- May 17, 2024
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A jury trial pitting Captain's BBQ against the Flagler County government — which owns the restaurant's building at Bings Landing park — is off the docket.
A trial in the long-running case was scheduled to begin Feb. 19, 2024. But the case has been turned over to a new judge who has ordered the two sides to return to mediation on Oct. 27, Flagler County Attorney Al Hadeed said at a commission meeting on Oct. 2.
The county opposed the return to mediation, Hadeed said, "not ... as a matter of principle, but as a matter of fact — saying, 'Look, we spent a lot of time attempting to mediate this.'"
But, he added, "The court has ordered it and we're going to obviously respect, we're not going to question, the court's wisdom that we should engage in the mediation."
The judge is avoid a "very complex trial" involving cross-claims from someone who sued after being injured in the building, Hadeed said. Judge Christoper France issued the mediation referral on June 29 after taking over the case from Judge Terence Perkins.
Captain's BBQ filed a lawsuit against the county government in June 2019, saying the county had breached its contract with the restaurant by reneging on a lease agreement the county had approved in November 2018.
The County Commission had voted 3-2 in November 2018 to approve a lease that would have let the restaurant's owners build a new, larger restaurant building at Bings Landing. The size increase would have made it easier for Captain's to receive approval for a liquor license.
The commission's decision was predicated on the belief that the restaurant building had serious structural problems that would have been costly and time-consuming to repair.
Allowing Captain's to construct a new building would have let the restaurant continue operations at the existing building during construction, then move to the new structure with minimal interruption, rather than shutting down for weeks while the county repaired the existing building.
But the decision triggered an uproar from residents who thought the business would be benefitting at the county's expense. And just weeks after the 3-2 vote — and in the next meeting after the county had signed a new lease with Captain's based on that vote — new county commissioners were sworn in, and the commission voted 4-0 to reconsider its previous decision.
The commission later decided to have the Captain’s BBQ building inspected to see if it was truly beyond repair. Later inspections performed at the county's behest showed that the building was durable and didn't need reconstruction, Hadeed said.
The commission decided to repair the existing building at the county's expense unless repairs would exceed 50% of its value, in which case the county would build a new building for Captain's BBQ. Captain's BBQ sued.
The county and Captain's BBQ have tried two mediation sessions already, he said.
"We could not come to an amicable resolution," he said. "The primary pivot point was they wanted to build a new facility. And our position was, 'Well, the building is holding up. We're abiding by our end of the lease; there's not a need for a new building.'"
Another mediation session will be expensive because the county will have to pay a professional mediator.
Still, Hadeed said, "It is better if we can to try to settle it. So we're going to enter into this with an open mind."
Hadeed asked commissioners to hold an executive session meeting so commissioners could give Hadeed and the rest of the county's legal team direction on the pending litigation.
CORRECTION: This story has been changed to correct the dates and chronology of the dispute between Captain's BBQ and the Flagler County government.
