Complaints lead Taco Bell to close early, as promised

The new owner said he had no idea the developer had made a deal to close the drive-through window early to appease neighbors.

By TIM GRANT

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 6, 2001

CARROLLWOOD -- To overcome opposition, the owners of the Taco Bell restaurant near Original Carrollwood struck a deal four years ago with the homeowners in that neighborhood. The store would close by 10:30 p.m. weekdays and 12:30 a.m. on weekends to avoid disturbing nearby residents with noise from the drive-through window.

However, county code enforcement officers recently found out the restaurant at 11105 N Dale Mabry Highway was operating its drive-through until 3 a.m., and served the restaurant owner with a notice of violation.

"Staff spoke to the owner at the Taco Bell and they confirmed that they do stay open as the complaint indicates," said code enforcement chief Don Shea. "The owner purchased the business with no knowledge that the (restrictions) existed."

Gordon Guerrieri said he didn't know about the agreement when he bought the business from the original owner in January 2000. However, since he learned of the pact, Guerrieri has begun closing earlier and will continue to do so, he said.

"I was not aware of this," said Guerrieri, a Cape Coral businessman who owns 13 Taco Bells in Tampa. "The people we bought it from were not enforcing those hours either because everything was status quo.

"My goal as an owner is to provide the public with what they want. I'm a homeowner too. I understand sleep hours . . . are important and I want to resolve this in an amicable way. At this point, I have no intentions of upsetting anyone."

Most, if not all, Taco Bell drive-throughs are open until 3 a.m. But in order to win rezoning approval, the developer promised that this Taco Bell would close earlier. That promise became a special condition of the rezoning approval. If it is broken, it is a violation of county code.

Original Carrollwod resident Claudio Fisinessi lodged a complaint with Code Enforcement in mid-March. His home on Benttree Place is the closest to Taco Bell. He said most of the traffic went unnoticed. But the cars with boom boxes rattled his windows.

"That noise travels through anything. That low frequency boom, boom, boom is very annoying," Fisinessi said. "It was definitely going on past midnight so I called Taco Bell and asked how late their drive-through stays open and they said 3 a.m."

Years ago, Tampa developer Robert Gomez brokered the deal for Taco Bell.

During the rezoning process, Gomez met several times with residents who opposed the restaurant to address their concerns. Gomez won their support by offering to raise a boundary wall, erect some office buildings behind the Taco Bell to buffer noise and limit the restaurant's hours of operation.

- To reach Tim Grant call 226-3471, or e-mail him at grant@sptimes.com.

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