Manly West restaurant owner fighting $15k fine for four outdoor tables

A bayside restaurant is fighting a huge fine after cordoning off an outdoor dining area when a single person complained — three years later. But Council says they were warned upfront not to do it.

Manly's Casa di Louie restaurant.

A little Manly West Italian restaurant is fighting a $15,480 fine for cordoning off three private carparks for outdoor tables when one person complained — three years after the fact.

But Council said the owner of popular 12-table eatery Casa di Louie was warned upfront not to do it and would not be in the predicament if he had followed their advice.

Louie Stella said he was now taking the matter to the magistrates court because he had been told the fine would not be waived even if he removed four outdoor tables, some fencing, pot plants and a non-permanent roof, all erected in 2021.

If he applied for a revised development application for the outdoor seating he faced paying $40,000 for reports, fees and other costs, Mr Stella said.

The saga began in 2021 when the landlord of the space, within a retail precinct on Radford Rd, offered Mr Stella a 10-year lease.

After Mr Stella signed a letter of intent stating that he needed extra space, he claimed the landlord’s agent suggested he expand into three of the precinct’s 95 car spaces.

Mr Stella pointed out that he would need to separate diners from cars and he then engaged a builder, who told him this would require Council permission.

When he called the business hotline Council officers told him it was not allowable.

He told the landlord he was happy to pull out of the lease, but claimed the landlord’s agent advised him to go ahead with the expansion.

The Australian agent for the mainland Chinese landlord confirmed he verbally told Mr Stella his “high-level’’ advice from a town planner was that extending the outdoor area would not be a problem.

Louie Stella.

While it technically fell outside the conditions of the precinct’s originally approved gross lettable area, the carpark had never been full.

He said Council had never issued a show-cause notice or an offer-to-remedy to Mr Stella, which he insisted was the “real story’’.

Mr Stella also said he heard nothing from Council for three years until October last year when it advised him of a single complaint about “safety’’.

“They won’t say who complained or give me their investigation report, but said it was about (car) manoeuvrability.

“There is plenty of room. The carpark has never been full and the busiest it gets is 10 per cent full in the mornings, when there are pilates classes and the coffee shop is busy.’’

Mr Stella protested the fine, which went to internal review before he was told the fine stood.

In December Council refused his application to take the matter to court, after he had exhausted all other avenues of dispute.

“Now, they’ve accepted it can go to court but still there is no date listed,’’ he said.

“It’s a huge fine for a small business. It’s like I’ve done something horrible.

“I’m trying to survive, I’m trying to bring business and employ people.’’

He likened his situation to a Red Hill man whom Council took all the way to the High Court after he protested about the approval of a large LED billboard outside his inner-west house.

Deputy Mayor Krista Adams and Civic Cabinet Chair for City Standards Kim Marx have both engaged extensively with Mr Stella.

Council told him as far back as September 22, 2021, verbally and in writing, that converting the carpark to dining would be non-compliant with the development approval for the precinct and that a new development application would be required.

The owner of Manly's Casa di Louie restaurant has been hit with a huge fine.

A complaint was then received in July last year about the construction of a structure without approval.

This was investigated in August and the fine, calculated on State Government penalty units, was issued in October.

“Council has explained multiple times to Mr Stella that the infringement was issued after he installed an outdoor dining area without approval and against the advice he received from Council,’’ a Council spokeswoman said.

“We acknowledge the resident’s frustration, but Council has an obligation to investigate complaints received and this could have been avoided if Mr Stella followed Council’s initial advice.

“Mr Stella has been provided on several occasions with the appropriate organisations to refer the matter should he feel the need.’’