- May 16, 2024
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Quirk in history gives him the wrong address.
Lulu’s Oceanside Grill is in an unusual predicament because of changes to the roadway made 50 years ago. Even though the official address of the popular eatery is South Atlantic Avenue, it is actually one block away on the corner of Coquina Court and Bovard Avenue.
Owner Ron DeFilippo said his business depends on attracting visitors staying in the condos and hotels, but they have a very hard time finding him, even when using GPS.
“People call and ask where we are,” he said. Local people know where the restaurant is located, but many from out-of-town do not.
He would like to have a sign on South Atlantic Avenue, but that’s prevented by the city’s Land Development Code. He said he’s been reaching out to city officials for two years in an attempt to revise the code.
He even went to a sign company and sent proposed designs to the City Commissioners.
“They keep putting it on the back burner,” he said. “They keep saying they are going to do something, but it never gets anywhere.”
DeFilippo was given the South Atlantic address when he built the building. The odd situation goes back in history to when a large hotel, the Coquina Inn, was at the corner of Granada Boulevard and State Road A1A. It was so large, that State Road A1A was diverted west around it. In 1968, the Coquina Inn was demolished, and State Road A1A was straightened. The old detour became Bovard Avenue, but apparently, the address for Lulu’s location was never changed.
DeFilippo said people have suggested having his address changed, but he said it would be a “monumental” task. He would have to change all of his paperwork and website.
“I’ve been here for years,” he said. “There’s an easy fix. Let me put up a sign.”
City manager has special sign created
DeFilippo spoke at the City Commission meeting on Nov. 18, telling the officials he needed their help in solving the problem.
Mayor Ed Kelley told him that City Manager Joyce Shanahan had spent several months working on a project to alleviate his problem. She had a way-finding sign installed at the corner of State Road A1A and Vining Court that says, “Restaurants, Shops and Parking.”
But DeFilippo still wants a sign for his restaurant.
City to look at codes
Kelley said later in a phone interview that the problem could be discussed next year when the city looks at the Land Development Code. He thinks they may be able to change it in a way that would allow DeFilippo to have a sign, yet not give “carte blanche” to other businesses. He said Lulu’s is a unique situation.
“You wouldn’t want a business half a mile down the road putting up a sign on the corner,” he said.
Kelley said he wouldn’t want to look at the issue in a separate workshop because all the codes should be examined simultaneously.
Businessman says east side needs help
DeFilippo would like for the city to look at much more than the signage problem. He doesn’t think the city has put as much emphasis on creating a walkable, desirable district as they have on the west side of the Granada Bridge.
He said visitors travel east over the bridge, and when they get to State Road A1A, they turn left and go to Flagler Beach or right and go to Daytona Beach.
He would also like to see something done about closed or abandoned buildings. He said in Aspen, Colorado, if a business does not operate for a certain amount of time, it has to pay rent to the city.
