Cafe Del Mar, a busy restaurant that fronts State Road A1A in Fort Lauderdale, gets to keep its artificial turf carpet after all.
Fort Lauderdale commissioners said yes to the faux grass Tuesday night, reversing an earlier ruling by the city’s Historic Preservation Board.
Leone Padula, who owns the restaurant along with his sons, was thrilled.
“Everybody loves it,” he said. “It looks better than the pavers (underneath). It’s more cozy. We serve 1,000 people a day on average, and the pavers turn black really quick and get dirty. It’s hard to keep them clean.”
Yet controversy flared when Cafe Del Mar installed artificial turf in its outdoor dining area.
Normally no one would have batted an eye, but Cafe Del Mar happens to be located on a site with a historic landmark designation.
The site was once home to the Lauderdale Beach Hotel, an Art Deco hotel built in 1936. The hotel was knocked down in 2005 to make way for the Las Olas Beach Club condo, but the facade was preserved thanks to intervention by historic preservationists.
Within weeks of installing the new carpet, the restaurant was cited by the city and told it needed approval from the Historic Preservation Board if it wanted the turf to stay.
The board rejected the request, saying it did not meet historic preservation guidelines.
That rejection went out the window Tuesday night.
“I don’t know how we can say no to what is basically a carpet,” Commissioner Steve Glassman said.
The vote was unanimous to approve the artificial turf.
Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com. Follow me on X @Susannah_Bryan