News

By Dan Moffett

Wellington Arms Condominium homeowners and developer William Swaim are lawyering up for a legal border war that could determine the fate of the mangrove-rich lagoon behind Ocean Ridge Town Hall.
     For nearly two years, Swaim has been trying to persuade the town to give him an easement behind the building so he can develop lots he controls in the lagoon. Condo homeowners have steadfastly and publicly opposed him.
     In October, the dispute sharpened when Swaim’s Waterfront ICW Properties obtained a deed to another lot, this one owned by Todd Flato and Diana Fenimore. The developer claims the property includes submerged land that reaches under the Wellington Arms docks. Alfred LaSorte, Swaim’s West Palm Beach-based attorney, has told the condo owners he wants them to tear out the docks — or agree to a deal.
     LaSorte says Swaim is willing to lease the docks back to Wellington Arms for $50,000, providing the homeowners are willing to support his efforts to develop all his property in the lagoon.         Also, the homeowners must agree to retract public objections they have made to the South Florida Water Management District, the agency that must give permission for building.
     Pat Ganley, Wellington Arms treasurer, wrote the Town Commission asking for help. He calls Swaim’s move a “land grab,” pure and simple. Ganley and the condo group believe the property covered about 1.29 acres before Swaim got the deed and now stretches some 5.7 acres under his new interpretation.
     “The Swaim land grab puts the Ocean Ridge lagoon and the Wellington Arms docks in peril,” Ganley told the commission. “In my eyes, this can only be considered theft of property.”
     The condo’s attorney, Julia Jennison of Lewis, Longman & Walker in West Palm Beach, did not respond to requests for comment. For 13 years, she worked as a legal research assistant for the SFWMD, so she knows something about the complexities of submerged land disputes.
     As for the town, Mayor Geoff Pugh has told Swaim the commission won’t consider giving him an easement until he gets the permits he needs from the SFWMD, and the agency continues to reject him, asserting the lagoon and its mangroves are environmentally protected. Swaim has told the town he’s in a Catch-22 predicament: He can’t get the permits until the town approves an easement. In May, an administrative law judge in Tallahassee upheld the latest SFWMD rejection.
     “I know you have helped to stop Swaim’s access to easement recently and thank you for your efforts to keep him out,” Ganley wrote Pugh and the commission. “I hope the city has the ability to keep the easement away from Swaim and not allow any access to this property for development.”
     In other business:
    • Police Chief Hal Hutchins says the town was prepared to go forward with plans to close off the entrance to Midlane Road at Woolbright Road during the first week of December. Signs marking the intersection for “local access only” have been up for weeks to prepare residents.  “It won’t take long for me to hear what people think,” Hutchins said of the closure.
     • Qualifying for the March 15 municipal election opened Nov. 24 and runs until Dec. 8. Vice Mayor Lynn Allison is the only commissioner up for reelection.