Lazy Gators Rezone Headed To Public Hearing In March

CAMDEN COUNTY, Mo. — The Camden County Commission and developer Gary Prewitt’s Glacier Park Investments are moving closer to an amicable agreement, with a rezoning fee paid and plans on paper to address noise concerns for the lakefront bar Lazy Gators.

The application for rezoning, now complete, requests changing the property from R-1 to B-2. Prewitt and Glacier Park Investments have also requested a Conditional Use Permit for the bar to allow outdoor dining and bar areas, outdoor dancing and live entertainment. Prewitt and company have paid the requisite fees for the requests: $800 for rezoning, and $600 for the CUP.

In submitting the applications, Prewitt and Glacier Park agreed to limit hours of operation and construct sound abatement for Lazy Gators.

Under the agreement, the bar would be open from noon to 11 p.m. on weekdays; from noon to midnight on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights; and from noon to 1 a.m. on holiday weekends.

The sound abatement would include vegetation and directional baffles that would be designed to redirect sound away from the east side of Gator Point and back into 7 Mile Cove, which, Glacier Park stated on the application, “is and always has been a commercial cove.”

With the application was submitted the sample case of Paradise Tropical Restaurant & Bar. That restaurant resolved a dispute with neighbors and the P&Z commission in 2013 by proposing extensive sound abatement to accompany planned expansion and remodeling.

According to P&Z Administrator Kim Willey, the issue is set to go before the county P&Z Commission for a public hearing on March 18. A public notice will be given as required by law, in advance of the hearing.

After clearing P&Z, the issue would then go before the county commissioners for approval.

As it stands currently, Lazy Gators is under a court order not to reopen while the matter is still in litigation. Prewitt and Camden County have been embroiled in a legal battle since 2010, with the county demanding Prewitt cease operations at Lazy Gators due to its R-1 zoning, and Prewitt contending the bar is covered under a state-issued caterer’s permit. The county has spent an estimated $300,000 or more on lawyer fees, fighting Prewitt and Glacier Park.

Both parties appear to be softening their tone, after things heated up last fall. All three county commissioners went on KRMS radio on Wednesday, Feb. 18 to discuss the issue, with each expressing optimism about a resolution on the horizon.

“We’re hoping for a fresh start,” 2nd District Commissioner Cliff Luber said, “to come to a reasonable conclusion for this.”

Presiding Commissioner Greg Hasty talked about how this problem points to the larger issue of zoning on a Lake that has a markedly heterogenous mix of residences and businesses along the shoreline. He said the county needs a long-term solution that would help avoid these kinds of costly, drawn-out legal battles in the future.