* Owners ordered to repair or raze burned bar

ENGLEWOOD -- A landmark Manasota Key business turned prominent eyesore has been declared an unsafe building by Charlotte County officials -- 17 months after a fire shut it down.

The owners of Sunset Grill at 1975 Beach Road must correct a host of dangerous conditions or the county will order the rapidly deteriorating structure demolished.

However, while "the clock is ticking," Charlotte Country Building Inspector Butch Van Amburg said the county has not issued owners Eileen Borg and Stephen L. Ruth any timelines or deadlines to repair or raze the bar.

"We really try to work with them to solve the problem rather than put a time limit on it," he said Wednesday.

It may not matter anyway.

"The building is going to be sold," Van Amburg said. "With the sale of this building coming up, there's no use in my pursuing anything with Steve Ruth and Eileen Borg."

Ruth did not return phone calls Wednesday. Borg, his mother, referred questions about the sale to Ruth.

Giler Urban Design, a downtown Englewood engineering and investment firm, has placed a sign on the property advertising its services.

Jennifer Wilson at Giler would not discuss the company's interest in Sunset Grill.

"We have a confidential agreement with our client," she said. "We cannot disclose any information."

Wilson would not say if Giler's client is Ruth and Borg, a prospective buyer or if it is purchasing the property itself.

Sunset Grill, which is on the roundabout near Englewood Beach, was closed in August 2005 after a fire burned much of its back side and roof.

It has operated as a restaurant and bar since 1959 and is on one of three contiguous parcels owned by the Ruth family, which at one time held title to a large swath of Manasota Key along Lemon Bay.

Van Amburg said the building poses an "obvious" danger in its fire-scarred state but is also unsafe because additions over the years were unpermitted.

For instance, he said, a structure described as a carport in tax records was added to the bar in 2003.

That "carport" was, in actuality, a tiki bar supported by "little trusses" that are "covered with palm fronds," Van Amburg said.

There are no engineering designs available to determine if the addition is structurally sound, he said.

Manasota and Sandpiper Key Advisory Committee Chairman B.J. Galberaith said the bar has been expanded four times without ever securing the proper permit.

But no one really knows how extensive unpermitted work is inside Sunset Grill, Van Amburg said.

"Nobody will let me get inside," he said. "I've had no access to check the situation out."

Therefore, Van Amburg said, he's issued a disconnect notice to Florida Power & Light to unplug electricity to the property.

"There's already been one fire there," he said. "We don't want to have another fire."

Van Amburg said it appeared as if Ruth was trying to repair and reopen the bar last spring.

"This all started in April when we first got a call about unpermitted work and unlicensed contractors out there," he said. "And there were a lot of complaints about it being an eyesore."

Borg, who lives in Venice, said her son has "been working out there" on the property for months.

She said Ruth would have resolved all the issues and, perhaps, reopened Sunset Grill if he had the money.

"There was a fire and the insurance company doesn't want to pay," Borg said.

Van Amburg said he's been reassured the pending buyer "fully intends to jump on" repairing and remodeling the property.

According to tax records, the 2,471-square-foot Sunset Grill building has a 2006 taxable value of $113,627.

Its bayfront lot is assessed at $276,000, giving the parcel a combined valuation of $398,807.

Of the two adjacent lots, one is vacant and the other houses the former Tee-Shirt Shak business.

The vacant lot is assessed at $260,758, and the parcel with the 1,332-square-foot, 76-year-old Tee-Shirt Shak building has a taxable value of $385,478.

Together, the three contiguous commercially zoned lots have a taxable valuation of more than $1.016 million. Their collective property tax bill for 2006 is $16,535.27.

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