- April 26, 2024
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A vote in the "Eleventh Hour" will allow a property owner to host itinerant activities during Bike Week, which starts on Friday, March 6.
It was an uphill climb for the Boot Hill Saloon Outpost at Tuesday night's City Commission meeting, with the three-part special exception request passing by a 3-2 vote; Commissioners Troy Kent and Dwight Selby voted against. The commission's approval means Boot Hill will be allowed to have itinerant vending of up to 24 vendors (including food trucks) as well as live outdoor music from 2-10 p.m. during Bike Week, Biketoberfest and Speed Weeks. It also means that the business, which recently hosted its soft opening, will be allowed to have live outdoor music up to four times per month on Saturday or Sunday from 2-5 p.m., not in connection with any special events.
Though a petition in favor of the establishment was signed by about 45 people, and several residents spoke before the commission and expressed wanting Boot Hill, Kent was concerned about a five-year missed deadline that forced Boot Hill to go through the special exception process in the first place.
Back in 2014, when the city of Ormond Beach adopted the North U.S. 1 Interlocal Service Boundary Agreement, vacant or unimproved properties were given five years to establish a permanent business to be classified as a special event host, a deadline that fell on Aug. 27, 2019. Boot Hill missed it.
"So now, we're at the Eleventh Hour, truly, the Eleventh Hour," Kent said. "So we have Bike Week officially starting on Friday, and we're here on a Tuesday night meeting because somebody didn't meet a deadline — didn't do what I guess they wanted to do."
Kent added that it made him think about the businesses that did establish themselves permanently in the corridor. He said a special exception like this could be seen as a reward for "not following the rules."
Karin Gehris has owned the Boot Hill property at 1089 N. U.S. 1 in unincorporated Ormond Beach since 2005. Back then, it was the Jackson Hole Saloon and Grille, which burned down in 2008.
Before the fire, the business was open regularly and participated in itinerant vending. The fire changed some of that, though they still operated during special events.
"We just couldn't be open full-time," Gehris said.
“It’s not always an easy thing to do when you’re dealing with government to do everything the correct way."
Ormond Beach Mayor Bill Partington
Mayor Bill Partington said he was taking the 2008 fire into consideration, as Gehris might not be in the same situation had it not been for that. He said the special exception went through an intensive process that "hammered out a lot of the concerns."
“It’s not always an easy thing to do when you’re dealing with government to do everything the correct way," Partington said.
Selby, who like Kent was concerned about the timing of the request, suggested the commission approve the itinerant vending portions of the special exception request for a one-year period and suggested a permanent business be in place before the commission considered allowing live music regularly. Kent said he would support this motion, but no other commissioner expressed interest in pursuing this.
City Commissioner Rob Littleton said he didn't see a problem with Boot Hill missing the five-year deadline, and like Partington, was pleased with the process it took through the neighborhood meeting and Planning Board recommendations.
None of the commissioners were concerned about noise from the live music, as other existing U.S. 1 businesses currently have it — including nearby RiverGrille — and staff noted that the loudest noise in the area comes from traffic.
