Future of Atlantic Seafood uncertain

Submitted by Suanne Z. Thamm
Reporter – News Analyst
October 6, 2021

On a 4-1 vote the Fernandina Beach City Commission (FBCC) voted to deny Resolution 2021-168 to approve a new lease agreement with Anne T. Coonrod d/b/a Atlantic Seafood Bait and Tackle. The City’s ongoing work to construct resiliency barriers and a boardwalk requires the demolition of the Atlantic Seafood building. The City has worked with Coonrod and her team over recent months to find a new location which would allow her to build a replacement building. However, the FBCC is unwilling to allow Coonrod to build a new building over 1200 square feet — the size of the building destined for demolition. Coonrod, who originally sought a new area of more than 9,000 square feet, reduced her requirement to 6,500 square feet.

Talks have apparently stalemated. Coonrod has stated that in order to cover the costs of a new building, she needs to add food service and extend the lease, which expires is 2028. She is seeking a new 40-year lease with two ten-year renewal options. Commissioners believe that under the terms of the current lease, she cannot expand the footprint beyond the 1200 square feet that she currently leases. There is general consensus among Commissioners that if the City is interested in adding or expanding a structure on the downtown waterfront, it should issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) to allow all interested parties to offer proposals. Such action would avoid concerns that the City was giving Atlantic Seafood a “sweetheart deal.”

The only Commissioner to disagree with the RFP approach was Bradley Bean, who cited the longevity of Atlantic Seafood — more than 40 years in its current location. He said that Coonrod has been a good partner for the City and saw no need to widen the search for a possible replacement.

Discussion

Commissioner Bradley Bean moved approval of the new lease, but a second to his motion was not forthcoming. Finally Commissioner Chip Ross agreed to second for discussion purposes only.

Anne Coonrod

Anne Coonrod addressed the FBCC, thanking them for their constructive feedback during talks. She explained that as a result, she had reduced her space need from 9,200 to 6,500 square feet. The building would adhere to CRA design guidelines. She would agree to new appraisals every 10 years to adjust the rent. “We are committed to best practices for public/private land use,” she said, “and it would blend seamlessly with the marina. Our hope is that it will encourage more Fernandina Beach residents to use this special corner of our island.” She concluded by saying she was open to making “any adjustment that is viable.”

Addressing the FBCC, Coonrod said, “I ask each of you to work with me and honor the lease that I have with the City and to consider the taxpayers who would like to have something other than boating and parking on our historic waterfront.”

Three other speakers addressed the FBCC.

Mac Morris said, “99 percent of the people love Atlantic Seafood. They just don’t want a large building blocking their sunset view or taking away from parking.” He suggested moving Atlantic Seafood to the city-owned lot north of the marina.

Marian Phillips expressed her appreciation and respect for Anne Coonrod. But she also did not agree with a large building on the waterfront. She said she would like to see a new Atlantic Seafood building that looks exactly like the current one, harkening back to the working waterfront past of Fernandina Beach. “This is not Hilton Head,” she said. “Personally I am getting tired of people coming to this island and wanting to change it. We have got to slack off on some of this growth.”

Final speaker Genece Minshew said, “If we are going to put a bigger building on the waterfront, it needs to be part of a plan, and I still don’t see that plan. I also feel strongly that anything larger than the current building should go out for bid if we really are looking for a public/private partnership. There needs to be more transparency and it needs to be more clear to the public.”

Commissioners debate

Vice Mayor Len Kreger reminded Commissioners that he has been opposed to this proposal from the beginning. “In my mind, this is totally inappropriate,” he said. “This type of operating causes people to have a totally negative view of the City. What we should have done was go out on an RFP, to open it up to the public. In 6 years on the FBCC this is the worst deal I’ve seen of things going on behind closed doors.”

Commissioner David Sturges agreed with Kreger, while commending Coonrod as a good businesswoman who has contributed to the community. “If we want another restaurant on the waterfront, it needs to go out on an RFP,” he said. “I cannot vote to approve this lease tonight.”

Comissioner Bradley Bean

Commissioner Bradley Bean asked Coonrod why a 1,200 square building would not meet her needs. She said, “It’s just too expensive to build a new building to accommodate the seafood business today. Seafood is like the grocery business, and the profit margins are narrow.”

Bean said, “Folks, this business has been here for 48 years. What has happened? She is operating fine, she has 6 more years on her lease. But we as a Commission have approved a boardwalk which is slated to run through her building. We are disrupting her business. It’s not that we are looking at a sweetheart deal. We are looking out for a current business owner and we are making sure there is a feasible option for her to continue.” Bean said that even in viewing RFP responses, he would look to see if the bidder was a current business owner in the area.

“Folks, I see a danger ahead of us: it’s Hooters or Gators Dockside or a chain restaurant that can bring in the most money,” Bean said. “We have an opportunity tonight to see a local business succeed and do well. I believe that Atlantic Seafood is the right deal for the City.”

Commissioner David Sturges

Sturges asked City Manager Dale Martin what would happen if the FBCC failed to approve the lease. Martin said that the City had provided Coonrod with the required 180-day notice that the boardwalk is under construction. “We have the right to demolish the building at our cost, and she has the right to build a 1,200 square foot building at her cost,” Martin said. “She has the right to request more land under her existing lease. We have not yet given her a date by which time the building needs to come down.”

City Attorney Bach agreed with Martin, but also suggested that with 6 years left on her lease, Coonrod would need to decide if it was financially viable to build a new building for a business with low profit margins. She said that even if Coonrod had decided to press forward, the FBCC would need to decide where she could build a 1,200 square foot building. “We are going to need a lot more direction from the Commission,” she said.

Mayor Mike Lednovich

Sturges said, “We don’t have all the answers. We have been putting Ms. Coonrod through her paces with designing a building, when we haven’t even decided what we want. The only thing we’ve decided on the waterfront is to proceed with resiliency construction, and unfortunately that affects her business. We need a consensus among Commissioners, and we don’t have it yet.”

Bean said, “I truly believe that a no vote tonight is going to kill Atlantic Seafood. Is there a level we are willing to accept and commit to?”

Mayor Mike Lednovich said the problems have been created by the Commission. The public has raised concerns over the size of the building and the length of the proposed lease. The future of the Atlantic Seafood Building was not included in waterfront plans. offered a possible solution: stop building the boardwalk for 6 years, the remaining length of the lease.

Commissioner Chip Ross

Commissioner Chip Ross said that the current lease, signed by both parties, was executed 13 years ago and included a specific paragraph on the future building of a boardwalk. Paraphrasing the contract, Ross said, “When the City builds a boardwalk, it will demolish the building and [the lessee] has a choice: build a new building of approximately the same size or your lease is terminated.”

Ross cited comments from City Engineer Charlie George who said that as the boardwalk construction continues north, the vibrations from the jackhammers will cause the existing building to fall apart. “How did that happen?” Ross asked. “You can’t even get insurance on the building because it’s in such poor condition. I don’t think [Atlantic Seafood] was a good steward of the building, I’m sorry. The parking in front of the store is not part of the lease. I think it’s not true that the City did not anticipate this. There is a lease agreement that was signed by both parties 13 years ago. To me, stopping the resiliency project is not an option. We’ve worked hard and long to do this, and I think we are going to have a magnificent riverwalk there, and I think an old building that is about to fall over is not something that needs to be preserved. I’m sorry that it impacts the business, but that was agreed to 13 years ago when the lease was signed.

Lednovich asked Ross, “So what’s the answer?”

Ross replied, “My answer is to follow the lease — 1,200 square feet. Otherwise, we part ways.” In response to a question from Lednovich, Ross recommended that following the vote, the City Manager and the City Attorney be charged to meet with Ms. Coonrod to see if there are other options that can come back to the FBCC at the next meeting.

Lednovich said that in his mind there are only two options: Coonrod builds a 1,200 square foot building or she walks away from the lease. City Attorney Bach said that at this time she cannot propose any additional options.

When the vote to extend the lease and increase square footage was taken, only Commissioner Bean supported it. The motion failed with four commissioners in opposition.

Alluded to during the discussion was “a third party” who has now entered discussions. That party was not identified, fueling speculation that should the lease be granted and extended, the current leaseholder will sell it to another party.

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Jan Nabors
Jan Nabors (@guest_62717)
2 years ago

Thank you Bradley Bean! The rest of you should be ashamed for putting Ms. Coonrod through hell. ATLANTIC SEAFOOD & it’s pelicans are WHAT MAKES FERNANDINA SPECIAL! STOP TRYING TO RUIN OUR ISLAND !

ANN GILLIS
ANN GILLIS (@guest_62718)
2 years ago

my family and I have enjoyed viewing that bright colored seafood building for a very long time. I am almost certain it is the most photographed spot on the island. It makes people feel comfortable. PLEEEEEEEEZZZ DON’T DO AWAY WITH IT. WE LIKE IT AS IT IS. WE DO NOT WANT OUR ISLAND MADE INTO A MODERN, LESS INTERESTING PLACE. WE CAN FIND PLACES LIKE YOU ARE PLANNING IN MANY PLACES. YOU PROBABLY CAN GO THERE ANY DAY AND FIND SMILING, HAPPY PEOPLE WITH CAMERA IN HAND AT THAT SPOT.

John Goshco
John Goshco (@guest_62720)
2 years ago

I asked these questions last August and no one wants to address them. Atlantic Seafood is currently occupying at least double the land it is leasing. Why hasn’t the City doubled the rent?

Currently there are ice machines and vending machines outdoors on, what appears to be, the city sidewalk north of the building. There is a refrigerated storage unit and other “storage units” on the south side of the building. There is also a fence around approximately 1300 sf of city property OUTSIDE the building footprint.

The County Appraiser acknowledges the 1000 square foot leasehold and lists the storage units and fence on its website for tax purposes, but the Appraiser only shows the building outline on the property map, not the entire additional “yard space” as it does for my house and most others.

Was it “understood” that Atlantic Seafood could unilaterally expand outside the building footprint (leasehold} and occupy additional portions of lot 29 as desired? The reason I ask is that the City has a history of sloppy (lack of written) record keeping. I’m not suggesting anything nefarious, but I am curious as to whether Atlantic Seafood is making payments based on the building square footage or the entire land surface it is utilizing. Published reports seem to indicate that lease payments are based on a 1,000 – 1,200 sf building, not the 2,300++ sf property they are utilizing.

And yes – the proposed future lease looks more like an opportunity to sublet the property to other profiteers rather than a genuine replacement for the low profile seafood business.

Randy McGee
Randy McGee (@guest_62723)
2 years ago

first Brett’s….now Atlantic Seafood…who is next on the chopping block?

Robert S. Warner, Jr.
Robert S. Warner, Jr. (@guest_62724)
2 years ago
Reply to  Randy McGee

Apparently the Port Authority operator.

DAVID LOTT
DAVID LOTT(@dave-l)
2 years ago

Ann & Jan, you simply don’t understand the facts in this matter. The iconic AS building was going to go away one way or another due to its deteriorating condition. The current structure could not be relocated. Commissioner Ross spoke the blunt truth, Ms. Coonrod has not been a good steward of the building structure during her ownership. I am sure the financial aspects have been a major factor in the lack of maintenance over the decades that she has held the lease. But as Chip pointed out, when the current lease was signed 13 years ago, Ms. Coonrod and the City clearly understood that this day would come – she was just hoping it wouldn’t come before 2028 when the lease expired. Had the building been properly maintained, a viable option would have been for the City to simply temporarily stop the new boardwalk/seawall at its present terminus and complete it in future phases of the shoreline stabilization project. However, as the city engineer pointed out the structure is so unstable that the ground vibrations from installing the sheet piling seawall to the south would render the structure unsafe. Ms. Coonrod claims that it is not financially viable to build a new building and operate a fishmonger business. Perhaps so, but it is not the responsibility of government to ensure that an individual business is profitable/successful.

As John Goscho points out in his comment, the City has turned a blind eye over the years to the continual encroachment of Atlantic Seafood outside its leased footprint with no enforcement or additional rent. I sympathize with Ms. Coonrod from the standpoint that several members of the City Commission led her down a path where she thought the significant increase in space and a new business in addition to being a fishmonger would be acceptable. Thank you VM Kreger for sticking to your guns on adopting an overall plan before you allow pieces of development.

Let the City put out an RFP for commercial development of the former Venturo property. Commissioner Bean’s contention that a public RFP would result in a Hooter’s is a red herring. Selection criteria can be weighted to favor independent ownership and not just based on who is willing to pay the most.

Perry Anthony
Perry Anthony (@guest_62727)
2 years ago

I am a bit confused here. Have any of you people commenting here actually been inside the Atlantic Seafood structure lately? It should have been SHUT-DOWN for HEALTH DEPARTMENT VIOLATIONS years ago! The building department should have RED-TAGGED it for DEMOLITION years ago as well! I wouldn’t buy a box of Old Bay seafood seasoning from them, simply because the place is a total disgrace and they’ve clearly failed to MAINTAIN the structure in any way over the years other than patch work. It seems the city has turned a blind-eye all these years, as they’ve clearly followed a patch-work repair system for years as well. I don’t understand why we’ve had all these talks with her and have been wasting valuable commission meeting’s on this subject, when it is VERY-CLEAR from her past that she is not a good fit for the city in any way, shape, or form going FORWARD.

John Goshco
John Goshco (@guest_62737)
2 years ago

Random thought.

After the Atlantic Seafood building is removed and the sea wall is built (or… the termites go away and the building collapses under its own weight) maybe the City could hire Disney to design a quaint, photogenic seafood/hot dog shack to reside nearby.

It doesn’t need to be huge. 500 square feet should be sufficient. After all, if sidewalk vendors can make a profit from a street cart, then a a permanent building, about the size of the Putt-Putt kitchen at Main Beach could be a viable proposition for a young and ambitious entrepreneur. And, it would provide the old time, “authentic” ambiance that everyone craves.