The Flagler County Commission is somewhat reluctantly preparing to extend Captain’s BBQ’s lease by five years, through 2031, giving the restaurant owners at Bings Landing more time to construct a new building near the existing location. They are to do so at their own expense.
Discussing the lease extension proposal at a workshop this morning, commissioners had several probing questions and concerns that the lease proposal did not answer, suggesting a surprising level of carelessness or inattention to detail in the document’s preparation. County Administrator Heidi Petito had taken the week off so was not there to answer questions.
The questions were about the delay in construction, what measures the county may take in case delays continue, why there is no performance bond on the planned construction, what is to happen to the old building once vacated and at what cost, what flood mitigation measures Captain’s is taking in the design of the new restaurant for what will be a county building, and what the logistics will be to account for construction traffic and parking during construction.
In late 2023 the county and Captain’s BBQ settled a four-year-old lawsuit Captain’s had filed, charging the county with breach of contract after the county rescinded approval of a new building Captain’s wanted to build at the county park. The settlement granted Captain’s the right to build a 5,000-square-foot building on a peninsular extension of the park, near its existing, smaller restaurant. The county was also to pay Captain’s $800,000 and cover $200,000 in legal fees.
Permitting and construction on the new building were to start immediately after the settlement agreement was signed, with the new restaurant occupied by the time the original lease was to run out this year. The lease has a five-year extension provision.
The lease on the new building will be for 20 years, without renewable provisions. Captain’s is to pay the county $3,000 a month or $36,000 a year in rent, well below market value, in the first year in the new building, rising to $56,000 a year by the 20th year. Beyond that, the county intends to apply market rates.
The county will be responsible for half the cost of catastrophic loss and flood insurance, all exterior maintenance, and roof replacement at end of the 20-year term. (Captain’s BBQ will pay liability and indemnity insurance.) The county will own the building as soon as Captain’s is issued a certificate of occupancy.
Commissioner Andy Dance was not “completely comfortable” with the vagueness of a provision in the lease amendment that gives the county authority to end the agreement if Captain’s doesn’t secure building permits and begins construction by a certain time. As part of the settlement agreement, the county agreed to “allow the design, permitting, and construction of the New Location to commence immediately upon the effective date” of the lease. That was back in November 2023.
The lease amendment sets out a timeline if the county “reasonably determines that Captain’s BBQ is no longer diligently and in good faith pursuing the permitting and construction” of the new location. The county would submit its determination in writing to Captain’s, which would have 60 days to address the issue. The county may then issue a 90-day notice that would terminate Captain’s lease, including occupancy of its existing location.
If the commission wants “to set it to a strict timeline, that is language that can be done,” County Attorney Michael Rodriguez said.
That’s not the issue, Commission Chair Leann Pennington said. “There’s no limits in what defines ‘pursuing in good faith.’ So it doesn’t say by 2027, they’ll have permits pulled or anything like that.”
She asked Herrera when the permits are to be pulled. He said he’d pull them today if he could. “Unfortunately, I got to wait on the architects, new architect, new design, new everything,” he said. He said the architect is 65 percent done, with another month and a half to go before permits are pulled. He is aiming for construction to start in September. The project would be completed “within two years or less,” he said.
“There’s nothing that really states when they would be in default for permitting or construction. So I don’t know if that’s a concern for anybody,” Pennington said, addressing her colleagues. “ That’s the only thing that really kind of stuck out for me the most was what defines whether or not you’re pursuing a good faith on those things.” She was concerned about yet another five-year extension.
There is also no construction performance bond. So if the new building is started and not finished, the responsibility falls to the county. Rodriguez advised commissioners to include such a bond, an addition the commissioners favor.
As for flood elevations, Dance wants the building designed “around those worst case scenarios,” especially in a park that floods during major emergencies. The new building is giving the owners a chance to be preemptive.
“That is something that’s been heavily discussed with the architect,” Herrera said. “The elevation, I believe, is eight feet now. That building is going to be set up in a stem wall construction style, so we should be protected there.” The last thing he wants to do Herrera said, is build something that will wash out his savings.
Asked about construction’s impact on parking, Herrera said: “The building has to be constructed. So if you got to suffer parking spots, it is what it is.”
The old building is “supposed to be demolished, and it’s going to be turned into parking,” Commissioner Kim Carney said. “That’s going to be on the county. So there will have to be some coordination of budgeting or money or something, because I doubt that we’re going to want two buildings in this very close proximity to each other, and they need the parking at the new facility or the new building.”
Captain’s also submitted a design for the new building. “It is different, but it’s not drastically different,” Chris Herrera, a co-owner of the restaurant, told the commission this morning. “A lot of changes I made is a lot of feedback we get from our clientele and people that live in the area, myself as well. They love the current setup, the outdoor field, the patty feel. And I think moving forward, after I vacate the premises, it’ll be a good location for the county to be able to rent it out whoever wants to have their functions there.”
The commission is to approve the lease extension at a future meeting. It asked for a performance bond to be added to the proposal, and for periodic updates on the construction project. The business is officially called Captain’s Bait, Tackle and BBQ.
Jay Tomm says
Just kill it!!!! Their BBQ has sucked for years
Shark says
The county attorneys must be graduates of trump university !!!!
TR says
What an stupid and ignorant comment. Not everything that people disagree with is connected to Trump. Not to mention, there is no such place as Trump University.
Laurel says
Not any more.
Skibum says
To be exact… there is no longer any such place as “Trump University”, that is true. It no longer exists only because it was unmasked as just another fraud scheme by it’s namesake con man fraudster.
The orange menace came up with that con job in 2004, conning many, many unwitting students out of their money when they thought they would be learning real estate investment secrets that would make them wealthy, only to find out they were being defrauded. It was a huge scandal at the time, but just another con job business misadventure for the mob boss afficionado who is now in charge of our entire nation’s government as a convicted felon sex abuser pedophile protector. Who says crime doesn’t pay???
Trump U was dissolved after the con man fraudster was ordered to pay back $25.000,000 by a federal district court as a result of his scamming so many students.
But all is not lost… NOW, for the “rest of the story”…
Fast forward to 2025. You think the fraudster-in-chief in the WH has given up on his wet dream of scamming even more real estate “students” out of their hard earned money?
This gem is from https://studyinternational.com/news/trump-university/
Trump University: Greenland edition
Leaked messages have revealed that the Trump administration has set its sights on building a multimillion-dollar Trump University campus in Nuuk, Greenland.
Nuuk is the capital of the sparsely populated island less than 1,500 miles from the northern tip of Maine. It already has a university — the University of Greenland — that offers courses in Danish and Greenlandic. There’s even an English course in “Business Economics.”
“The Trump brand is hotter than ever – our base can’t get enough of our memecoin, perfume, and Trump steaks so higher education is the next logical move,” said one high-ranking US Department of Education official in the group chat which consisted of several high-level White House officials, including US Vice President J.D. Vance and education secretary Linda McMahon.
But why Greenland?
Well, according to someone who works under Vance, “The woke mob running US colleges can never be trusted to uphold free speech, nor can the Musk-hating never-Trumpers in freeloading Europe. Greenland is our only option.”
The last piece of news that the group chat leaked? Nineteen-year-old Barron Trump, Donald Trump’s fifth and youngest child, is rumored to lead the institution.
With the orange menace, the scams NEVER stop!
Skibum says
I must correct an oversight, as I forgot to put quotation marks around the story about the Greenland Trump U from https://studyinternational.com/news/trump-university/ that I just posted. The words are the author’s… not mine.
JimboXYZ says
FCOL, will they build that new restaurant facility already ? Litigation, lease issues, now they’re cutting corners on the construction contract progress vagueries & lack of a bond ?
And why is the County demolishing the existing structure there. That needs to be on Captain’s BBQ, not the taxpayers to create parking for that restaurant. It’s becoming the old Hotel that took forever to be sold & demolished. The lease is what it is, that’s a bargain for the terms that it was. If they’re not going to fund their own business rewarding them with more of this nonsense for incentives for the County to eat the costs of them having a profitable business there is absurd. It appears we are in business with Captain’s BBQ in some partnership and there is no recuperation. Maybe the County needs to set up a repayment schedule for demolishing the original restaurant structure & parking lot conversion ? End of the day here, if the Captain’s BBQ can’t afford to operate there, the county doesn’t need to bail them out & float their operations. Who else on planet Earth gets that kind of a deal to be a LLC or whatever the operation is registered as ? If you can’t afford to be a self sufficient operating business, does the restaurant need to be in business even. That’s the way Capitalism works. Otherwise Flagler County needs to be compensated for a contributor’s percentage/cut of the profits of that BBQ operation. I mean, we are in business with the them for all the incentives they are getting to even be there. The Golden Lion would probably put a seafood place there that would work just as easily as a BBQ place ? Captain’s BBQ could relocate & buy the Hidden Treasure property ? Then they could expand from being just a BBQ to include seafood, for that surf & turf ?
Concerned Citizen says
Much ado over subpar BBQ.
A special arrangement that should never have happened. And continues to eat up County time and finances. Wonder how much money is flowing back and forth between the BOCC and owners of Captain’s BBQ.
More space lost to development.
FedUp says
I live 3 miles from Captain’s BBQ and would much rather drive to Smokey D’s BBQ in St Augustine, and they don’t need a 5,000 sq. ft. building to serve BBQ.
JimboXYZ says
Same here, 3.5 miles from Sonny’s, see no reason to drive any further for BBQ ? I guess Woody’s is out of business on SR-100 for franchised BBQ ? That was 6.5 miles away. Makes me wonder what the plan is for Bing’s Landing for parking, whether it’s going to remain a natural & rustic dirt lot or they want to make it asphalt with drainage & lines ? Turn it into a higher end boat launch park area.
I’m not so sure they can just go in there & start building a restaurant there ? It’s a hostorical site that should have protections in place to keep the land grabbing for restaurant expansion ? I guess they’ll build around it or right up to it ? Since it’s Nationally recognized, State recognized as historical, would Flagler County & Captain’s BBQ just ignore that & bulldoze it. If that’s the case, what stops anyone from doing that to the Bulow Plantation or finding a cemetery and putting a fast food restaurant on that land ?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mala_Compra_Plantation_Archeological_Site
https://www.visitflorida.com/travel-ideas/articles/arts-history-mala-compra-archeological-site-in-palm-coast-fl/
celia says
Done and over with the lease if non compliance! Is hard earned tax payers funds as stake here to further benefit a wealthy owner of the BBQ.
Edith Campins says
“The settlement granted Captain’s the right to build a 5,000-square-foot building on a peninsular extension of the park, near its existing, smaller restaurant. The county was also to pay Captain’s $800,000 and cover $200,000 in legal fees.” Why do we kjeep electing these people? They learn nothing from their mistakes. This whole thing doesn’t pass the smell test.
Marek says
On the contrary! They all learned a lot ! GREED IS GOOD ! GREED WORKS !
There’s the door says
What ever happened to the counties building engineer Michael Dixon, the official who created this whole mess in the first place ?
Knightmomoftwo says
I remember when that building was a community center which you could rent out for special occasions. I had a college graduation party there for my daughter. A good time was had by all, now it is all about making money. By the way, I don’t think Mike Dickson is a building engineer. I believe he is a general contactor.
There’s the door says
Dixon, is a Director of Facilities for Flagler County. He is responsible for all the maintenance of county owned buildings and properties. He is also part of the Petito Crony Crew responsible for more then a few major screw ups costing the county millions.
Skibum says
I know there are locals here who have commented in the past about their dislike for Captain’s BBQ and are in opposition to it being there, let alone expanding into another new building at Bing’s Landing.
There are restaurants in the area that I have visited, didn’t like, and won’t go back to. Everyone has their own preference and taste, but to suggest that the restaurant be forced to go out of business, or to be torn down simply because YOU don’t happen to like the food/atmosphere/owner etc. and deny others the ability to choose whether or not to eat there, is over the top.
Every restaurant will succeed or fail on its own depending on the quality of food and the service they give to diners. The fact that Captain’s BBQ has succeeded at that location for as long as it has been there is a testament to them and how well they have managed their business model. They have also won BBQ taste awards in the past. I think they will be there for a long time to come.
JimboXYZ says
“They have also won BBQ taste awards in the past.”
Ever notice that it’s the foodie blogs that are touting any restaurant as Top N for the cuisine ? Sonny’s never makes the list, perhaps because it’s a chain ? Shorty’s in Miami seems to be one that makes the lists. Having lived in Miami from 1997-2016, I’ve eaten at their location(s), neither is anything special and their house sauce is just a “liquid smoke” flavored concoction of nasty flavor that ruined any smoked piece of BBQ they ever served. I 1st tried liquid smoke back in the 1970’s/1980’s, it was fake smoke flavoring then & it’s no better 45+ years later.I’m glad I sampled it before going all in & ruining the plate of food I purchased. Anyway, Captain’s BBQ is probably about as good as any of them, I guess ? My point is awards & reviews are quite often like any testimonials, bought & paid for. How tough can it be to smoke meat ? Start the smoker just before sunrise, place the meat inside and come back hours later in the early afternoon when it’s done. Choice of rub seasonings ? Those are pretty much standard for the entire industry.
https://bbqrevolt.com/best-bbq/florida/
https://www.enjoytravel.com/us/travel-news/food-and-drink/best-bbq-florida
https://familydestinationsguide.com/legendary-florida-bbq-joints/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_smoke
https://therecipecritic.com/homemade-bbq-seasoning/