A lawsuit that has gone on for years about a proposed yacht club and hotel in West Palm Beach, Fla., may be settled soon by city officials and developers. The Palm Beach Post reports that the owners of the Waterview condominium tower along the waterfront are suing the city and Leisure Resorts, the developer of the proposed yacht club/hotel at Palm Harbor Marina, over rights to the land and how it will be used.
The settlement originally was planned for a city council vote Sept. 23 but was taken off the agenda in favor of a closed-door session. The newspaper reported that the proposed settlement would allow the 40-room hotel and yacht club to be built on the Palm Harbor Marina waterfront site, while the city would pay $2.5 million to the Waterview condominium to regain public access to the sidewalk in front of the tower.
At a recent session, West Palm Beach commissioner Kelly Shoaf questioned city attorney Kimberly Rothenburg about the proposed settlement. According to the newspaper, Shoaf said she wants to know why the city is considering giving waterfront land to the marina developer as part of a settlement when the developer is not suing the city. “So we are looking to settle with people who are litigating,” Shoaf said. “Why would we settle for something we are not being sued for?”
The paper reported Rothenburg as replying that the developers might sue.
“The proposed settlement documents presented to the commission … were intended to resolve not only pending litigation but also threatened litigation,” Rothenburg told the paper. “The approval of the proposed settlement would result in dismissal of the specifically identified pending litigation and would require Leisure to release any claims that it could have brought against the city arising out of or relating to the underlying litigation being settled.”
The paper did not report when the closed-door meeting would take place.
