HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-28-1998 VC SP-M•
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Present:
Absent:
ROLL CALL
MINUTES OF SPECIAL SESSION
OF THE
VILLAGE COUNCIL OF NORTH PALM BEACH, FLORIDA
HELD THURSDAY, MAY 28, 1998
David B. Norris, Mayor
Charles O'Meilia, Vice Mayor
Dr. Edward M. Eissey, President Pro Tem
Gail H. Vastola, Councilman
Joseph A. Tringali, Councilman
George W. Baldwin, Village Attorney
Kathleen F. Kelly, Village Clerk
Dennis W. Kelly, Village Manager
Mayor Norris called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. All members of Council were
present. Members of staff present were the Village Attorney and Village Clerk.
Mayor Norris announced at this time that the Village Council would recess for the purpose
of holding an Attorney/Client Session at 6:30 p.m. for approximately 55 minutes to discuss
the lawsuit of the Village v. 421 Northlake Blvd. Corp., d/b/a Crystal's Bar and Grill.
Mayor Norris announced all persons who would be in attendance at the Session.
RECESS
Mayor Norris recessed the Special Session at 6:31 p.m. The Special Session
reconvened at 7:28 p.m. Councilman Vastola was not present, having been called away
for a family emergency. Mayor Norris announced that the Attorney/Client session had
adjourned.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business to come before the Council, the meeting adjourned at
7:30 p.m.
Ka hleen F. Kelly, CMC, Village C$rk
THE PALM BEACH POST
Published Daily and Sunday
West Palm Beach, Palm Beach County, Florida
PROOF OF PUBLICATION
STATE OF FLORIDA
COUNTY OF PALM BEACH
Before the undersigned authority personally appeared Chris Bull who on oath says that she is
Classified Advertisina Manager of The Palm Beach Post, a daily and Sunday newspaper
published at West Palm Beach in Palm Beach County, Florida; that the attached copy of
advertising, being a Notice in the matter of ()nen Meeting/Attornev-Client Sessioq in the ----
Court, was published in said newspaper in the issues of Mav 24. 1998
Affiant further says that the said The Post is a newspaper published at West Palm Beach, in said
Palm Beach County, Florida, and that the said newspaper has heretofore been continuously
published in said Palm Beach County, Florida, daily and Sunday and has been entered as second
class mail matter at the post office in West Palm Beach, in said Palm Beach County, Florida, for
a period of one year next preceding the first publication of the attached copy of advertisement;
and afflant further says that she has neither paid nor promised any person, firm or corporation
any discount rebate, commission or refund for the purpose of securing this advertisement for
publication in the said newspaper.
Swom to and subscribed before me this 2¢ day of May A.D. 1998
t
Personally known XX or Produced Identification
Type of Identification Produced
MtilllON,'Al.'lllrllAlliillAllIN???11111IAA1N
9• j1 'C'e. Karen McLinton
Norarl Public, State of Florida
te Commission No. CC 591337
T nuc My Commission Exp. 11/15/20G0
1.8003.NOTARY Fla, Notary Service 8c➢onding Co.
)SriittM.VX,W,)1))S):),WP,WWW,))),WiNX)))
•
NO. 479267
VILLAGE OF NORTH PALM
BEACH
PUBLIC NOTICE
THE CITIZENS AND PROPERTY
OWNERS OF THE VILLAGE OF
NORTH PALM BEACH AND ALL
INTERESTED PERSONS ARE
HEREBY ADVISED TO TAKE
NOTICE 'THAT MAYOR DAVID
B. NORRIS, VICE -MAYOR
CHARLES R. O'MEIUA. PRESI-
DENT PRO TEM EDWARD M.
EISSEY, COUNCILMEN GAIL H.
VASTOLA AND JOSEPH A
TRINNGAU, WILL CONVENE AN
OPEN MEETING OF THE
NORTH PALM BEACH VILLAGE
COUNCIL ON THURSDAY, MAY
28, 1998 AT 6:30 P.M., AT
WHICH TIME THE VILLAGE
COUNCIL WILL ANNOUNCE
ITS INTENTION TO MEET W A
PRIVATE ATTORNEY -CLIENT
SESSION WITH ITS VILLAGE
ATTORNEY GEORGE W. BAL-
DWIN, AND ITS LITIGATION
ATTORNEY THOMAS J. BAIRD,
TO DISCUSS PENDING LIGA-
TION STYLED VILLAGE OF
NORTH PALM BEACH V. 421
NORTHLAKE BLVD CORP.,
D/B/A CRYSTAL'S BAR AND
GRILL THIS ATTORNEYCU-
ENT SESSION WILL BE HELD
PURSUANT TO FLA. STAT.
X288.011(8) ON MAY 28,
1998, AT APPROXIMATELY
6:30 P.M., AT THE VILLAGE
HALL, 501 U.S. HIGHWAY 1,
NORTH PALM BEACH, FLORI-
DA. THE PRIVATE ATTORNEY -
CLIENT SESSION I5 ANTICF'
PATED TO LAST FOR
,APPROXIMATELY 55 MIN-
UTES. ALSO, BE ADVISED
THAT AT THE CONCLUSION
OF THIS ATTORNEY -CLIENT
SESSION AT APPROXIMATELY
7:25 P.M., OR AS SOON
THEREAFTER AS POSSIBLE;
THE VILLAGE COUNCIL WILL
RECONVENE ITS PUBLIC
MEETING TO DISCUSS ANY
MATTERS WHICH REMAIN ON
ITS AGENDA.
Kathleen F. Kelly, CMC
Village Clerk
Publish Palm Beach Post
Sunday. May 24. 1998
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VILLAGE OF NORTH PALM BEACH
ATTORNEY/CLIENT SESSION
Council Chambers
Thursday, May 28, 1998
6:35 p.m. - 7:25 p.m.
PRESENT:
ORIGINAL
MAYOR DAVID NORRIS
VICE MAYOR CHARLES O'MEILIA
PRESIDENT PRO TEM EDWARD EISSEY
COUNCILMAN JOSEPH TRINGALI
COUNCILWOMAN GAIL VASTOLA
VILLAGE MANAGER DENNIS KELLY
VILLAGE ATTORNEY GEORGE BALDWIN
VILLAGE CLERK KATHLEEN KELLY
SPECIAL VILLAGE ATTORNEY THOMAS J. BAIRD
COURT REPORTER JANE PASTORE
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1 PROCEEDINGS
2 - - -
3 MAYOR NORRIS: This is the continuation, I
4 guess, or reconvening of our prior meeting at
5 which we had Tom Baird, who gave us a detailed
6 discussion on the status of the case and some
7 options on how we proceed.
8 We kind of had, if you recall, some
9 discussion on some alternatives, and recessed
10 with wanting to let everybody think about what
11 was said; come back and kind of go through the
12 alternatives and come up with our game plan.
13 What I think might be helpful, Tom, if you
14 could just give us a brief summary of what you
15 -- a very brief summary of what you did last
16 time, to tell us about the case, and then most
17 importantly is go through the alternatives that
18 we were talking about.
19 And then we can start the discussion from
20 there.
21 MR. BAIRD: The last time we discussed the
22 law as applied to alternative sites for adult
23 entertainment facilities, and I presented to you
24 two differoing viewpoints that have emerged in
25 Florida courts, Florida federal courts regarding
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1 that.
2 I referred to them as the per capita
3 approach, where it's the -- the standard is the
4 number of facilities versus the population of a
5 given jurisdiction, and I indicated that the
6 Florida federal court opinions have basically
7 accepted ordinances which have produced sites of
8 a ratio of roughly one site per six thousand
9 population.
10 The opinion that resulted in that is from
11 the Middle District court, federal court. The
12 Southern District, which is our district, were
13 we in federal court, reached a slightly
14 different conclusion, and while not outright
15 rejecting the per capita approach, said that the
16 approach that it believed should be followed was
17 on an acreage basis. And generally that court
18 will follow a standard of five percent of the
19 land area being made available for adult
20 entertainment facilities.
21 I had suggested to the council that it's
22 my opinion that a state circuit court judge,
23 which is the court that we are in, would be more
24 inclined to follow the Southern District
25 viewpoint than the Middle District viewpoint,
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1 because we are geographically in the Southern
2 District, and while that opinion is not
3 precedent, it is persuasive and I would think
4 that generally the judges in Palm Beach County
5 would follow the Southern District law.
6 MAYOR NORRIS: That was which one; the
7 five percent?
8 MR. BAIRD: That's the five percent.
9 Based on that, I suggested to you that
10 while our approach of demonstrating the
11 alternative sites meeting the per capita ratio
12 that's been accepted could be -- could result in
13 a favorable opinion to the Village, I felt that
14 it was more likely that the court would apply
15 the acreage standard.
16 And therefore I estimated our chances of
17 prevailing to be less than what I would like our
18 chances to be.
19 Of course, there is no predicting exactly
20 what a court may do with a given set of facts,
21 and sometimes a court will strive to reach a
22 decision because they believe that it's in the
23 best public policy.
24 So what we have attempted to do -- "we"
25 being myself and the expert witness that's been
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1 retained by the Village, a land planner -- is to
2 identify the number of sites that were available
3 within the Village, to identify how many of
4 those sites could be made to fit the standards
5 that the Village zoning code applies for adult
6 entertainment facilities.
7 And I went through for you the various
8 sites. There are, as you might expect, not many
9 sites that would be available because there is
10 not a lot of commercial land in the Village, and
11 furthermore, the land that is available in the
12 Village generally abuts residential properties
13 or is within a certain proximity of
14 establishments, for example, that sell liquor.
15 And those kinds of standards create the
16 situation of not many sites being available.
17 The sites that we have identified, and
18 there are some qualifications to each of the
19 sites, are:
20 Obviously the site where Crystals now is.
21 We looked at that and we have determined that
22 only one facility could be located there under
23 your current ordinances. There are now two
24 there: One legally, one illegally; Crystals
25 being the illegal one, and Adult Video Warehouse
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1 being the legal one.
2 The other location that we identified,
3 that I think it's safe to say the council
4 unanimously rejected, is the site -- I will
5 refer to it as the DeSantis property. It is the
6 proposed shopping center. And that site would
7 not be eligible because there is a religious
8 institution within a certain -- I think it's a
9 500 foot radius.
10 The other sites that are available are at
11 approximately the corner of Northlake and
12 Prosperity Farms where Eyeglass World and, I
13 believe it's the Citco station are.
14 There is a qualification there in that the
15 property would have to be subdivided in order to
16 meet the setback standards from the residential
17 property that is to the north of the Aldrich
18 rental facility.
19 So that requirement of subdivision creates
20 potentially a problem for the court in accepting
21 the site as an eligible site, because the court
22 has to weigh the likelihood of that subdivision,
23 or in some other cases it would be the
24 likelihood of a rezoning occurring, in order to
25 make that site eligible.
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1 And obviously subdivisions come to the
2 Village council for approval, and so the court
3 would be faced with determining whether the
4 Village council was likely to approve the
5 subdivision, knowing that the result of that
6 could be the location of an adult entertainment
7 facility and perhaps knowing the council's
8 position with respect to adult entertainment
9 facilities in the village.
10 So that site is a toss-up in my opinion.
11 The court can accept it or the court can reject
12 it.
13 The other site that is eligible is the
14 Steve Moore site. That zoning is C2, however,
15 which means that in order for it to be eligible
16 it would have to be zoned Cl.
17 The consultant for the Village and I gave
18 consideration to what would be the best means of
19 making that site eligible: Would it be to
20 rezone it to Cl, where adult entertainment
21 facilities can be located, or would it be to
22 change the C2 zoning to allow adult
23 entertainment to be located in C2?
24 And our conclusion was that changing to Cl
25 was not the preferred approach; that rezoning or
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1 adding the use of adult entertainment to C2 was
2 the preferred approach.
3 And we have reached that conclusion
4 because the Steve Moore site is the only C2
5 zoned property in the Village.
6 MS. VASTOLA: We just did that so we can
7 allow for car dealerships. We created that for
8 them.
9 MAYOR NORRIS: Just for the record, it's
10 really Ed Morse.
11 MS. VASTOLA: Yes, it's really Ed Morse.
12 MR. BAIRD: Car dealerships seem alike to
13 me.
14 So that would be the action that the
15 council would have to take in order to get that
16 second site, which then gives you the
17 opportunity to present evidence to the court
18 that there is a ratio of one site per six
19 thousand population to get within that framework
20 that the Middle District of Florida at least has
21 accepted as a constitutionally valid ordinance.
22 If the Village decides that that approach
23 should be followed, then obviously Mr. Baldwin
24 and your staff would have to prepare an
25 ordinance amending the C2 zoning to allow for
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1 those facilities to be located in C2. You would
2 have to adopt that.
3 And not knowing exactly how long it takes
4 you to adopt ordinances, but imaging that it's
5 going to take at least -- or not imaging --
6 understanding that it's going to take two
7 meetings, a first and second reading, I would
8 say that it could be accomplished within a
9 month, depending on how your schedules fall and
10 how quickly the ordinance is prepared.
11 It doesn't seem to me to take a lot of
12 work, but obviously it has to be done properly.
13 The time frame, just to give you an idea
14 of where we are at now with trial, is as
15 follows:
16 When Crystals became 421 Northlake
17 Boulevard, the court, because it was a new
18 entityl took it off of its -- I believe it was
19 then on a May trial docket. And the next
20 available trial docket for nonjury trials is
21 August.
22 The Village, though, has another law firm
23 representing it, assigned by the insurance
24 carrier to defend against the counterclaim, and
25 that firm has filed a notice or request for a
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1 jury trial.
2 The jury trial docket is not available
3 until February of 1999, which means that if we
4 are to expedite this and get this case to trial
5 as quickly as possible, we are going to have to
6 try and segregate the counterclaim and the jury
7 trial of that counterclaim from the Village's
8 injunctive relief action that we have asked for.
9 I am not sure what the court may do with
10 it. I would think that a court would want to
11 try everything in one trial as opposed to two
12 trials.
13 The other option that we have is that I
14 think it's possible to proceed with this with
15 the Village's claim on summary judgment. And
16 what that means for those of you that aren't
17 familiar with summary judgment is that we would
18 essentially agree to proceed with the case based
19 on affidavits submitted which state the facts.
20 Now, whether the court -- obviously there
21 is going to be a disagreement about facts in
22 terms of the affidavits that are submitted
23 because in all likelihood the defendant 421 is
24 going to reach the conclusion that there is only
25 one site available.
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1 Now, once you change the zoning on C2, it
2 may be that they have to concede that there is a
3 second site available.
4 The other option is to seek from the court
5 -- and I think this is a more likely scenario --
6 to seek from the court permission for a limited
7 evidentiary hearing where the two planners, the
8 experts on either side, are presented as
9 witnesses and we have a limited evidentiary
10 hearing, together with the filing of the motion
11 for summary judgment or some motion to resolve
12 the case, and the case is decided on that basis.
13 I have had some discussions with opposing
14 counsel, and I think opposing counsel would be
15 agreeable to such an approach, because it
16 appears that the one thing that we'd certainly
17 agree on is that the only thing that is at issue
18 here is how many alternate sites there are.
19 And if that is the only issue for a court
20 to try, and it can be tried in a half a day, we
21 might get some relief from the court, might get
22 the ability to at least have that disposition of
23 the case.
24 Obviously if they prevail, then the
25 counterclaim is subject to a trial at a later
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1 time.
2 MAYOR NORRIS: But what you're -- the way
3 you started this out was that unless we make
4 some kind of change, you think we are in a bad
5 situation on the case.
6 MR. BAIRD: Correct.
7 THE COURT: And to do what you just said
8 the other side would have have to agree that the
9 rule is the Middle District's rule, not the
10 Southern District's rule.
11 MS. VASTOLA: No, the Southern District,
12 not the Middle District.
13 MR. TRINGALI: Exactly.
14 MAYOR NORRIS: The Southern District rule
15 is the five percent of land area. And you are
16 going through a scenario to get us more than one
17 site, and that's the Middle District rule. So
18 we have to get them to agree that that's the
19 rule.
20 MR. TRINGALI: No. We have to convince
21 the judge.
22 MR. BAIRD: We have to convince the judge.
23 The rule of law -- we would have a
24 difference of opinion as to which law to apply.
25 MR. TRINGALI: If I may: Apparently there
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1 is no state law on this or case law, anything
2 out of any state court.
3 MR. BAIRD: Not on the alternate, not in
4 Florida.
5 MR. TRINGALI: So what you're -- you are
6 in the position of having to convince a local
7 trial court judge that he -- that the Middle
8 District rule makes more sense and he should
9 follow that.
10 MR. BAIRD: Correct.
11 MR. TRINGALI: Rather than the Southern
12 District rule.
13 MAYOR NORRIS: Go ahead.
14 MR. TRINGALI: Can I just -- how come this
15 isn't in federal court now? I mean, I don't
16 think I ever understood that.
17 MR. BAIRD: Well, we filed a complaint for
18 injunctive and declaratory relief based on our
19 assertion that the zoning codes of the Village
20 were being violated.
21 MR. TRINGALI: Okay.
22 MR. BAIRD: Which is a state court action.
23 There is no federal claim on that basis.
24 MR. TRINGALI: So they are not, at least
25 up until now they haven't brought an action in
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1 federal court that we are violating their right
2 to do business or whatever.
3 MR. BAIRD: No. They brought a
4 counterclaim based on first amendment grounds.
5 And my co -counsel and I discussed whether
6 removal of that claim to federal court was
7 appropriate or not, and since he was lead
8 counsel with respect to the counterclaim, it was
9 essentially his call.
10 And his call was to leave it in state
11 court.
12 MR. TRINGALI: Well, that's where this, my
13 question is going, because are we going to get
14 into a situation -- it seems to me if we get
15 into federal court, we are in a very tenuous
16 position. We are not in a real good position in
17 state court, but in federal court we are pretty
18 much dead in the water.
19 Right?
20 MR. BAIRD: Whether it was luck or not, we
21 are better off where we are in state court.
22 MR. TRINGALI: Is there any way that the
23 defendants can remove this action to federal
24 court, where the law is more favorable to them?
25 MR. BAIRD: Removal has to occur within
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1 the time frame of the filing of the responsive
2 pleading. And in this case the defendant has
3 already filed its answer to our complaint and
4 its counterclaim, and the Village has filed its
5 answer in affirmative defenses to the
6 counterclaim.
7 So I believe they are outside of the stage
8 where they can remove.
9 MAYOR NORRIS: Let me ask you a question
10 on the five percent rule, the Southern District
11 rule.
12 That's five percent of the total area in
13 the Village, or five percent of the commercial
14 area?
15 MR. BAIRD: Well, the opinions -- there
16 are different opinions in different federal
17 courts about that.
18 Obviously, Crystals' attorneys are going
19 to argue its five percent of the total area, but
20 the Village is not even going to meet it if it's
21 five percent of your commercial area, not even
22 close.
23 So it's weak grounds to rely upon that,
24 and the best argument that can be made is this
25 per capita argument.
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1 MR. TRINGALI: None of these things has
2 gotten up to the llth Circuit to sort of
3 stabilize the law, obviously. We are dealing
4 with a bunch of federal trial courts.
5 MR. BAIRD: The Southern District opinion,
6 I believe, has gone up. But I'm not aware that
7 -- let me back up.
8 The Southern District opinion only came
9 down earlier this year. So any appeal, we are
10 probably a year away from the llth Circuit
11 deciding on appeal what the law is to resolve
12 the Middle and Southern District approaches.
13 MR. TRINGALI: Okay.
14 MAYOR NORRIS: So alternatives, what we
15 have to decide is whether we want to -- I think
16 where we left it last time -- whether we want to
17 continue at all.
18 And it sounds to me that we are down to
19 whether we want to continue it at all or whether
20 we want to go through and make a zoning change
21 like you're suggesting and go forward on the
22 argument.
23 Is that pretty much what it comes down to?
24 MR. BAIRD: Yes.
25 Let me add one other thing, just for you
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1 to consider:
2 It's my understanding -- and Mr. O'Meilia
3 may be able to add to this -- that Palm Beach
4 County is considering amending its adult
5 entertainment ordinance, but the amendment that
6 they are considering, while it would strengthen
7 presumably the ordinance, would also be such
8 that they are going apply that ordinance only in
9 the unincorporated area, they are going to leave
10 the municipalities out.
11 Which would then require the Village to
12 adopt additional standards regarding your adult
13 entertainment ordinance.
14 That is in some ways an opportunity, but
15 it also in my opinion is going to be difficult
16 for the Village under almost any circumstances
17 to meet this five percent criteria because of
18 the lack of commercial land that's available.
19 The other thing that you may want to
20 consider if you are going to consider amending
21 your ordinance at all is that some communities
22 have been successful by prohibiting alcohol
23 sales within adult entertainment facilities.
24 The theory is that the two are linked and
25 if you take away the alcohol, I suppose some of
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1 the entertainment value departs and some of the
2 profit departs from those facilities.
3 MAYOR NORRIS: Sale and/or consumption?
4 MR. BAIRD: Yes.
5 MS. VASTOLA: And you can do that, that's
6 legal, right?
7 MR. BAIRD: That's legal.
8 MAYOR NORRIS: And then we would be able
9 to do that and it would apply to this property.
10 MR. BAIRD: Right.
11 Now, they might well challenge the Village
12 on that ordinance, but the research that I have
13 done indicates that the courts are pretty strong
14 -- pretty much strongly upheld those ordinances.
15 MR. O'MEILIA: You would have to do that
16 in the licensing ordinance, though, not in the
17 zoning ordinance.
18 MR. BAIRD: Well, you would -- yes.
19 MR. O'MEILIA: We depend on the county's
20 licensing ordinance, but we adopt a zoning
21 ordinance to measure --
22 MR. BAIRD: The adult entertainment
23 license.
24 MR. O'MEILIA: Yes. The adult
25 entertainment license is a county ordinance that
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1 we can opt out of, and it is the one where the
2 county was proposing to do that, to make that
3 alcohol change, but they sent it back to staff.
4 The last I heard it had gone back to staff for a
5 lot more reconsideration.
6 So I really don't think we can count on
7 that county license ordinance to help us out in
8 the near future.
9 MR. TRINGALI: Here is a real stupid
10 question, Tom:
11 What would happen if we would take the
12 existing area, which includes Crystals and the
13 Adult Warehouse, and subdivide that, make that
14 into, quote, two sites by not requiring the -- I
15 understand what's keeping, what's preventing
16 that from happening is because by the current
17 zoning ordinances, they have got to be 1500 feet
18 apart or 2000 feet apart or something.
19 Right?
20 MS. VASTOLA: Well, those both are grand-
21 fathered in right now, because that ordinance
22 was created after those two.
23 MR. BAIRD: No, just the --
24 MAYOR NORRIS: Just with the adult video.
25 MS. VASTOLA: That's only because it was a
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1 new business. If it was still the same old
2 business, it would be grandfathered in.
3 MR. BAIRD: I suppose there is an
4 amendment that could be made or amendments that
5 could be made to the current zoning ordinance
6 that might produce two sites there as opposed to
7 one.
8 There are two problems: One is their
9 proximity to one another; they are about 300
10 feet apart. So you would have to amend the
11 regulation which now says that adult
12 entertainment has to be 1,000 feet apart.
13 And secondly -- there's 2000?
14 2000 feet apart.
15 MS. VASTOLA: Yes.
16 MR. BAIRD: And secondly, depending upon
17 -- there could be a problem with alcohol sales
18 and their proximity on either side of those
19 properties.
20 I think the report I got from the
21 consultant said that that was potentially a
22 problem. So if that's the case, then you are
23 having to look at reducing the separation
24 requirement also between those facilities and
25 alcohol serving facilities.
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1 MR. TRINGALI: I am just wondering, and I
2 don't want to waste time exploring useless
3 alternatives, but I am just wondering: Rather
4 than trying to get them out of town and facing
5 the possibility of a counterclaim or losing a
6 counterclaim, would we be better off isolating
7 them and saying, okay, both these joints are
8 here, that's the way life is, now we are just
9 going to isolate you in that spot and that's the
10 end of that.
11 MR. BAIRD: Well, if you were going to
12 take that approach, rather than try -- rather
13 than mend your ordinances at all, I would
14 suggest that you try to work a stipulation out
15 that essentially grandfathers Crystals also,
16 rather than trying to fit it in based on your
17 zoning standards and changing all of your
18 standards.
19 But I think the path that you are headed
20 in is one that the council has to consider kind
21 of a business decision as, you know, with the
22 likelihood of prevailing in the litigation being
23 not strong, is it in your better interest to
24 accept, as much as you may not like it, that
25 second facility there, continue to work on
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1 strengthening your ordinance so that you don't
2 get any additional facilities coming in, but
3 recognize that it's always going to be
4 difficult, I think, given the law as we now have
5 it, and the lack of commercial that the Village
6 has, to ever meet that five percent requirement
7 which would give you the kind of certainty that
8 under the law now you really need to have.
9 MR. TRINGALI: Well, my problem is that if
10 we stipulate with Crystals, just stipulate to,
11 okay, we will all just go away and leave each
12 other alone, that's not going to stop XYZ
13 corporation from coming in and saying, okay, now
14 we want to open a place.
15 MAYOR NORRIS: There is two factors there:
16 One is the lawsuit; do we decide that we
17 don't have a good enough case here, so we do
18 whatever we can with Crystals. But then we
19 still have to deal with the problem that what
20 you are telling us is our adult entertainment
21 ordinance is not enforceable, so anyone else
22 could come in and basically go -- it sounds like
23 go anywhere that they want to go because they
24 are going to be able to say ours is totally
25 unenforceable, so they are not prohibited from
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1 going anywhere.
2 So even if we decide -- which I am not
3 saying we should decide -- to settle the case, I
4 think we still have to work on the ordinance, to
5 make sure that --
6 MS. VASTOLA: Well, you have two
7 facilities. We do meet the central Florida code
8 with two facilities.
9 MAYOR NORRIS: We don't yet.
10 MS. VASTOLA: If we can't -- allow the two
11 facilities, we would be able to meet the central
12 Florida interpretation of laws and regulations.
13 MAYOR NORRIS: Well, we have to make some
14 amendments to do that, to meet that.
15 MS. VASTOLA: What would happen, you would
16 have to grandfather Crystals in.
17 MR. TRINGALI: Well, no, then you wouldn't
18 have to -- if you took another piece of
19 property, the Ed Morse property, and changed the
20 zoning there to allow adult entertainment at Ed
21 Morse Chevrolet, right, now you've got your two
22 sites. Now you can go forward with the lawsuit
23 against Crystals, win or lose, even though you
24 may lose.
25 MR. BALDWIN: How much other property do
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1 we have zoned C2?
2 MS. VASTOLA: That's it, that's all we
3 have, just that.
4 MR. BALDWIN: That's the only piece zoned
5 C2?
6 MR. O'MEILIA: Which brings up the point:
7 Now, if we are going to be annexing that other
8 strip on up north of Ed Morse one of these
9 days...
10 MS. VASTOLA: You are talking about the
11 Live Oak Plaza, that area in there?
12 MR. O'MEILIA: Yes.
13 MAYOR NORRIS: That would be targeted for
14 C2?
15 MR. O'MEILIA: Probably.
16 Well, I don't know whether it would be
17 targeted for C2 or --
18 It would have to be targeted
19 for C2.
20 MR. BAIRD: We have looked at that
21 property and concluded that at least a portion
22 of that could meet the ordinance.
23 But what we always get back to is this
24 difference of opinion between the federal
25 courts, and --
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1 MR. O'MEILIA: I read this Hendricks
2 letter. I read the results, I think that you
3 sent us, of one of those lawsuits in Broward
4 County.
5 And I think what the final decision is is
6 what you are going to say: Shall we take a
7 chance on saying, "Hey, Federal Court, this is
8 the one that applies to us, not this one. I
9 mean, "This, Federal Court, applies to this us,
10 not this one, because we are a small community,
11 we are a bedroom community with very commercial.
12 Because that one was based on a big, big thing.
13 MR. BAIRD: Well, almost all of the
14 opinions are based on large communities. Renten
15 (phonetic), the leading case, is a community of
16 60,000 in the State of Washington. And you've
17 got Detroit and you've got Atlanta and some
18 others.
19 But, I mean, what you are talking about
20 is convincing a trial court judge -- and it will
21 go up on appeal if you win, certainly -- that
22 new law should be made in the State of Florida.
23 One --
24 MR. O'MEILIA: Because the little guy
25 hasn't been considered.
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1 MR. BAIRD: -- one, that you are going to
2 use the per capita approach; and two, that
3 courts should recognize a distinction between
4 small bedroom communities and larger
5 communities.
6 And the opinions thus far have been --
7 there has been two different -- two opinions:
8 One has suggested that there should be a
9 distinction; and the other has suggested that
10 there should not.
11 And one is from Connecticut or New Jersey,
12 in the northeast somewhere, and the other is
13 from the west coast.
14 MR. EISSEY: Tom, what happens if wherever
15 the second parcel is designated and some group
16 wishes to open up another adult facility and the
17 owner/proprietor of that piece of property won't
18 lease it or rent it to them?
19 MR. BAIRD: The courts have said that
20 that's the marketplace.
21 MR. TRINGALI: Too bad.
22 MR. BAIRD: That you need only make it
23 available and the operators of adult
24 entertainment facilities need to make -- the
25 economic factors essentially aren't to be
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1 considered.
2 MR. EISSEY: Okay. Then if, the same
3 scenario and the property becomes available and
4 the proprietor can make more money from client A
5 than they can client adult, the courts will say
6 the owner cannot do it with client A because
7 it's beneficial to the owner and they have to go
8 with client B?
9 MS. VASTOLA: Which is the adult
10 entertainment?
11 MR. EISSEY: Yes, which is the adult.
12 MR. BAIRD: I am not sure I am --
13 MR. EISSEY: Okay. Two pieces of
14 property; this is the second piece of property.
15 MR. BAIRD: Right.
16 MR. EISSEY: Ed Eissey owns it. Charlie
17 O'Meilia comes in and he wants to put up some
18 business there, and I am going to lease him the
19 property for X amount of money.
20 And then Gail comes in and she wants to
21 put in a strip joint, adult joint there, and she
22 doesn't -- she can't, nor does she want to pay
23 half of what I am going to be able to lease it
24 to Charlie for:
25 Are the courts going to tell me as the
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1 owner of this property I have to lease it to her
2 for less money?
3 MR. BAIRD: No.
4 MAYOR NORRIS: No.
5 MS. VASTOLA: No, the economics have
6 nothing to do with it.
7 MR. TRINGALI: As a matter of fact, as I
8 understand it the courts wouldn't even say to
9 you that you have to lease it to her for more
10 money. It's your property; you do what you want
11 with it.
12 MR. EISSEY: That's my question, then.
13 So what is the big deal if the owner, Ed
14 Morse property or who else, doesn't want to
15 lease it to the adult group, am I hearing that
16 they are going to have to lease it?
17 MS. VASTOLA: No.
18 MR. BAIRD: No.
19 MR. EISSEY: Then what happens?
20 MS. VASTOLA: Nothing.
21 MAYOR NORRIS: Nothing.
22 MR. O'MEILIA: It goes away.
23 MAYOR NORRIS: It serves our purpose
24 because it is a site that potentially could be
25 used for adult entertainment, but it's not
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1 because the owner doesn't want to.
2 MR. EISSEY: Amen, Brother.
3 MR. TRINGALI: But some day --
4 MS. VASTOLA: But what if Ed Morse decides
5 he wants to sell that, and you know, how about
6 that beautiful big facility they just built on
7 45th Street? I mean, there is big money in
8 that.
9 MAYOR NORRIS: That is what I was going to
10 say.
11 MS. VASTOLA: That's adult entertainment,
12 and that's a big piece of land that somebody
13 could theoretically go and put a big facility
14 like that --
15 MAYOR NORRIS: Don't forget that if we go
16 down the road to changing it and allowing it in
17 C2 or whatever, we are opening it up to another
18 site.
19 MS. VASTOLA: That's right.
20 MR. O'MEILIA: You're shaking the dice.
21 You're better off than you are now.
22 MR. TRINGALI: What else are you going to
23 do? What is your alternative?
24 MR. EISSEY: Leave it as it is.
25 MAYOR NORRIS: Continue the fight and see
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1 if we can convince the court that neither of
2 those standards are the applicable standards to
3 us.
4 MR. TRINGALI: I don't think you are ever
5 going to convince a court that neither one of
6 those standards should apply. I mean, we will
7 be lucky to convince them to go with the per
8 capita approach, I would think. That's what I
9 am hearing.
10 MS. VASTOLA: I would lean toward, as much
11 as I hate to say this, because I truly do hate
12 to say this, but I lean toward letting the two
13 facilities stay there, saying that we have met
14 the per capita criteria for the central Florida
15 situation and work our avenues toward allowing
16 no longer alcoholic beverages sold in adult
17 entertainment facilities and changing the
18 ordinance in that way.
19 That way it does make our life a little
20 less --
21 MR. EISSEY: That would grab them.
22 MAYOR NORRIS: How can you do that,
23 though? We can't do our ordinance to make those
24 two actual sites qualify under our ordinance,
25 right? I mean, under our ordinance --
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1 MR. O'MEILIA: Without opening it up to
2 fifteen other ones.
3 MS. VASTOLA: No, but if you grandfather
4 just those two -- keep the ordinance as it is
5 right now, but grandfather -- now remember, we
6 created that ordinance after those two
7 facilities were existing, and the understanding
8 was that those two would be grandfathered, but
9 if something --
10 No, both of them were there, Charlie.
11 MR. O'MEILIA: I know, but they weren't
12 legal.
13 MAYOR NORRIS: One was and one wasn't.
14 MS. VASTOLA: They weren't legal, but the
15 understanding was they would be grandfathered
16 and if one of them left, well, then the
17 ordinance would come into play and then it would
18 really only allow one facility.
19 But if you allow those two facilities only
20 to be grandfathered in, if something happened to
21 one of those facilities, then the ordinance
22 kicks in.
23 But then working the avenue and not
24 allowing alcoholic beverages...
25 MAYOR NORRIS: Then according to what we
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1 are hearing, at that point our ordinance becomes
2 unenforceable because we only have one site.
3 MS. VASTOLA: That's if one of them
4 leaves.
5 MR. TRINGALI: Well, that was my earlier
6 question: Is there some way of making that two
7 sites --
8 MAYOR NORRIS: Right.
9 MR. TRINGALI: -- and putting a 20 foot
10 wall around it and saying okay, that's it?
11 MAYOR NORRIS: There is your district.
12 MR. O'MEILIA: That was never the intent.
13 The intent was: We knew one was legal, we knew
14 one was illegal. We got the ordinance changed.
15 And the thing is obviously illegal, and the idea
16 was then to take them to court and put them out
17 of business.
18 MR. TRINGALI: Both of them or one of
19 them?
20 MS. VASTOLA: No, just one -- well, we are
21 working on the one.
22 MR. O'MEILIA: The one is legal. They did
23 everything that they were supposed to have done
24 the way they should have done it.
25 MR. TRINGALI: And that's, what; the book
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1 store or the video store?
2 MS. VASTOLA: The video store.
3 MR. TRINGALI: Well, then the only other
4 viable alternative, I think, is to use the Ed
5 Morse property and if some day it becomes the
6 world's largest, you know, whatever, at least
7 it's as isolated as it can be within the bounds
8 of North Palm Beach.
9 MR. BAIRD: Well, I think one thing you
10 have to consider -- I am not sure of the size of
11 the Ed Morse property, but I am assuming it's a
12 pretty -- probably six acres or more.
13 (Thereupon, Ms. Vastola left the meeting
14 room.)
15 MR. TRINGALI: It's big.
16 MR. BAIRD: Car dealerships tend to
17 command a very high price for the land. Service
18 stations and car dealerships probably compete
19 for the highest price for land in most areas,
20 and certainly this area.
21 So to the extent you want to feel somewhat
22 secure about that site, it seems unlikely that
23 an adult entertainment facility could buy out Ed
24 Morse.
25 Ed Morse would have to have another
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1 location to go to to open up their facility if
2 they were going to accept an offer to buy them
3 out of that area.
4 MR. TRINGALI: And, you know, again this
5 is a difficult thing to say in public, but you
6 have to look at this -- you have to look at all
7 the possibilities.
8 If we really are stuck with allowing them
9 some place, is it the best some place in North
10 Palm Beach, trapped between Alternate A1A and a
11 railroad track?
12 I mean, I would prefer that over Northlake
13 Boulevard or Anchorage Drive.
14 (Thereupon, Ms. Vastola returned to the
15 room and then excused herself from the meeting.)
16 MR. O'MEILIA: When you say August, now
17 you're thinking August; if the thing goes along
18 it is going to be August?
19 MR. BAIRD: Well, assuming we can
20 segregate the counterclaim from the Village's
21 claim, then we can have a trial on our claim, a
22 nonjury trial in August.
23 But --
24 MR. O'MEILIA: But in any event it would
25 probably be August, even if the judge wanted to
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1 put them together.
2 MR. BAIRD: No. If they remain together,
3 then it's February.
4 MR. O'MEILIA: Probably February.
5 MR. EISSEY: Of '99.
6 MR. O'MEILIA: Well, if that's the case,
7 we have got plenty of time to change the
8 ordinances.
9 MR. BALDWIN: Tom --
10 MR. O'MEILIA: You do have to go to the
11 planning commission first. We have got to go to
12 them first for recommendations.
13 MR. BALDWIN: Does jury trial include our
14 claim against Crystals?
15 In other words, it would seem to me if
16 not, there would be some likelihood that he
17 would sever because of the problem of the
18 counterclaim drawing a jury trial and --
19 MR. BAIRD: Well, the idea I suppose of my
20 co -counsel was that he wanted to keep them
21 together because he felt that a jury would be
22 more likely to rule favorably for the Village.
23 And we were kind of -- my co -counsel and I
24 were at odds to the extent that I wanted things
25 to move along as quickly as they could, and
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1 although he also represents the Village, he has
2 a little bit different interests in things --
3 MR. TRINGALI: Yes.
4 MR. BAIRD: -- and felt that that was the
5 best approach.
6 I think that if you are going to go ahead
7 with and continue the litigation, then it is
8 worth attempting the summary judgment route or
9 the limited evidentiary route.
10 And the reason I say that is that that
11 takes us out of having to wait until February.
12 It also keeps the cost down. And in the event
13 you're unsuccessful because of the counterclaim
14 and the 1983 action that's part of the
15 counterclaim, if you're unsuccessful, there is
16 attorney fees available.
17 Now, we now have, though, in my opinion we
18 have started the clock over, because we have a
19 new defendant counterplaintiff in this case,
20 that being 421 Northlake.
21 So, really, I believe the attorney fee
22 clock under 1983 ought to start now as opposed
23 to all of the discovery and litigation that went
24 on previously.
25 And to that extent we have been fortunate
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1 in that we may have been able to minimize any
2 damages -- damages being attorneys' fees -- in
3 this case that the village might incur.
4 But you really, you really do have to
5 decide, I think, as the threshold issue what is
6 the best business decision for the Village in
7 terms of continuing with litigation.
8 MAYOR NORRIS: So if we go the summary
9 judgment route, basically what we are doing is
10 we are getting a quicker legal answer to the
11 legal question as to what the standard is.
12 Okay, so we can get that and we can lose
13 and that doesn't necessarily mean we have lost
14 the case; we have just lost summary judgment.
15 We can go forward or we can do whatever we want
16 to in terms of backtracking at that point in
17 time.
18 My problem with jumping in and changing
19 the ordinance or the code the way we are talking
20 is we are just guessing; we are guessing whether
21 that's going to do it or not. And by making
22 whatever change we are talking about, we are
23 opening up a huge site, a huge additional site.
24 So why do that when we don't know that:
25 First of all, A, that they even are going to
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1 apply either standard; or B, which standard they
2 are going to apply.
3 MR. TRINGALI: Well, I agree with you
4 except that we sure as heck know they are going
5 to apply some standard.
6 MAYOR NORRIS: It could be a totally
7 different standard.
8 MR. TRINGALI: What other one is there?
9 MR. BAIRD: Well, the standards that have
10 been used in Florida, when the Middle District
11 rendered its opinion, as part of that opinion it
12 went through all of the cases in Florida, and
13 there were seven of them, and it looked at those
14 cases in the context of per capita.
15 Those that were -- the range that was
16 acceptable for a constitutional ordinance was
17 one site per two thousand to seven thousand
18 population based on the opinions that have been
19 reached.
20 So you know that if you are above one to
21 seven, you are almost certain to lose.
22 The optimum chance for success is to get
23 that second site so that at least you can make
24 the credible argument that you are within that
25 standard that's been established in six or seven
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1 different opinions.
2 MR. O' MEILIA: If we go for the summary
3 thing you are talking about, we need to have
4 that in play.
5 MR. BAIRD: Yes.
6 To give you any chance of winning.
7 MAYOR NORRIS: If you are going to argue
8 one of those two standards.
9 MR. BAIRD: Right.
10 MAYOR NORRIS: Or you will argue these
11 other sites that you listed and try to convince
12 the court that they do apply, they are likely
13 sites.
14 MR. BAIRD: I would argue those anyway.
15 Whether the court accepts them or not is going
16 to be another question.
17 MAYOR NORRIS: So do you have -- excuse
18 me.
19 Do you have to go in on the basis -- on
20 the summary judgment, and I should know this,
21 but on the summary judgment do you have to go in
22 and argue one of those two bases, standards?
23 MR. BAIRD: Yes. We would argue that --
24 MAYOR NORRIS: You have to?
25 MR. BAIRD: -- the law that should be
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1 applied is the law recited by the St. Petersburg
2 case.
3 MR. O'MEILIA: I think if we are going to
4 proceed, I think we better make up our mind.
5 I am totally in favor of going ahead with
6 something.
7 And then we have got to decide -- well,
8 let's change the ordinance.
9 MR. TRINGALI: It just seems to me that is
10 our best chance of actually winning this.
11 MR. O'MEILIA: Let's change the ordinance
12 both ways. Let's change it for Ed Morse and
13 change the other part of the ordinance to take
14 care of that one little lot, just in case.
15 MR. TRINGALI: Are you talking about the
16 Eye Glass World?
17 MR. BAIRD: You mean subdividing it?
18 MR. O'MEILIA: Yes, and let him worry
19 about subdividing.
20 It's an unplatted lot.
21 MR. BAIRD: I should probably know this,
22 but can the Village on its own initiative
23 subdivide properties?
24 MR. O'MEILIA: No. But why should we have
25 to?
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1 MR. BALDWIN: No, but --
2 MR. O'MEILIA: Why should we have to?
3 That's an unplatted lot, I think. In
4 fact, I know it's an unplatted lot. And if we
5 say that on this end of that lot he can he do it
6 -- I mean, the owner can split that lot any time
7 he wants to. He can subdivide that lot. In
8 fact, he can subdivide it without going through
9 a subdivision ordinance.
10 MR. BAIRD: Well, I can evaluate that, but
11 my initial reaction is that unless it's
12 subdivided, it's not going to qualify.
13 MR. O'MEILIA: And Fleishman is saying it
14 has got to be subdivided to apply.
15 MR. BAIRD: Correct.
16 MR. TRINGALI: It seems to me, though,
17 Tom, that at our last meeting you said you were
18 referring to -- and we had the map up, which
19 made it a lot easier -- but isn't there a piece
20 of property in there somewhere and the only
21 thing wrong with it is it's within so many feet
22 of property that's zoned residential?
23 MR. BAIRD: Yes.
24 MR. O'MEILIA: But it has to be
25 subdivided.
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1 MR. BAIRD: Well, there is another
2 standard in your ordinance that says proximity
3 to somewhere --
4 MR. TRINGALI: Right.
5 MR. BAIRD: -- where a citizen resides,
6 something like that.
7 MR. O'MEILIA: An existing residence.
8 MR. BAIRD: It's my recollection that it's
9 actually a nonconforming site, but there is some
10 renters, tenants in there, and that if you
11 change that standard, that site, too --
12 MR. TRINGALI: That would then become a
13 third site.
14 MR. BAIRD: -- a third site would become
15 eligible.
16 MR. TRINGALI: But we could probably win
17 with two.
18 MR. BAIRD: Personally I would like to.
19 have three.
20 MR. TRINGALI: Well, I understand that,
21 but if we are going to fit into the Middle
22 District formula, we can fit in with two.
23 MR. BAIRD: Barely, yes.
24 MR. TRINGALI: Barely.
25 MAYOR NORRIS: Barely is good enough.
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1 MR. TRINGALI: But barely is good enough.
2 MAYOR NORRIS: Yes.
3 MR. O'MEILIA: I don't see any sense, if
4 we are going to change something, we might as
5 well change the other one, too, and see if we
6 can't get three.
7 MAYOR NORRIS: Why do we want three? I
8 think that is what you are saying. Why do we
9 want three if two is all we need?
10 MR. O'MEILIA: Three won't hurt, though.
11 MR. TRINGALI: There is a greater chance
12 of somebody actually moving into number three.
13 I doubt very seriously anybody is going to get
14 Ed Morse Chevrolet out of there in our lifetime.
15 You know, the problem with --
16 MR. EISSEY: Not in mine.
17 MR. TRINGALI: -- the problem with Eye
18 Glass World is, you know, I got my glasses there
19 and I like the guy, but those places come and
20 go. Car dealerships generally don't.
21 MR. O'MEILIA: It wouldn't fit. Under our
22 current ordinances, you couldn't put anything on
23 that lot big enough to satisfy them.
24 I mean, with the parking requirement and
25 stuff like that...
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1 MAYOR NORRIS: We have got to wrap this
2 up, so we need to decide what to do.
3 What do you want to do, Joe?
4 MR. TRINGALI: I say change -- do the Ed
5 Morse route. Change the C2 -- we have one C2
6 area in the Village. Say that --
7 MR. EISSEY: Cl.
8 MR. TRINGALI: Or whatever it is, Cl.
9 MR. EISSEY: C2 to Cl.
10 MR. BALDWIN: Add a permitted use to C2;
11 only apply to Ed Morse --
12 MR. TRINGALI: Right, add the permitted
13 use in C2. And if by some disaster Ed Morse
14 goes out of business and if we do get stuck with
15 another one of these joints, that's probably the
16 best place for it anyway, next to the railroad
17 track.
18 MAYOR NORRIS: What about the restriction
19 against alcohol?
20 MR. TRINGALI: If we can get away with
21 doing that...
22 MR. O'MEILIA: I don't see how we can do
23 that, do you, George, unless we do a whole
24 new --
25 MR. BALDWIN: Well, Tom is way ahead of me
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1 on this. I am aware that there is a case or
2 more than one case that says you can do that.
3 The problem you have is twofold with
4 Crystals: Number one, you're going to get right
5 back into a lawsuit with them because it is
6 going to hurt them financially; and number two,
7 they are going to raise some defenses along the
8 line that we permitted them and allowed them in
9 there and they have invested all their money on
10 the basis that they can serve alcohol, and that
11 we are just directing that at them.
12 I mean, I just think you would be back --
13 MAYOR NORRIS: But we haven't permitted
14 them.
15 MR. BALDWIN: Well, but they have been
16 allowed to serve it.
17 MR. O'MEILIA: We didn't permit them to do
18 the adult entertainment.
19 MR. BALDWIN: So I don't know that I am
20 inclined to put that with what you are trying to
21 decide right now.
22 MAYOR NORRIS: Okay. How do you feel
23 about that, Joe; leave it alone right now?
24 MR. TRINGALI: It seems to me the purpose
25 of this lawsuit is to get rid of Crystals. So
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1 if we win, we don't have a problem.
2 I mean, we have a new ordinance which
3 basically says we have two areas in the Village
4 where you can have adult entertainment. You can
5 entertain all you want, you just can't serve
6 alcohol.
7 Crystals would not be part of the picture,
8 unless I am missing something.
9 MR. O'MEILIA: Yes, it would. I hate to
10 say, but I think, like George said, it's going
11 to create another lawsuit.
12 MR. TRINGALI: Well, let's not create
13 another lawsuit. Let's leave that alone.
14 MAYOR NORRIS: Leave that alone for now.
15 And do you want to go the summary judgment
16 route, then?
17 MR. TRINGALI: Yes, go the summary
18 judgment route.
19 MR. BALDWIN: After the ordinance is in
20 place.
21 MR. TRINGALI: The Ed Morse is the
22 sacrificial lamb.
23 MAYOR NORRIS: Charlie, do you agree with
24 that approach?
25 MR. O'MEILIA: Yes.
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1
2
3
MAYOR NORRIS: Ed, do you agree with that
approach?
MR. EISSEY: Yes.
4 MAYOR NORRIS: I don't agree with that
5 approach. I don't want to add another site,
6 but --
7 MR. O'MEILIA: I am going to take a look
8 at that other eye glass thing, though, so...
9 MR. BAIRD: I think it's just important
10 that the record reflect that the Village council
11
12
13
is not taking action in this room to change --
MR. TRINGALI: No, I will --
MR. BAIRD: -- the C2 zoning, but there is
14 a consensus about the litigation strategy that
15 ought to be pursued.
16 MAYOR NORRIS: Right, and we have to
17 proceed on per staff --
18 MR. EISSEY: Right.
19 MR. TRINGALI: David, I agree with you.
20 Nobody wants another site. It's just that I
21 think if we go into the summary -- if we
22 continue the litigation without coming under
23 some standard, we are going to lose.
24 MAYOR NORRIS: Yes, it sounds like that,
25 and I would have hoped that we would have known
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1 about that before we filed the lawsuit or
2 shortly thereafter, instead of coming to this
3 point and then finding out we have a very bad
4 lawsuit and then we are in a situation of are we
5 going to drop the lawsuit and, you know, we
6 can't do that, or are we going to allow to
7 change the zoning and allow another site
8 potentially.
9 MR. O'MEILIA: These federal cases have
10 just come down.
11 MAYOR NORRIS: Anyway --
12 MR. BAIRD: Well, your decision about
13 sites was made when you adopted the ordinance.
14 MAYOR NORRIS: Yes, okay.
15 Do I have to say anything about we are
16 recessing this and going into --
17 MR. BALDWIN: No, we will say that in
18 there.
19 MR. EISSEY: Let the record show that I
20 thanked the reporter.
21 THE REPORTER: You are welcome.
22
23 (Thereupon, at 7:25 o'clock p.m., the
24 hearing was adjourned.)
25
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1 CERTIFICATE
2
3 THE STATE OF FLORIDA,)
4 COUNTY OF PALM BEACH.)
5
6 I, Jane Pastore, Registered Professional
7 Reporter, do hereby certify that I was authorized to
8 and did report the above meeting at the time and place
9 herein stated, and that it is a true and correct
10 transcription of my stenotype notes taken during said
11 meeting.
12
13 Dated this 17th days-qf June, 1998.
14
15 Jane" Pastore
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
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