Q: Do you know what is going on with the property with all of the rocks on Santa Barbara Boulevard and Davis Boulevard in East Naples? It has been an eyesore for years now! — Carolyn Hall, East Naples  

A: Although it may not be apparent from driving by, progress has been made on cleaning up the rock-crushing operation on the southeast corner of Davis and Santa Barbara boulevards in East Naples.  

During a staff project update at the Sept. 12 regular meeting of the Collier County Commissioners, Commission chair Rick LoCastro asked if the contractor can be completed with the rock crushing on Oct. 1.  

“Is that possible? One October, they’re off the property, everything’s spread, and there’s a big for sale sign on there?” LoCastro asked Jaime Cook, director of the Development Review division of the county’s Growth Management Department.  

“I believe the crushing and the debris that needs to be removed, will be done by Oct. 1. I’m not certain that all the material will be spread by Oct. 1,” Cook replied.  

The highly visible rock-crushing operation has been the subject of many code enforcement complaints. Construction and demolition debris dumped on the property adjacent to the Boys & Girls Club of Collier County has been an issue for a few years because of its appearance, as well as the noise and airborne dust caused by the on-site crushing of the material to create construction fill.  

Last week, LoCastro reiterated his goal to have the rock-crushing part of the project completed Oct. 1. “When all the crushing is done, then I want the big crusher gone. … so it’s not a rock-crushing lot anymore,” he said. “Some of the smaller things are a lot less visible. I think we’re all being pragmatic here and we’re certainly being very generous and patient.”  

Smaller projects can continue on the lot, but LoCastro wants the majority of the large equipment gone as soon as possible. “If it can be done by 1 October, 90% of what makes that lot look horrible would be gone,” he said.  

LoCastro requested another staff update at the next board meeting, which is Sept. 26.   

“I don’t think we’re being suggestive here. This is directive, you know. This is directive,” he said. “And, if that sounds aggressive to them, then get more people out there. Because, you know, now we’re getting into season.”  

Drone footage this month shows about 10,000 cubic yards of material are left to be processed at the site, said Cook, noting that about 171,000 cubic yards of material already have been crushed there. “Once that is done, they are also starting to remove some of that vegetative debris that’s piled up, as well as the rebar and some of the other construction debris in that pile,” she said. “Once all the crushing is completed, the owner has contracted with a company already to start spreading those piles of material on the site.”  

A couple of piles of debris haven’t been fully separated, but crews have been working to extract material from them. The property owners also intend to finish some of the permit requirements that the county and the South Florida Water Management District have for the lake on the property, Cook said.  

“So, they’re working on planting the littorals, and some of the other stuff that they’ve had to do is as part of both of our permits,” she said.  

The concrete debris originally was to be used as fill to build up the foundation of the more than 80-acre property for a mixed-used planned unit development on that corner at 4886 Santa Barbara Blvd. A representative of Highland Properties of Lee & Collier, owner of the property, could not be reached for comment regarding future plans for the acreage.  

German addition  

Q: Any ideas on what’s happening at Lobster Rolls No. 1 in Berkshire Commons at Radio and Santa Barbara? There are now signs for Mama Rita’s and schnitzel! Talk about a mishmash of cuisines! Is this place going through a rebrand again or do you think they are just adding whatever else they can think of to keep the doors open since the Eat Smart concept didn’t work? — Mike Russo, Naples  

A: Rather than another entire rebrand, Lobster Rolls No. 1 locations in East Naples and south Fort Myers experienced a post-season addition of Mama Rita’s German Restaurant & Bakery under the same roof.  

The dual-concept restaurant has two fast-casual menus but not two dining areas or staffs. Although only Lobster Rolls No. 1 appears on the building’s main sign atop the restaurant and remains the centerpiece of the business, the restaurant’s windows also feature circular signs with the rendering of a woman’s bespectacled visage and the additional branding of Mama Rita’s.  

“Rita is my mom and we are cooking German cuisine and have German bread and make it in the way my mom does it,” said co-owner Michael Mückenhausen. “You can say it’s an add-on.”  

Rita was born in Germany in 1944, near the end of World War II. “She’s still in Germany. She’s very proud of Mama Rita’s, and my wife now is doing dishes with her recipes and it’s very yummy, you know,” Mückenhausen said.  

Adding Mama Rita’s in late May, Mückenhausen does not plan to phase out the lobster rolls concept but rather will continue to offer a two-in-one restaurant. As with Lobster Rolls and the former Eat Smart dining concept it replaced, Rita’s menu keeps it simple.   

“All the things we have on the menu for Mama Rita’s are the best-selling things in Germany,” he said. “It’s all the things for the Germans who live here and what they are craving for. It’s not so much for the tourists, you know, because when somebody’s coming from Germany over here, they want to have everything, but not German food. But the Germans who live here are craving all these dishes we have now.”  

Mama Rita’s features traditional German cuisine, such as schnitzel, currywurst, potato pancakes and roast pork with red cabbage. Entrees range from $9.95 for goulash soup to $17.95 for goulash with spaetzle. Mama Rita’s also has a couple of other European classics, such as cordon bleu and spaghetti Bolognese.  

Mama Rita’s is really two concepts in one. In addition to the German restaurant dishes, Rita’s bakery side offers made-to-order and take-and-bake baked goods imported from Germany.  

“We say it’s a bakery but, in reality, we are not bakers, you know,” Mückenhausen said.   

“We get all the German bread and the things like strudel, we get it frozen because these are things you don’t get here in America because Americans can’t make it like that, in that way, because they don’t have the flour for it.”  

Mama Rita’s bakery items include pastries, cakes, breads and pies, as well as apple strudel, pretzel rolls, baguettes, croissants and mini beignets.  

The East Naples restaurant, 7083 Radio Road, is open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Another location of Lobster Rolls No. 1 and Mama Rita’s operates in south Fort Myers in the Sprouts-anchored College Plaza Shopping Center on the corner of Winkler Road and College Parkway.  

A third location of Lobster Rolls No. 1 will open soon at Pine Island Park, 1260 NE 8th St., in Cape Coral. “This location will not have the Mama Rita’s,” Mückenhausen said.  

The “Tim Aten Knows” weekly column answers local questions from readers. Email Tim at tim.aten@naplespress.com.