- January 15, 2025
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Patrick McKinney, owner of Cajun Beach Boil and Sushi, was denied an outdoor entertainment permit from the Flagler Beach Commission for the second time. But he’s not giving up.
The commission voted 4-0 to deny the restaurant’s application at its Jan. 9 meeting. (Commission Chair Scott Spradley recused himself from the discussion and vote). The next day, McKinney said he met with an architect to redesign his stage with improved soundproofing.
“We have an architect doing the plans for the stage. We have a general contractor who’s going to build it, and we have a sound engineer that's going to certify the sound after its done,” he said.
His goal is to quickly start the application process again and get back on the commission’s agenda in February.
The commissioners seemed willing to table McKinney’s application if he was willing to meet certain criteria — mainly that speakers be put to the back of the small outdoor stage and the stage’s sound proofing be certified. McKinney generally agreed to the conditions. He said he wanted to have no more than a two-piece acoustic band with no drums and cut off the live music by 9:30 p.m.
He wouldn’t agree to no open-mic nights or to a strict limit of two musicians, in case the musicians had a friend in attendance who might join them on stage for a song or two. That might be considered having open mic, McKinney said.
“If some person that’s opposed to us having live music is here and goes to the city and said, ‘Oh, he had open mic, I could lose my license. So, I didn't want to have that on me as a stipulation,” he said.
Cajun Beach, at 1112 S. Oceanshore Blvd., is on the corner of South 12th Street and A1A with an outdoor bar and seating and an unobstructed view of the ocean. It is near a residential neighborhood and is next door to Golden Magnolia Resort & Spa. Residents have complained about the noise during events.
There have been three incident reports since Aug. 2, 2024. On Aug. 2, a Flagler Beach police officer ordered them to cease playing outdoor music because their permit did not transfer to the new majority owner — McKinney. On Sept. 20, area resident Brenda Wotherspoon, who is on the Flagler Beach Planning and Architectural Review (PAR) Board, called the police but there was no band playing when officers arrived.
And on Oct. 17, a live radio station remote blasted music toward the ocean. McKinney had a hearing with the commission that night that had been delayed by Hurricane Milton. In the report, McKinney said he booked the radio station months in advance thinking he would have his permit by then. He told the commission at the Jan. 9 meeting that he did not know the radio station would have a “boom box.” He thought the broadcast would only be on the radio.
The restaurant was not issued any citations.
Cajun Beach Boil and Sushi opened in Aug. 2023. But McKinney and his former partner, Linda MacDonald, who owned 51% of the business, got into a legal dispute during which the restaurant was closed for three months from May to July, 2024. McKinney now has a new partner and is the majority owner. But the outdoor entertainment permit that was in MacDonald’s name, was no longer valid.
McKinney was denied a permit in October. Commissioner Jane Mealy’s motion was based on the fifth criteria of 14: inadequate parking for a large crowd attending an event. On Jan. 7, the PAR Board added three more criteria in recommending the commission not approve the permit: the event would have an adverse effect or infringe on the rights of property owners within 200 feet of the restaurant’s property line; the applicant violated a condition of the permit in the past; and comments and recommendations of the PAR Board had not been addressed.
But at the Jan. 7 meeting, Commissioner Eric Cooley said the main sticking point appeared to be noise complaints. He asked McKinney if he would be willing to make some guarantees specifically in soundproofing the stage, and the commission would table the application until next month. But McKinney and his lawyer, Hunter Bedard, said McKinney wanted the commissioners to vote that night.
“My attorney said, ‘They’re not going to approve us tonight. We don’t have to wait for them next month to say no,” McKinney said the next day. “I agree to everything they said, except for having an open mic. We’re still going back. It’s just that we have to go back through the process.”
