Ambitious plans for a themed restaurant on the Anclote River now dead
After a year and a half of public acrimony, a developer has quietly withdrawn an ambitious plan for a 22,000-square-foot themed restaurant at Pasco’s Anclote River Park.
Without comment on Tuesday, county commissioners voted to accept the termination of lease signed several weeks ago by developer Keith Overton.
Overton is the well-known former president of the Tradewinds Island Resort who established RumFish Grill there in St. Pete Beach and spinoff locations. He also developed the OCC Roadhouse & Museum a motorcycle-themed business with an entertainment venue in Clearwater.
His proposal, approved by the commission in August 2022, also included “a water sports rental operation for paddleboards, kayaks, ferry boats for hire and parasailing boats, wave-runner rentals and group tours, dolphin and sunset cruises, snorkeling excursions, chartered fishing and scalloping trips, beach chair rentals, and a ferry service to Anclote Key,” according to the original pitch.
But his plan for the park, while it generated some initial enthusiasm, soon became a target. Area residents complained that it was too intense and didn’t fit at the passive park. Locals argued it was the one waterfront location they could still access for peace, quiet and nature.
Others soon joined the opposition pointing out that signs in the park marked the location of the Spanish Well, which had been used by travelers for hundreds of years, and an Indigenous mound which had been identified by archaeologists in the past. Their reports said the site might include burials and was eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.
The county paid a consultant that found clear signs of the prehistoric occupation there. That study was followed up with a ground penetrating radar assessment. While no burials were found on the site, the report left open the possibility that some could be there.
The clincher came late last year when County Administrator Mike Carballa wrote a memo to Overton telling him that the 22,000-square-foot lease area wasn’t meant to be a large restaurant. He said county commissioners had instead always intended for the site to have a smaller restaurant footprint capped at 3,000 square feet.
Overton reportedly did not want to pursue the lease further after he received that memo. County Commissioner Kathryn Starkey told residents who attended a town hall meeting on the project last month that there is a chance that the smaller restaurant can still happen on the site. Some residents still oppose a smaller restaurant.
Parallel to the plans by Overton, Pasco Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources officials have been designing other park enhancements although those also were scaled back as the community and others interested in the impacts on historic features watched closely. They could include adding parking space and redesigning how people enter and leave the park.
The boat ramps at the site are very busy at times and officials have said they want to provide better traffic flow in and out of the ramp area for more efficient access to the water.
