The steak house's opening was delayed by a disagreement over the removal of a parking area.
By MAUREEN BYRNE AHERN
Published February 8, 2004
MADEIRA BEACH - A small sign greets guests in the lobby of Leatherbacks Steak House.
Thanks to all of you for your continued support during this long journey. Beautification still in progress. The Broadericks.
After months of bumping heads with the city manager, after filing a lawsuit against Madeira Beach, Art Broaderick has opened the restaurant at 15000 Madeira Way. The place was packed Thursday evening, with patrons waiting 15 minutes for a table.
Broaderick and his wife, Caryl, sat in a booth with a friend. Broaderick looked happy.
"It's doing really well," he said Friday. "We're very pleased."
If only he could have opened a year ago, he told the Neighborhood Times. Broaderick blames City Manager Jim Madden for holding up a remodeling project, which has turned the old Apple Family Restaurant into a trendy dining place with a sea turtle theme.
He said what started out as a disagreement over the removal of some parking spaces became a personal vendetta against him.
"I was being attacked," he said. "I know that."
Madden doesn't see it that way. He said as city manager he didn't treat Broaderick any differently than anyone else who does business with City Hall. He said Broaderick is at fault because he altered his site plan and removed parking spaces, thus delaying the project.
"You follow the rules, the codes and ordinances of the city, and there are no problems," Madden said Friday. "I have no personal issues whatsoever with Broaderick."
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In the fall of 2002, Broaderick began the Apple's makeover. Plans called for landscaping the exterior with coconut palms and a low torch-lit wall; building a new entrance, including a 600-square-foot lobby, at the existing rear of the building; and adding details inside such as a bamboo ceiling and wood floors.
Pat and George Shontz, the Apple's owners since 1962, are leasing the property to Broaderick, a city resident for 22 years. The Apple was an institution in Madeira Beach, growing from the original 72-seat diner to a full-service restaurant with 185 seats.
Broaderick's problems started when he dug up some asphalt at the east side of the property. The city said removing the blacktop meant losing a dozen parking spaces. Broaderick said the space accommodated only about six spaces and that state road officials had told him they were in a dangerous location.
In the eyes of city officials, tearing up the blacktop was a big mistake. The restaurant had been grandfathered for 185 seats as long as the parking never changed, Madden said.
"Then (Broaderick) removed the parking spaces that were on the east side of the building without approval to do so," Madden said. "We just put him on notice that his grandfathering clause went away."
Losing that clause meant losing 55 seats. "Once you alter the site and the parking specifically, you remove the grandfathering and you must follow code," Madden said.
Broaderick said that when he was told he lost the grandfathered seats, he offered to restore the parking spaces. "We'll just repave it," he said he told city officials. "We were willing to do that."
But Madden said city code didn't allow that. Once the parking was removed, it couldn't be put back.
To Broaderick, who also owns Sculley's and the Hut restaurants on John's Pass Boardwalk, it didn't make any sense. "Oh, the bell is rung," he said. "You can't unring it. All I could do as an individual is to keep challenging it at my expense."
And he did.
* * *
Broaderick appealed the city's decision before the Board of Adjustment.
Broaderick's attorney asked that chairman Joe Jorgensen, who at one time had been involved with the Leatherbacks project, recuse himself from the case.
"He refused to recuse himself," Broaderick said. "One hundred and twenty people showed up and witnessed what went on and they were gasping."
The three-member panel denied his petition.
In September, Broaderick and the Shontzes filed a lawsuit claiming they have the right to put back what they took out. The suit is pending.
"They're using the taxpayers' money," Broaderick said. "They are waging a personal battle against me with the taxpayers' dollars."
In November, the commission changed the city's parking rule. The new formula for bars and restaurants is one parking space for every four seats. Broaderick got his parking spaces back.
"The city changed its ordinance to help Mr. Broaderick out," Madden said, though according to a June Board of Adjustment meeting five business owners were seeking to reduce their required number of parking spaces.
They said parking ordinances had not kept pace with an era of redevelopment and shrinking space.
Leatherbacks opened Jan. 20.
When asked if he has visited the new restaurant, Madden said no. But he said he likes what he sees. "There is no question that it is 100 percent better than what was there before."
