When the Amenity Authority Committee discussed on July 10, 2013 the $350,000 purchase of the El Santiago building from the developer, the issue was raised as to whether the building could be used as a restaurant.
Below is an entry from the minutes of that meeting and an exchange between a Villager and District Manager Janet Tutt.
“Bob Folcurst, Village of Santo Domingo, requested clarification if restrictions within the contract would restrict what the property could be utilized for. Ms. Tutt stated the terminology provides that the building can be utilized for any legal purpose the District can operate in accordance with Florida Statute Chapter 190. Mr. Folcurst inquired if anything within the contract could prevent the facility from becoming a restaurant. Ms. Tutt stated there was not.”
(To read the minutes in their entirety, follow the link below:
http://www.districtgov.org/PDFView/PDFMeeting.aspx?id=20130710aa0301)
After that exchange, in a 5-1 vote, the AAC approved the purchase of the building which at that point had been gutted and vacant for nearly two years. It had formerly housed the neighborhood El Santiago Club restaurant.
In the months following that purchase, there has been a great deal of discussion and emotion tied up in the future of the building. Many residents have repeatedly stated they want a restaurant back in the building.
In January, the AAC split 3-2 on pursuing exploration of a request for proposal for a possible restaurant in the building.
The action was taken after an 11th hour interest in the building was shown by a reputable but publicly unnamed party within The Villages. The “husband and wife business team” expressed an interest in restoring a restaurant at the building which has been vacant for more than two years.
AAC member Rich Lambrecht brokered a meeting between the party and district staff.
But a letter from board attorney Lewis Stone to be discussed at Wednesday’s AAC meeting, calls into question the legal possibility of a restaurant being located in that building.
“As you may recall, the deed required that the property ‘shall be subject to a restriction limiting the use of the Property to only uses permitted for a community development district under Chapter 190, Florida Statutes as such permitted activities existed on the date of conveyance,’” Stone wrote to Tutt in a letter dated Jan. 21.
In short, the board’s attorney has now concluded that a restaurant cannot legally be put into the El Santiago building.
The AAC will meet at 9 a.m. Wednesday at Savannah Center. Once again the future of the El Santiago building is on the agenda.
