The fight between the town of Fort Myers Beach government and Sunset Grill owner Terry Persaud rages on. On Thursday, Magistrate Myrnabelle Roche, visibly irritated that the same issues with Persaud keep coming back before her, issued the fines and instructed Persaud to get his restaurant into compliance.
The first fine came in at $63,000. The town has been alleging, for years, that Persaud has been renting chairs and umbrellas behind the Sunset Grill without a permit. They say, every though Persaud owns the property behind the restaurant and can sell alcohol and food to paying customers of the restaurant, he needs a permit. They also allege Persaud is renting the chairs and umbrellas to beachgoers who are not his customers which they say is also against their rules.
Persaud, who was not present at the Magistrate meeting Thursday, told Beach Talk Radio News he is not renting chairs to non-customers. They are free for his customers who spend money at the restaurant. He is not renting chairs to anyone. He also says that area behind his restaurant is an extension of his business. “Why do I need a permit when my restaurant covers the beach? I can serve alcohol and food to my customers.
Persaud’s attorney told Roche the chairs were not for rent, that Persaud charged a service fee to customers who are given a wrist band. Roche responded that He (Persaud) refuses to acknowledge or remedy this. Your argument does not counter the evidence. They (the town staff) know their method of operation and how it works.
Town staff claimed the parking lot attendant – who does collect cash for parking – was flashing money around and alleged at least some of that money came from renting chairs and umbrellas illegally. Code Enforcement claimed to have 200 pictures to prove their point, although those were not shown during the hearing yesterday.
The $63,000 fine was ordered.
The second fine was a whopper. It involves the Sunset Grill parking lot, which the town says Persaud is in violation of a special exception he was given back in march of 2020 and is now basically operating an illegal parking lot. The town says, and has been saying for many months, that Persaud has not complied with any of the 14 conditions in that special exception. They include things like adding handicapped spots, putting up landscaping, adding a fence by the seawall and not opening his lot until 8:30 AM.
Roche dropped the hammer on Persaud. She went with the town’s recommendation for the maximum fine. $500 per day from February 15th to June 30th, 2022. That’s 135 days at $500 per day or $67,500. However, being that the town claims Persaud is in violation of 9 conditions to his special exception that $67,500 is applied to all 9 for a total of $607,500.
This issue has come before Roche before where she also ruled in favor of the town. Back in April we reported that the Sunset Grill had accrued over $200,000 in fines. Persaud has so many fines levied against him from the town it’s nearly impossible to keep track of what the real-time dollar amount is for all of them. The town has also been taking steps to foreclose on The Sunset Grill because of all of the unpaid violations and their assertion that Persaud will not come into compliance.
Persaud told us he has no plan to pay any of the fines. He told us the town doesn’t want him to use the lot until 8:30 and they won’t fly. “My business starts at 7AM, trucks start arriving at 5AM. Persaud said he’s been trying to resolve this with Town Manager Roger Hernstadt and Mayor Ray Murphy.
Correction: An earlier version of this story said that Persaud was renting chairs to customers for $10.00. That was incorrect. According to Persaud, they are free to his restaurant customers. He is not renting chairs or umbrellas.
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