A Jacksonville City Council committee has approved legislation to allow for alcohol sales at a new restaurant in the former site of the Jacksonville Beer Garden restaurant near Tinseltown.
On Nov. 6, the Land Use and Zoning Committee voted 5-0 in favor of Ordinance 2024-0792, which would provide a zoning exception to allow the Tequilas D’Oro Mexican Restaurant to serve a full range of alcohol in its planned location at 9753 Deer Lake Court.
The approval came on the condition that the ordinance will not take effect until passage of companion legislation that would waive a minimum distance requirement for a liquor license location from a school or church. A request for the waiver, WLD-24-18, is scheduled to be considered Nov. 7 by the Jacksonville Planning Commission.
If the Planning Commission approves the waiver, it will be final action. Such waivers do not require Council approval.
The restaurant is across the street from the DePaul School of Northeast Florida, which began operating this year in the former Sterlings on the Water event venue.
The school, which provides specialized education for children with dyslexia, relocated from its former space along San Pablo Road near Beach Boulevard with the help of a $1 million grant from Delores Barr Weaver, a $1.5 million grant from the Warren and Augusta Hume Foundation and an additional $1 million in donations from local investors.
The private school serves about 140 children in grades 2 through 8.
LUZ committee Chair Kevin Carrico, whose Council District 4 includes the school and proposed restaurant, said no one from the school had contacted him about the zoning exception.
LUZ members voting in favor of the exception were Carrico, Vice Chair Raul Arias and members Joe Carlucci, Reggie Gaffney Jr. and Rahman Johnson. Members Ken Amaro and Rory Diamond were not present for the vote.
Plans for Tequilas D’Oro Mexican Restaurant, which specializes in tequila, show three bars and two outdoor dining areas with 22 tables, and an indoor dining area with about 40 tables. Carrico said the operator had opened other locations in Orlando and Gainesville.
Acadian Enterprises Inc. of Jacksonville bought the building in 2000 for $886,407. The principal is Kung-Ti Yen.
The 8,365-square-foot building also formerly housed Taverna Yamas Greek Cuisine and Yamas Hookah.
It is near the Hampton Inn & Suites, Miller’s Ale House, Mellow Mushroom and the Cinemark Tinseltown Jacksonville and XD movie theater.
With the LUZ vote, the ordinance advances to City Council for final approval.