Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Zoning topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Magistrate hears county claim Lakeside Event Center is operating as nightclub; owner disputes zoning advice
Summary
At an Alachua County code enforcement hearing, county staff said social-media advertising and on-site observations indicate Lakeside Event Center is operating as a cocktail lounge/nightclub beyond its approved restaurant use and occupancy; the owner argued he holds a 4-COP liquor license and was discouraged from seeking a special exception. The magistrate took evidence and will issue a written decision.
The Alachua County special magistrate heard competing accounts Thursday about whether the Lakeside Event Center at 5902 SE Hawthorne Road is operating as an unauthorized cocktail lounge or nightclub rather than the restaurant use approved by county planning staff.
Jeff Hayes, Alachua County growth management director, told the magistrate that county records show the site was approved as a restaurant through the administrative development-review process with a 64-person seating limitation tied to parking and building size. Hayes said photographs and advertising reviewed by staff "suggest it’s being used for a cocktail lounge, nightclub, or bar," and that the county’s zoning code provides no easy administrative path to convert the site to an event or banquet-hall use without either rezoning or a special exception from the Board of County Commissioners.
The owner and operator of the business, who did not give a full name on the record but spoke as the property’s representative, said he holds a 4-COP quota liquor license and has a certificate of occupancy, a liquor-license verification and other paperwork from the Department of Business & Professional Regulation and the health department. The operator said he has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars developing the business and that county staff had discouraged him from pursuing a special-exception path. “I was already approved by the health department,” he told the magistrate, and he said advertising on Facebook reflected business activity he believed to be lawful.
County staff countered that health-department approvals and liquor licenses address food safety and alcohol regulation, not local zoning. Hayes and other staff explained that zoning classifications — here, a Marine Business district — define permitted uses, and that advertising or event-style programming can change a business’s character in ways that require a different land‑use approval. Hayes said a special exception for a bar, tavern or nightclub is available but must be approved by the Board of County Commissioners.
The exchange included contested factual claims about past conversations with county staff and about what types of events the property hosted. The magistrate did not issue an immediate penalty at the hearing; she said she would make a written decision later after considering the evidence. County staff had recommended finding a violation, setting a compliance date, and assessing $100 per day if the use remained noncompliant; the record shows the county incurred $350 in prosecution costs for this matter.
The disputed issues at the hearing were limited to land‑use classification and whether the on‑site activity exceeded the restaurant approval; enforcement actions for occupancy and building-safety limits remain possible if the fire marshal or building officials find noncompliance.
The magistrate closed the hearing segment and took the matter under advisement; a written order will state any compliance time or fines if the magistrate finds a zoning violation.
