage building will remain in its current state with no proposed renovations at this time,” the application states.

The application does not include plans to renovate the historic Rufus P. Jordan House. Villagers rallied against Chiles’ plans to restore the home and use it for weddings and other events in 2013.

“The plan does not affect the Jordan House,” Chiles said. “I don’t have any plans for that in the future.”
This is Chiles’ fifth try at expanding the Longboat Key restaurant.

The Longboat Key Town Commission approved a special exception request for the 11 additional seats in 2010. The town required Chiles to submit a new site plan in 2012, after he made modifications to the existing plan, including changing the placement of the restaurant’s deck by approximately 20 feet.

Chiles submitted a third application in 2013, which added renovations to the Jordan House that is currently used for storage.

After Village residents protested en masse, Chiles announced that he would not pursue plans for the Jordan House. Instead, he opted to move ahead with the original second-story tree house and additional 11 seats.

However, Town Attorney Maggie Mooney-Portale recommended the town postpone a September 2013 Planning and Zoning Board hearing after Village resident Corinne Ragheb contested the plan the afternoon before the hearing.

Ragheb’s objection stated that the special exception the commission approved allowing for an additional 11 seats expired Nov. 16, 2011, and that neither Mar Vista nor the commission sought an extension of the original site-plan exception.

The latest plan is similar to the original application Chiles submitted.

Longbeach Village Association President Michael Drake declined to comment on the application.

“It’s essentially the same as it was before, without the Jordan House,” said Alaina Ray, director of Planning, Zoning and Building.

A town Development Review Committee will discuss the plan with applicants in a meeting at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 28, in the commission antechambers at Longboat Key Town Hall. The meeting will be open to the public, however, no public participation will be allowed.

Ray said staff will write its report on the application after the Oct. 28 meeting.

The Planning & Zoning Board will likely consider the site plan application and special extension request at its 9 a.m. Dec. 16 meeting, during which the public will be allowed to comment. The town plans to notify all residents who live within 500 feet of the restaurant about the hearing.

Chiles said he hopes to begin renovations in August 2015.

Restaurant renovations
Major renovations of Mar Vista Dockside Restaurant & Pub have hit delays, but owner Ed Chiles hasn’t let the setbacks stop him from redeveloping his other two restaurants.

In March, the BeacHouse Restaurant, on Bradenton Beach, unveiled its newly rebuilt interior that included a new dining room, bar, bathrooms, retail area and kitchen, following seven months of construction.

The Sandbar Restaurant, on Anna Maria, completed two years’ worth of renovations in late 2012.