A two-level restaurant proposed for a spectacular 3-acre tract just south of the Indian River County line has received a conditional OK from the state Department of Environmental Protection and appears to be steadily moving through the final stages of permitting, expected to take another six months.
Joe Caragol, a Vero Beach-based food importer, and his partner in that business, Aziz Debbagh, bought the tract in November 2013 for $750,000 according to St. Lucie County records. They announced plans for the restaurant last July.
The DEP’s requested adjustments meant Caragol’s team, architect Jeff Rey and engineer Scott McGuire, have had to move the planned 6,000-square-foot structure eight feet closer to the county’s easement along A1A. They’ve also slightly changed the contours of the beachfront deck.
“I think that’s good, personally,” says Caragol. “We’ll have an even wider nice sandy beach.”
While the county submitted a letter of support to the state with Caragol’s DEP application, it has only seen preliminary plans. Those met “front yard” and “side yard” setbacks, according to Leslie Olson, planning manager for the county. It’s not yet known if the DEP’s requested changes will affect those setback requirements. Caragol says the county has given him a verbal OK to move the structure west toward the county’s easement, as the DEP requested.
Caragol expects to meet with county officials in the next couple of weeks to go over plans for additional parking.
Providing adequate parking for the location, across the street from an upscale mobile home park, appears to have been resolved by a new design that would create a second tier of parking underneath a lot just above ground level.
Caragol says officials have expressed satisfaction at the new two-level concept. The lot will require an extra turn-in off A1A, which will have to be approved by the DOT.
In addition, the St. Lucie County Commission will have to approve an exception to the existing zoning in order for Caragol’s Beach Club to serve liquor. Though the first two restaurants on the site had full liquor licenses, the current zoning of commercial/residential only allows for a beer and wine license. Caragol says he fully expects the county to grant the exception, though it will require a public hearing.
Even so, the process should not be nearly as complex at that for the 400-unit condo hotel proposed by Las Vegas billionaire Phil Ruffin for the southern end of the North Hutchinson Island.
In January, the county gave the tentative OK to create zoning for such commercial resort projects in the county. Ruffin’s reported plans include two restaurants, a large wedding venue and a spa within three 12-story towers. The proposed change in zoning was sent to the state for review and will be subjected to one more public hearing before a final vote is taken.
If the two projects are approved and built, Caragol expects the hotel to benefit his restaurant. “They’re going to want to get away from that place and come someplace smaller with a nicer beach.”
The name for the project has been revised to Caragol’s Beach Club, after the original name, South Orchid Island Club, drew complaints from the Orchid Island gated community, he says.
The plans include two levels of dining, each with a fireplace and an ocean view. Three bars are planned for upstairs, downstairs and on the oceanfront terrace.
That terrace looks out over a 550-foot expanse of beachfront, with the 2,000-acre Avalon State Park to the north. The second floor is edged by a balcony on the east and south.
Plans at first allowed for a parking level below the building, similar to the design of the new Quail Valley hotel and restaurant project on Royal Palm Pointe. But that turned out to be inadequate for the amount of people the restaurant may draw, Caragol says, particularly for events like weddings.
Instead, Caragol’s engineer, Scott McGuire, has come up with a plan to build a parking lot north of the restaurant, with the second level built underground.
Caragol says he is hearing nothing but enthusiasm from Vero’s south island residents eager for another restaurant option. Caragol, a lifelong jazz guitarist who performs locally, has been hearing in particular from residents of The Moorings, which at its southern edge is only three miles from the proposed restaurant.
“They’re just so excited about it,” he says. “They said there’s nothing like it south of the 17th Street Bridge. When I told them about running the free cab service, they thought that was brilliant.”
It’s been more than a decade since a restaurant was open on the site, first occupied by a well-regarded restaurant called the Red Tail Hawk in the 1970s and ‘80s. It eventually sold and became P.V. Martin’s. That closed in 2004 and was demolished in 2005.
St. Lucie County, with a policy of actively encouraging tourism to boost its economy, is eager to help make the restaurant happen. “Absolutely, we’re ready to go,” says Olson.
