Owners of historic Olde Naples Building fight for outdoor dining on their property

Owners of the historic Olde Naples Building are challenging City Council's decision to reject their petition for outdoor dining.

Council shot down the request in June.

A restaurateur and the property owners has sought approval to set up 17 outdoor tables, with 76 seats.

The building, one of the oldest in the city, off Third Street South downtown, is still under renovation, with uncertainty looming over its final design as a new restaurant.

The last tenant, Fantozzi's grocery store, closed in 2006.

The city issued a building permit last year to convert the property from a grocery store to a restaurant and kitchen after a 25-month review process.

The building is owned by the Camalier family, who have been Naples residents since 1964.

They've taken action on three fronts in hopes of overturning Council's decision not to allow outdoor dining on their private property, due to parking concerns.

Constructed in 1921, the building has no parking of its own.

However, it has a parking exception.

The Camaliers wanted to extend that exception to outdoor dining.

A dispute over property rights

With the denial of their request, the Camaliers have requested relief under the Florida Land Use and Environmental Dispute Resolution Act, which provides an avenue for a special magistrate to consider whether a local government's decision is "unreasonable or unfairly burdens the use of the owner's real property."

The first step is a mediation, which began last week. After running long, the discussions got continued to a yet-to-be scheduled date.

If mediation isn't successful, a hearing before a special magistrate would follow. The magistrate would hear evidence from both sides before making a determination on who's in the right. Although the decision wouldn't be binding, it would be presented to City Council, with a recommended action.

If Council doesn't change its mind through the dispute resolution process, the right to pursue legal action still exists.

In case you missed it: Naples City Council shoots down two outdoor dining petitions for different reasons

Earlier: Judge sides with city in Olde Naples Building parking credits dispute

The Camaliers have also asked for the enforcement of a final judgment in an earlier case over its parking rights and appealed the city's unfavorable decision in circuit court. Those actions are on hold, awaiting the outcome of the remedy they've sought under the dispute resolution act.

"I'm an eternal optimist and we are talking with the city, discussing this matter with the city and the special magistrate in good faith, and hope that we can resolve our differences with the city," said John Shubin, a Miami attorney who represents the Camaliers.

Last month, the city hired an outside attorney to represent it in the dispute. The attorney, Kara Jursinski, with Jursinski & Murphy, declined to comment. It's the city's policy not to comment on pending litigation.

She represented the city in the 2012 case involving the parking exception for the Olde Naples Building.

In that case, the city and the Camaliers fought on the same side, defending a decision made by the city's former planning director to award the building a credit for 76 spaces — all of the spaces city code would require for a grocery store or restaurant to operate on the property.

Neapolitan Enterprises — a competing property owner and landlord on Third Street — had filed the lawsuit, challenging the administrative decision to approve the parking credits. The company and its owner Joan Tobin, whose family has been involved in the development of Third Street since the 1950s, wanted to ensure there was "sufficient parking to support all businesses there," according to the suit.

In 2018, a Collier Circuit judge sided with the city of Naples. The judge's ruling stated the building should be considered a "lawful nonconformity" for purposes of future construction, improvements or operation of any project or business.

A request to reassign parking credits

The Camaliers wanted to reassign 14 of the 76 spots they were awarded to 4,630 square feet of outdoor dining. With the addition of the outdoor dining, they planned to reduce the indoor dining from 7,158 to 6,080 square feet.

They assert the final judgment in the earlier case allows them to reallocate some of the spaces, which was their basis for filing a motion with the court to enforce it.

At the City Council hearing on the outdoor dining petition, Neapolitan Enterprises opposed it, with its attorney arguing the business and its tenants would be hurt by it, and describing the path taken to seek approval as a "short cut."

Several spoke against the petition at the hearing, including Michael Smith, director of operations for D'Amico & Partners, operators of Campiello and The Continental on Third Street South. He remarked that the request for more than 10,000 square feet of dining, with no real parking, took him by surprise, and noted it would become the largest restaurant on the street.

"The public parking virtually is unavailable in season," Smith said. "And as a company, we've had to help pay for private parking, valet services, to ensure our customers can park in high season."

He asked for an "equal playing field."

Council denied the outdoor dining request, expressing similar concerns.

Councilman Terry Hutchison made the motion to reject it. It was seconded by Ray Christman.

In his arguments against the petition, Hutchison said it had to be denied based on his understanding of the former planning director's determination letter. The letter stated the "nonconformity couldn't be transferred from one part of the building to another," which he concluded didn't allow any of the parking credits to be shifted to outdoor dining – something he couldn't "go past."

Others on Council agreed.

A long fight to redevelop a historic building

After the Council's unfavorable vote in June, Chris Camalier, one of the building's owners, stated the family was "deeply disappointed."

"We are, however, dedicated to finding an economically sustainable way to continue our 17-year fight to restore the Olde Naples Building as Naples’ most precious historic commercial resource," he added.

NCR (Next Cool Restaurant) Ventures, an Ohio-based restaurant group, leased the building with the expectation of having outdoor dining. Founded by Rick Doody, the group has six concepts including the Cedar Creek Grille, 17 River Grille and Lindey's Lakehouse restaurants.

Rick and his brother, Chris, started the Bravo Brio Restaurant Group in 1992 and sold it for about $100 million in 2018.

In a recent phone interview, Mick Moore, a Naples attorney who represents Neapolitan Enterprises, said that should the appeal, or the attempt to reopen the old case about parking credits move forward, his clients plan to file motions in opposition. At this point, hearings have not been scheduled in either case.

Neapolitan Enterprises is not directly involved in the mediation, but it's keeping a watchful eye on it.

"The position of the city and our position is that the original case did not deal with outdoor dining at all," Moore said.

"It just dealt with whether the Olde Naples Building was entitled to be a restaurant, without having any parking, because of the nonconforming status of the property," he added.

Now, the Camaliers have come back asking for more, he said, which doesn't sit well with his clients, or others, who are concerned about insufficient parking on Third Street.

"They got exactly what the judge said they could do," Moore said. "But they weren't satisfied with that."

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: City Council's denial of outdoor dining at historic building challenged in Naples