Restaurant news: Rooftop dining could come to Fifth Avenue South in Naples

Naples’ Fifth Avenue South could soon feature rooftop dining.

The Naples City Council voted 6-1 Tuesday to approve on first reading a proposed ordinance that would allow for a conditional use of rooftop dining on Fifth Avenue South. A second reading and public hearing is scheduled for June 16.

As part of the city’s code regarding a special overlay district on Fifth, first stories in the district are exclusively for commercial use. Second stories may be for commercial, transient lodging or residential use with the exception of restaurants or cocktail lounges, and third stories are limited to transient lodging or residential use only. 

Restaurants on the second floor within the district are not necessarily new, as the former Cafe & Bar Lurcat (soon to be replaced by the upcoming Del Mar Naples) spanned two floors and Bistro 821 has a private dining room on the second floor, both of which were grandfathered in, said Christopher Shucart, president of JCS Realty Group, during an interview.

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Council directed staff during a Feb. 16 workshop to return with revised language including limiting rooftop restaurants to the 800 block of Fifth Avenue South, limiting hours of operation, prohibiting live entertainment and allowing the restaurants as a five-year pilot program.

Councilman Mike McCabe said he voted against the proposed ordinance because, as approved on first reading, it would allow live entertainment on rooftops, he said.

"From the get-go we said, 'No live entertainment,'" McCabe said at the council meeting.

Planning Director Erica Martin said the city would not automatically approve live entertainment for rooftop restaurants.

"They would still be required to file a live entertainment request with my department that would come to City Council for approval," Martin said.

Councilman Gary Price said there are types of live entertainment such as playing a violin that would not create unwanted noise.

"I don't know if I want to prohibit all (types of) live entertainment on rooftops," Price said.

Councilman Paul Perry said prohibiting live entertainment would not solve all noise-related problems because unwanted noises can also come from entertainment that is not live such as TVs.

"The problem is noise," Perry said.

Martin also said not all buildings in the 800 block of Fifth Avenue South would be allowed to have rooftop dining.

Rooftop restaurants would have to be located "no less than 500 feet from residentially zoned property outside the Fifth Avenue South Special Overlay District," the proposed ordinance states.

Shucart, with JCS Realty Group, previously addressed the council requesting a code amendment to allow rooftop dining within the district. The Council agreed that such an amendment could be considered. 

Shucart’s goal is to bring a national trend to Fifth Avenue, though it exists elsewhere in Collier County.

“The idea just kept coming back around, and as we traveled back around the country, there’s so many neat rooftop restaurant venues,” he said. “People do seek out that type of uniqueness, and I think it will be an asset to Fifth Avenue and the city of Naples as a whole.” 

JCS Realty has property at 837 Fifth Ave. S., sharing a building with Skip Quillen’s Culinary Concepts office and that business’ Chops City Grill on the first floor. 

The biggest pushback Shucart has heard so far relates to minimizing the effects for residents, which he said is why the possibility has been limited to the 800 block. 

“It’s a very high concentration of commercial already, so it seems to fit well with what’s there and has the least amount of residential impact,” Shucart said. 

If Naples City Council were to approve the ordinance amendment within the next month, it could be the end of 2022 or even 2023 before a project comes online, he said. 

Andrew Atkins writes about food and features for the Naples Daily News. Contact him via email at andrew.atkins@naplesnews.com. To support work like Andrew's, please consider subscribing: https://cm.naplesnews.com/specialoffer/

Contact Omar at omar.rodriguezortiz@naplesnews.com, and follow him on Twitter as @Omar_fromPR. Support his work by subscribing to Naples Daily News.