Farmer Girl fuming after removing roadside sign flagged by code enforcement
Popular Lake Worth Beach restaurant that serves free Thanksgiving Day meals has racked up nearly $8,000 in fines for code violations
Farmer Girl Restaurant has been a Lake Worth Beach institution for more than 40 years, a go-to spot known as much for affordable comfort food as its annual tradition of serving free Thanksgiving Day meals to the needy.
But decades of community goodwill haven’t insulated the popular restaurant from the sharp eye of Lake Worth Beach code enforcement.
In the latest development of a code case that started last spring, the restaurant on Jan. 9 reluctantly removed a large pole sign at the eatery’s entrance at 1732 N. Dixie Highway.
Versions of the roadside sign, a valuable source of free advertising to passing motorists, have come and gone since Farmer Girl first started serving food in 1982. But the latest sign, changed a few years ago without a permit, doesn’t comply with the updates to the city code, the city told Farmer Girl last year.
Pole signs, like the one at Farmer Girl, are non conforming and were eliminated from the code back in 2013 with an amortization schedule for removal by 2022, according to the city.
The city discovered the sign violation during an inspection in May after Roulie Zambiyadis, who took over the restaurant operations that month, applied for a city business license. The city also cited Farmer Girl for holes in the parking lot, damaged wheel stops, and mildew on the building.
A special magistrate in August ordered Farmer Girl to comply with the code or face daily $100 fines. As of Jan. 15, the violations have not been corrected and the restaurant has racked up $7,900 in fines, according to city records.
Zambiyadis said the city told him he could replace the pole sign with a monument sign, which is fixed to the ground. But he said it will cost $26,000 to install a monument sign, a cost he doesn’t want to incur.
Since the sign issue prevented him from getting a business license, he and Pete Roubekas, the original Farmer Girl operator who still owns the building, decided to just remove the pole sign.
“We cannot believe the city would do this to us or the property owner and original restaurant owner, Peter, who has given so much to Lake Worth and its citizens,’’ said Zambiyadis, adding that it cost $3,500 to hire a company to remove the sign last week.
He said restaurant sales were down 20 percent the day after the sign was removed.
“It’s very disheartening to have gone through this. It’s been horrible,’’ he said..
Vice Mayor Sarah Malega reached out to Zambiyadis and suggested he apply for a grant with the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency to offset costs of the new sign. But he said the $5,000 grant requires the owner to match the money, which won’t cover the new sign’s cost.
“We had a large prominent sign ever since the restaurant came into existence. Now we have no sign because we are not able to pay $26,000 for the sign the city wants us to have,’’ said Margaret Zimbayadis, Roulie’s wife.
Mayor Betty Resch, responding to social media outcry over the weekend, said she would try to look into Zambiyadis’ concerns this week.
I am very upset that Farmer Girl’s sign was taken down! I was there January 8th, and I happened to look at the sign and feel pride. Hoping there is a solution to this problem. Farmer Girl Restaurant does so much for LWB!