ownership - News - The Coastal Star2024-03-29T06:23:48Zhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/ownershipCounty Pocket: Seaside Deli faces uncertain futurehttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/county-pocket-seaside-deli-faces-uncertain-future2022-12-23T21:05:13.000Z2022-12-23T21:05:13.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}10918576493,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10918576493,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10918576493?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="640" /></a><em>Customers park outside the popular Seaside Deli & Market along State Road A1A in the county pocket. The deli faces an uncertain future as lawyers try to negotiate a resolution and community leaders launch a grassroots preservation and awareness campaign. <strong>Jerry Lower/ The Coastal Star</strong></em></p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>By Joe Capozzi</strong><br /> <br /> The Seaside Deli & Market, the beloved County Pocket staple with a loyal following of billionaires and beach bums, is facing an uncertain future because of a legal fight with its landlord, a company owned by retired major league baseball player Rafael Belliard. <br /> As lawyers for both sides try to negotiate a resolution, community leaders have launched a campaign to “Save the Deli,’’ as a banner erected across the front says. More than 650 signatures have been collected on a petition.<br /> If the deli can’t remain in its familiar spot at 4635 N. Ocean Blvd., just south of Briny Breezes, owner Randy McCormick said he’s hoping to move it to a new space nearby instead of closing for good and putting his nine employees out of work. <br /> “There is a chance we can negotiate the lease that will permit Seaside Deli to remain in the space,’’ said Carl T. Williams, who until late December was McCormick’s attorney. “We’d like to work with the landlord to the extent we can and try to find a solution that’s good for everybody.’’<br /> Accusations have been flying from both sides for more than a year. But Belliard’s Ocean Blvd 14 LLC scored a victory Dec. 22 when Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Paige Gillman issued a written ruling giving the landlord possession of the space. The judge sided with the landlord’s claim that Seaside Deli hadn’t paid $40,279 in back rent, in violation of an October court order. <br />Although business at the Seaside Deli has been especially brisk in the two weeks since word got out about the deli’s future, McCormick said he wouldn’t be surprised if the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office ordered the locks changed as early as the first week in January.<br /> Despite Gillman’s ruling, Williams and McCormick insist the landlord’s claims are not true. Seaside Deli tried to make its monthly payments this year, they said, but Belliard family members and their attorney would not accept the money. <br /> “We have never not paid our rent. My (lease) renewal would have started in March 2022,’’ McCormick said. “I made that payment directly into their account. The next month, when I tried to deposit the rent, I was told that they closed their account. From that point on, I sent the rent every month certified mail, and they refused delivery every month, and I have those receipts.’’<br /> Williams and McCormick believe the Belliards have refused to accept the money because they are trying to sell the building. McCormick said he spoke a year and a half ago to two potential buyers from Gulf Stream who discussed with him the possible terms of a new lease.<br /> One of the potential buyers, who did not want to be identified or quoted, confirmed that he and some partners at one point spoke to the Belliards about buying the site and spoke to McCormick about a potential lease. <br /> It’s unclear whether there were formal negotiations.</p>
<p><strong>‘Beach bums to billionaires’</strong><br /> Leonora Belliard, who is Rafael’s wife and handles Ocean Blvd. 14’s business affairs, did not return a phone call from The Coastal Star. “I have no knowledge at this moment,’’ Ocean Blvd 14 attorney Joshua Pinsky said Dec. 20 when a reporter asked about the Belliards’ plans for the property.<br /> Rafael Belliard’s eviction lawsuit, filed in July, was a counterclaim to a lawsuit filed in August 2021 by Seaside Deli. In that lawsuit, which is still open, Seaside Deli accused Ocean Blvd 14 of breaching the lease by trying to sell the property without giving McCormick the first right to negotiate a purchase, which is spelled out in the lease. <br /> In a June 1 motion to dismiss, an attorney for Ocean Blvd 14 denied the claim, saying “there is no current contract or agreement to sell the subject property. …’’<br /> The five-year lease expired March 31, but Seaside Deli has refused to vacate, Ocean Blvd 14 said in the July filing.<br /> Meanwhile, word of the judge’s ruling has sent shock waves around the County Pocket, where Seaside Deli is considered not only a reliable neighborhood asset but one of the few remnants of Old Florida along State Road A1A in Palm Beach County.<br /> Loyal customers who have come by over the years for fresh deli sandwiches, imported beer or a loaf of bread range from hockey great Mario Lemieux and singer Jimmy Buffett to landscape workers and surfers. <br /> Just the other day, actor-comedian Kevin James popped in to pick up one of the deli’s famous subs. And old-timers still remember the day New York Yankees star Derek Jeter and his then-girlfriend, singer Mariah Carey, stopped in for snacks on their way to the beach. <br /> “We get beach bums to billionaires. To me they’re all the same. They’re just good people,’’ McCormick said. <br /> The deli has been so popular, local Realtors over the years have included it in MLS listings as an amenity, a mom-and-pop alternative to having to cross the bridge to get to a Publix before the supermarket chain opened a store in Manalapan.<br /> The deli extends accounts for local businesses, allowing their workers to pick up ice, drinks and food. For a while, it delivered lunch sandwiches for students at the private Gulf Stream School. <br /> “It’s become part of the fabric of the community,’’ said Richie Podvesker, whose father, Fred, owned the deli and building since 1993 before selling it to the Belliards in 2014 for $460,000. <br /> “My dad put his all into it just as I put my heart and soul into it for more than 20 years, seven days a week,’’ he said. “I just want to see it succeed.’’</p>
<p><strong>An attraction for developers</strong> <br /> Born in the Dominican Republic, Belliard played second base and shortstop from 1982 to 1998, the first nine years with the Pittsburgh Pirates and the last eight with the Atlanta Braves. He won a World Series ring with the 1995 Braves.<br /> With Kevin Belliard, Rafael’s son, at the helm, the Belliards ran the store for three years before selling it to McCormick in 2017 and retaining the building. <br /> In 2019, both the Belliards’ company and Seaside Deli were sued in federal court for purportedly violating the Americans With Disabilities Act over a lack of handicapped parking and other issues. <br /> A confidential settlement was reached, according to court records. But McCormick, in the lawsuit he filed against Ocean Blvd 14 in August 2021 in Palm Beach County Circuit Court, claimed the Belliards were in breach of the lease because they were responsible for the ADA improvements. <br /> The Belliards have had three different offers for the building, according to County Pocket insiders, a claim The Coastal Star could not confirm.<br /> If no resolution can be reached, many longtime residents are worried about the future of the pocket’s Old Florida character. <br /> “It’s going to be a big loss for the community,’’ said McCormick, who spoke in a tone of defeat. “When they tear this down and start developing it, it’s going to change the whole face of this area. In 10 years you won’t recognize this area.’’<br /> If the Belliards do plan to sell, others don’t blame them for wanting to cash in on land that has appreciated with the real estate boom. But for many locals, the mere possibility of the Seaside Deli closing is the biggest scare since the mobile-home community of Briny Breezes was nearly sold to a developer in 2007. <br /> “There are so many people moving to South Florida from up North who have large sums of money,’’ said the attorney Williams, who grew up in Delray Beach. “They see property and the potential for development and just tear it down or develop it in a way that they see fit, and unfortunately it can destroy the character of a neighborhood or a community that have been in place for decades or longer.’’<br /> Word of the deli’s uncertain future did not reach a wide audience after the judge’s oral ruling, but a week later a full-blown awareness campaign started. A “Save the Seaside Deli” petition was posted next to the cash register and the banner was erected outside, visible to A1A passersby. <br /> Other local merchants, such as Nomad’s Surf Shop, Surfside Orthopedics & Primary Care and the Texaco gas station, have set up petitions.<br /> “So many people, from Manalapan all the way down to Delray, are committed to this place,’’ said Kristine de Haseth, Ocean Ridge vice mayor and executive director for the Florida Coalition for Preservation, which is coordinating the petition drive and collecting signatures. <br /> “They truly are a community asset. We are going to try to help them and see if we can buy them some time.’’<br /> One regular said he’d gladly sign the petition. <br /> “I am shocked” at the possibility the deli will close, Dan Funsch said after pulling up in his white Rolls-Royce to get an Italian sub. <br /> “Very upsetting, very upsetting. You see so many neighbors here. Constantly. I think a lot of people are going to be very, very upset.’’ </p>
<p> </p></div>Ocean Ridge: Developer claims ownership of Ocean Ridge canalhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/ocean-ridge-developer-claims-ownership-of-ocean-ridge-canal2020-04-01T19:54:50.000Z2020-04-01T19:54:50.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>By Dan Moffett</b></span></p>
<p class="p2">Developer William Swaim has opened a new front in his quest to conquer the submerged lands of Ocean Ridge.</p>
<p class="p3">After battling in court for six years with the town and Wellington Arms condo owners over property rights in the lagoon behind Town Hall, Swaim is focusing on the Sabal Island neighborhoods farther north now.</p>
<p class="p3">In January, some two dozen homeowners on North Ocean Boulevard, Sabal Island Drive and River Drive received letters from Swaim’s attorney, Michael Nullman of Palm Beach Gardens, informing them that their docks, boat lifts and boardwalks were “intruding” on canal property owned by McCormick Mile Investments and an affiliate, Coastal Energy Resources.</p>
<p class="p3">Swaim is listed as the corporate manager of MMI and Coastal Energy, according to records from the Florida Secretary of State. Both entities were formed late last year.</p>
<p class="p3">“At present, your Docking Facilities intrude upon MMI’s Canal,” the letters said. “Moreover, every time any of you, your guests, your invitees, your licensees, your successors or your assigns traverse the Canal en route and into the Intracoastal Waterway, each such occasion constitutes a trespass through MMI’s property.”</p>
<p class="p3">Nullman offered residents a deal, however. For a “non-negotiable” payment of $150,000 from each homeowner, MMI, Coastal Energy and Swaim would be willing to grant an easement for travel across the canal “in perpetuity.”</p>
<p class="p3">“We hope and trust that this matter can be resolved amicably,” the letters said.</p>
<p class="p3">The unexpected demand left residents incredulous.</p>
<p class="p3">“I think it’s a scam,” said Gilbert Panzer, who has owned his home on North Ocean Boulevard for 37 years. “It’s ridiculous. They can’t claim to control navigation on that waterway.”</p>
<p class="p3">“They’re claiming to own the entire canal,” said one homeowner who asked to be unnamed. “It’s absurd.”</p>
<p class="p3">At roughly the same time in January, town officials also received a letter from MMI, Coastal Energy and Swaim. It told them to cease and desist issuing permits for dock construction along the canal. The letter essentially put a freeze on waterfront permitting in the neighborhood — and real estate sales — as another round of legal conflict opened between the town and Swaim’s associates.</p>
<p class="p3">“We are still reviewing the matter,” Town Manager Tracey Stevens said of the impasse.</p>
<p class="p3">For Wellington Arms condo owners, the Sabal Island news is all too familiar. Six years ago, Swaim claimed ownership of submerged lots and demanded the condo residents remove their docks from the lagoon behind their buildings.</p>
<p class="p3">Earlier this year, Swaim and the condo group agreed to settle their dispute after dozens of court skirmishes and six-figure legal bills. The parties declined to disclose terms of the settlement.</p>
<p class="p3">Nullman said residents in the Sabal Island neighborhood have had little to say about Swaim’s offer to sell them easement rights.</p>
<p class="p3">“We have received surprisingly little communication back from the property owners in response to MMI’s correspondence,” Nullman said, “and zero substantive attacks on the merits of MMI’s position, because MMI’s position is legally sound. Nevertheless, MMI remains optimistic that this matter can be quickly and amicably resolved between all parties involved.” </p></div>Briny Breezes: Planning board to study truck limits on Old Oceanhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/briny-breezes-planning-board-to-study-truck-limits-on-old-ocean2016-03-02T20:23:26.000Z2016-03-02T20:23:26.000ZChris Felkerhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/ChrisFelker<div><p><strong>By Dan Moffett</strong><br /><br /> As it waits to take ownership of Old Ocean Boulevard from the state, Briny Breezes is turning to its Planning and Zoning Board to develop new rules for the road.<br /> Town Attorney John Skrandel told council members during their Feb. 25 meeting that he expects state officials to transfer the deed to Old Ocean to the town by the end of March, ending a clerical oversight that likely dates to the 1940s.<br /> With ownership, the town also assumes responsibility for maintaining the road. Council members have expressed concern that construction projects in Ocean Ridge could send heavy trucks down Old Ocean and damage the pavement.<br /> The council wants the planning board to research possible restrictions the town might put on traffic to protect its iconic seaside boulevard. Planning board Chairman Jerry Lower said it probably makes more sense to limit the number of axles on trucks rather than set weight restrictions, because the town has no scales with which to monitor cargo loads.<br /> Police Chief Hal Hutchins told the council that when the planning board convenes this month, it should use the opportunity to take a look also at parking on Old Ocean and make recommendations for possible improvements.<br /> “If you’re asking P and Z to look at restrictions on the roadway,” Hutchins said, “you can ask them to look at the total use of the roadway, too — not just weights on trucks.”<br /><br /><em> Editor’s note: Planning board Chairman Jerry Lower is publisher of The Coastal Star.</em></p></div>Briny Breezes: State to turn Old Ocean Boulevard over to townhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/briny-breezes-state-to-turn-old-ocean-boulevard-over-to-town2016-02-04T14:47:54.000Z2016-02-04T14:47:54.000ZChris Felkerhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/ChrisFelker<div><p><strong>By Dan Moffett</strong><br /><br /> Briny Breezes soon will correct a decades-old oversight when the town formally assumes ownership of Old Ocean Boulevard.<br />Town Attorney John Skrandel says the Florida Department of Transportation has agreed to sign the road over to Briny Breezes with a quit claim deed, ending more than a half-century of legal ambiguity.<br /> Skrandel told the Town Council on Jan. 28 that state officials intended to turn Old Ocean over to Briny Breezes in the late 1940s, when it decided to move State Road A1A westward to its current location to protect it from storm surge. It was a simple land swap — Briny was to get the oceanfront road and the state would take the western strip through the town — but the state DOT never got around to recording the deed.<br /> Skrandel uncovered the oversight last year while doing research to write new golf cart regulations. State officials have told him they want no part of owning the old road and are prepared to sign it over to the town at no charge, through the quit claim deed.<br /> “It’s their way of saying this should have been done a long time ago, but it wasn’t, so we’re going to do it now,” Skrandel said.<br /> The only stipulation for the transfer is that the road continues to fulfill a public purpose, meaning it must remain an open thoroughfare that provides access to the north and south. Council members voted unanimously to accept the state’s offer and take control of Old Ocean.<br /> The advantage of clear ownership is that it gives the town the authority to regulate traffic on the road — and that appears increasingly important as Ocean Ridge contemplates changes to its end of Old Ocean that could send more vehicles south. With the transfer, Briny can write its own road rules, enforce them and also claim a valuable piece of oceanfront real estate.<br /> The disadvantage of ownership is that the town becomes responsible for maintaining the road and repairing damage inflicted by traffic or storms.<br /> And there also is a complication. Old Ocean will become the only piece of land in Briny Breezes completely owned by the town, not the corporation. Transferring the road from the town to the corporation could require asking the state Legislature to tweak its land laws to deal with Briny’s unusual corporate-municipal co-op.<br /> “That can wait,” said Alderman Bobby Jurovaty. “For right now, we just need to move forward.”<br /> Skrandel said owning Old Ocean is the right move for the town and its residents: “It helps them in their long-term goal to make the road more a part of Briny than it’s ever been.”<br /><strong>In other business:</strong><br /> • The council unanimously approved hiring Barbara Johnston, who owns Total Bookkeeping Plus of Lake Worth, to take over the town’s billing and accounting. Council President Sue Thaler had been handling the bookkeeping but decided to give it up.<br /> Thaler and Jurovaty interviewed two other candidates for the job besides Johnston. “I think Barbara is the right personality fit for us,” Thaler said.<br /> • The council unanimously approved Kris Kissel-Weir as the District 4 representative to the Planning and Zoning Board.</p></div>