New restaurant planned at Bayou Carlin Cove

DELCAMBRE — A proposal to bring a Dwight’s on the Bayou restaurant to Bayou Carlin Cove is an exciting prospect for the town of Delcambre, Mayor Pam Blakely said at Monday’s meeting of the Board of Aldermen, but the board opted to table the annexation of Bayou Carlin Cove until next month’s board meeting while costs and lease issues are looked into.
“We’re ready to move forward,” Blakely said. “We’re excited. We want this.”
“We are, too,” said Brandy Mitchell, general manager of Dwight’s Restaurant located on Johnston Street in Lafayette.
Mitchell and Dwight Breaux, owners of the restaurant, handed out preliminary site plans for the proposed restaurant at Bayou Carlin Cove. Breaux said later that Mitchell is Breaux’s daughter and would be the owner of Dwight’s on the Bayou, the restaurant at Bayou Carlin Cove.
“This is something that we’ve been talking about since January or February of this year. We are trying to figure out what we really want to do out there, what will work for the city and everyone else involved,” Mitchell said. “We want to bring revenue to Delcambre, and we feel like this will do the job. On top of the food, bringing live music, bringing fishing tournaments, bringing cornhole tournaments, bringing volleyball tournaments, so this is just a few examples of how we’d like to lay out the property.”
Wendell Verret, port director for the Twin Parish Port Commission, proposed annexing Bayou Carlin Cove. The port district goes from Bayou Petit Anse to the Abbeville airport and from U.S. 90 to Vermilion Bay.
“Our purpose is economic development within our district,” Verret said. “For many years we’ve been trying to bring projects to Delcambre and Erath and bring jobs to the community and the area.”
Bayou Carlin Cove, established in 2014, is a 14-acre tract with a paved road, boat launches, a pavilion and parking. The site has vacant space and has had plans on paper for several years for its use. A restaurant would be a great benefit not only to the port and the community as well as the town, he said.
“The port wanted to petition the town to annex that property so that sales tax from the restaurant would benefit the town,” Verret told the aldermen. “We’re here to ask for sewer water tap and for police patrols to continue.”
The restaurant would need access to the town’s water and sewer lines and gas lines. The town will use the next month to look into costs for making those connections, as well as seeking permission from the state to bore under La. 330 (Railroad Street) to bring gas lines to the restaurant. Verret said that he had already discovered a water main brought to the site, but sewer connections would have to be made.
Verret said the port district has an agreement with the town and pays $950 a month to provide police patrols. If the town annexes Bayou Carlin Cove, that payment will cease, but until the restaurant gets built, the district would like to continue the payments. Verret also asked the town to contribute to help split the costs for infrastructure improvements at the site.
Verret said there are plans on paper for an RV park and boat storage sites at Bayou Carlin Cove, but the plan is to bring utility service with enough amperage for the restaurant and the RV park and boat storage facility.
The time before the next meeting also allows for the restaurant owners to sign a lease for the site and to determine construction costs, an issue brought up by District 3 Alderman Tipper Esponge.