Construction office approved on former car wash property

HOLMES BEACH – City com­missioners unanimously approved a special exception and site plan request that allows Marquis Management Construction owner Davyd Miller to use the former car wash property at 5804 Marina Drive as a construction office.

Located across the street from city hall in a C-3/Mixed Use Overlay district, the property is owned by the Ugly Grouper restaurant owner, Florida Land UG LLC. Florida Land Car Wash LLC owns the former car wash property; Scott Rolen is listed as manager for both.

The commission approval was granted on Sept. 25. According to the staff report prepared by De­velopment Services Director Chad Minor, the property has existed in its current configuration since the late 1960s and was originally developed as a car wash and vehicle maintenance facility.

“Except for providing additional off-site parking for the Ugly Grouper restaurant and bar, the site has been primarily vacant/underutilized for several years,” the staff report says.

In 2022, city commissioners approved a site plan for the property and building to be repurposed as the 23-seat AMI Pizza Garage restau­rant but those business activities never materialized.

The property is still subject to previous approvals and conditions that require the Ugly Grouper to provide 16 off-site restaurant parking spaces on the former car wash property.

The proposed use as a construc­tion office complies with the city’s comprehensive plan and the future land use designation, and staff recommended city commis­sion approval with the following conditions:

• The doors and screening proposed for the existing car wash bays shall remain closed at all times, except when being temporarily opened for the ingress or egress of vehicles, materials or equipment;
• The property must maintain 16 parking spaces designated for Ugly Grouper patrons only;
• Outdoor storage of any kind shall be strictly prohibited on the premises; and
• No cleaning, maintenance or repair of vehicles or equipment shall occur on the premises.

Minor said some of Miller’s previous activities on the property created code compliance concerns that required the attention of Code Compliance Chief James Thomas. Minor said the commission’s ap­proval of the special exception and site plan would bring the property into compliance.

When addressing the commission, Miller said he and 13 employees came to Holmes Beach after the 2024 hurricanes to repair his future brother-in-law’s home on 58th Street and he got permission from Ugly Grouper management to park their construction vehicles on the former car wash property. Marquis Management Construc­tion then picked up more than a dozen additional local clients and reached an agreement to rent the Ugly Grouper-owned building and property.

Miller said he took a risk and has already invested nearly $200,000 to repair and renovate the building and property.

Regarding the mayor and commissioners’ concerns about the outdoor storage, Miller said the construction equipment and materials would be stored inside. He said there will be times when semi-trucks deliver building materials to the construction office but those materials will be divided up, loaded onto smaller vehicles and taken to the local construction sites.

Miller said no fuel will be stored on the property; and with no diesel fuel available on the Island, the construction equipment will be fueled off-Island.

Commissioner Terry Schaefer said he’s driven by some of the Marquis construction sites and they were clean and well-kept.

“We do good work. We want to be part of the community and not a burden,” Miller said.

Commissioner Carol Soustek disclosed that Marquis Manage­ment Construction helped repair her hurricane-damaged home. City Attorney Erica Augello said that didn’t pose a conflict of inter­est that would prevent Soustek from voting on special exception and site plan approvals.