FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. — The City of Fernandina Beach is struggling to figure out what to do with a restaurant that was deemed structurally unsafe by the city engineer back in 2021.
The restaurant has been the subject of a lot of controversies as of late.
The back and forth on what to do with Brett’s Waterway Café has been going on for more than a year and a half.
In July of 2021 the Fernandina Beach city engineer sent a letter to Brett’s Waterway Café, informing the restaurant it had 60 days to begin repairs on structural deficiencies or the city would order the property vacated.
The decision was based on findings in a report published by an engineer with Hanson Professional Services.
“Staff believes the substructure at Brett’s Waterway Café has surpassed its useful life and could suffer significant damage during a hurricane or other high wind event,” said City Engineer Charles George in the 2021 letter.
The restaurant appealed the decision to the city’s Board of Adjustments and presented expert testimony from engineers who argued the property was in fact safe.
The restaurant also had its own report commissioned on the stability of the property.
The restaurant lost but then appealed to a circuit court.
“The GeoView Report recommended that these identified cracks be evaluated by a structural engineer and, like the other reports, did not indicate the substructure was unsafe, in danger of collapse, or required closure,” wrote attorney’s representing Brett’s Waterway Café in the initial court filing.
The restaurant prevailed and the city’s order was officially quashed last August.
Now, the city commission is stuck determining what to do next.
It’s unable to close the restaurant but has the option of buying the business out of the remainder of its lease.
That would cost $1.4 million.
In a commission meeting last week, City Manager Dale Martin indicated the commission isn’t willing to fork up the cash.
“At this time the consensus of the city commission is that we just let the lease go to its end,” said Martin.
That lease still has 38 months, or a little over three years, left.
To make matters worse from the city’s perspective, the land is leased to the restaurant by the city.
City attorney Tammi Bach said that puts the city at risk.
“If the structure underneath Brett’s Waterway Café failed and people are injured, the city and restaurant would have liability,” Bach said in a statement.
Action News Jax reached out to Fernandina Beach Vice Mayor David Sturges, former Mayor Mike Lednovich and City Commissioner Ronald “Chip” Ross for comment on this story.
All declined to speak on the record.
We also didn’t hear back from the restaurant itself.
In background discussions with some of the key players, Action News Jax was able to learn this issue is expected to come up before the city commission again sometime early next week.
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