Cosmic Tiki owners ask Cocoa Beach to let brick-and-mortar vendor operate at First Street North

Noel Hikes, who identified himself as co-owner of Cosmic Tiki, told the commission his family converted a previously rundown, flood-prone property at First Street North into a beachfront family facility that provides restrooms, showers, a pool, an arcade and programming for local residents and tourists. “We are asking the commission to direct staff to amend the code so Cosmic Tiki can operate each vending business on the First Street North Beach access point,” Hikes said during public comment.

Hikes said Cosmic Tiki has waited two years for the city to post requests for bids for beach-vending contracts and recently learned that the city signed available beach vending contracts to other vendors, including mobile carts and out-of-state operators. He told commissioners Cosmic Tiki is a taxable, brick-and-mortar downtown business and asked for parity with vendors who hold shoreline contracts.

Former Commissioner Carolyn Willis and other residents spoke in support, saying granting the request would improve a beach-access site they described as an eyesore and that Cosmic Tiki would cooperate with existing vendors. Commissioners discussed the city’s numeric cap on vendor licenses, questions about site-specific allocations, and fairness to existing upland license-holders.

The city attorney told the commission she believed that with a few tweaks to the ordinance the city could give preference to brick-and-mortar operations and that she could return with draft language at no additional cost. Commissioners directed the city attorney and community development staff to review the current ordinance and return with recommended amendments or options for the commission to consider; no formal ordinance change was adopted at this meeting.