Seagrove Village Market Cafe Moving

[WMW]

Any development info relating to the Notice of Public Hearing for Seagrove Village Market? I noticed
the sign on vacant land just south of Regions Bank on 395.

 

[Kurt]

That is where the restaurant will be moving to. Since Ann & George Hartley sold La Cocina and George's at Alys Beach, they've had plenty of time to plan the building and operation in the new location. It will have retro mixed with modern elements, and plenty of outdoor dining. The property is large enough so that plenty will be kept natural.

A lot of us will be sad to see the old building go, but I trust the Hartley's to create a great place and start a new Seagrove tradition we'll all enjoy for generations to come.

 

[Jackalope]

Hopefully there will be ample parking and lunch prices won't skyrocket.

 

[tsutcli]

Wasn't this where the Viridian Hotel was planned to go after the V Rest. was built?

 

[Truman]

Wasn't this where the Viridian Hotel was planned to go after the V Rest. was built?

The hotel was supposed to go beside and over V Restaurant if that's what you mean. The concept was changed from hotel to condos. At least I don't think there's any hotel left in the plan. The first phase set to begin early November is condos over the restaurant. The market and adjacent Snappy Turtle are coming down to provide construction area and then parking. There will be more condos built later I believe. The original plan called for underground parking and it probably still does.

 

[Lake View Too]

I think you are pretty close to correct, but George said there won't be underground parking. What is now the Seagrove Market is will probably be a parking lot ( to go along with the Joni Mitchell song...)

 

[VoiceOfReason]

Proposal calls for another over developed parcel with zero consideration for enough parking....just like the V restaurant. Right now there isn't enough parking to support the restaurant(they sold that Gulf front lot all the employees park on) so when they lose that and build the condos, even if they demolish all the other buildings, they still won't have enough parking. And now it looks like this infection is spreading up further along 395. Praying to the sky's that they at least have the decentcy to learn from the past and have enough parking to support this endeavor. However, judging by the proposal it looks like they are not going too. The only reason they are leaving anything natural is because almost 2/3 the property is wetlands.

 

[Robert D]

Proposal calls for another over developed parcel with zero consideration for enough parking....just like the V restaurant. Right now there isn't enough parking to support the restaurant(they sold that Gulf front lot all the employees park on) so when they lose that and build the condos, even if they demolish all the other buildings, they still won't have enough parking. And now it looks like this infection is spreading up further along 395. Praying to the sky's that they at least have the decentcy to learn from the past and have enough parking to support this endeavor. However, judging by the proposal it looks like they are not going too. The only reason they are leaving anything natural is because almost 2/3 the property is wetlands.

Are they asking for a variance on parking to park more than code allows? I doubt it. As long as the project complies with current parking requirements it should be approved.

This project is not related to the V Restaurant. That's another discussion. The Seagrove Village Market owners aren't involved in that project. Although I suppose any restaurant in SoWal can be used as a comparison. The Virdian / V Restaurant project has changed so I'm not sure what the current parking plan entails. Are you sure the gulf front lot was ever included in parking plan? I doubt it. I think the lot to the north of the building, and the on-street parking is sufficient. In any case, Walton County is quite strict on their parking requirements for new projects. Do they include enough in the code? Maybe not, but that's another fight, and until parking requirements are increased in the code, it's not going to block this project.

As for the wetlands, those are protected by law and will have to be addressed in the plan. I'm glad they are protected, and that the project will have some nice trees. All wetlands are critical and need max protection, but the ones on this lot are where Western Lake starts so extra care should be taken by the owners, over and above what the law requires, to prevent runoff pollution. There are easy and inexpensive ways to mitigate runoff impacts, such as using percolation parking surfaces (grass and pavers) instead of solid asphalt or concrete. Also, I would prefer the codes in SoWal do more to protect trees, especially mature ones. And we should do more to prevent polluted runoff, but those are other topics related to overall planning and codes issues that should be improved.

I believe this project will have minimal impact for the adjacent neighborhood and will be an asset , not a detraction. As long as ingress and egress is handled properly, and lighting is low impact it'll be all good (and yummy). I expect there may be a little NIMBY (not in my backyard) noise from the homes behind it. But it should be approved.

 

[Matt J]

Kind of funny watching people scream at one meeting to have the building percentage changed for CDL lots and then turn around when it opened the door for this saying it's not compatible as they are next door.

 

[Jenksy]

Kind of funny watching people scream at one meeting to have the building percentage changed for CDL lots and then turn around when it opened the door for this saying it's not compatible as they are next door.

Welcome to planning for the last 4,000 years.