Failure to provide public access to federally
funded beach in Bal Harbour Village
Chronology of Significant Events
1946 Dade County donates land to State for construction of Baker’s Haulover Bridge.
1970 FL Dept. of Transportation, District 6 (FDOT 6) executes lease with Bal Harbour in order to provide public parking under the southside of the Baker’s Haulover Bridge. This creates accessibility for non-Bal Harbour residents to beach access easement along south Haulover Inlet Jetty.
1972 Dade County executes contractual agreement with U.S. Government for cost sharing of beach projects. Requires Dade County to assure public access and use throughout life of agreement.
1975 Completion of Bal Harbour beach dredge and fill project consisting of 1.625 million cubic yards of sand covering 0.8 miles. (Cost-shared by Federal Government)
1987 Bal Harbour arbitrarily fences off portions of property under bridge, severely limiting public’s ability to fish along the inlet. FDOT 6 addresses matter noting “we all agree that the fishermen are not causing the problem” and “the dept. will have to consider its options for identifying other potential lessees”.
1990 County sponsored beach project in Bal Harbour places 225,000 cubic yards of sand on 0.8 miles of Bal Harbour beach. (County-State-Federal cost shared)
1996 FDOT 6 sends Bal Harbour official notice regarding chronic problems with timely payment of $1 annual fee for lease. Bal Harbour is making approx. $25,000/yr in parking revenue on property.
1998 County directs Army Corps to have sand from Haulover Inlet channel depth dredging (142,000 cu. yds) placed on Bal Harbour beach (despite limited access) instead of County owned Haulover Park.
2000 Bal Harbour arbitrarily restricts parking area under bridge and along the inlet from 24hour access to 6am -9pm. This eliminates prime hours for recreational fishing. Bal Harbour begins towing vehicles.
2002 FDOT 6 learns Bal Harbour is towing vehicles & arbitrarily changed access hours in 2000, sends reprimand: “the public has been adversely impacted by the Village’s unilateral decision.”
May 2003 FDOT 6 terminates old lease, executes new lease specifically stating: “The leased property shall be used solely for the purpose of parking and public beach access.”
Nov. Public cannot park in portion of lots – restricted to ‘municipal vehicles only’.
Dec. Bal Harbour signs agreement to sub-let parking lots under bridge to WCI Corp. for $150/day.
Jan. 2004 FDOT receives copy of an unsigned sub-lease. FDOT sends certified letter & calls Bal Harbour Manager Alfred Treppeda noting, it is NOT acceptable, it would be a violation of the lease. Treppeda does not advise that he has already executed the sub-lease.
WCI fences 50% of parking lot, posting: “WCI only, all others will be towed.” Public parking severely restricted. WCI begins hotel/condo project on adjacent property.
March Bal Harbour parking revenue ledgers document the first of $300,000 in payments from WCI and other building contractors for exclusive use to parking area under bridge.
Bal Harbour continues charging public 25¢ per 10 minutes for minimal parking still available to the public under the bridge. [FACT: Highest rate in all of Dade County.]
Jan. 2006 Bal Harbour Village Council minutes: “Manager Treppeda advised that since the inception of renourishment in the 1970’s, the Village has never paid for renourishment (the County, Federal and State government fully fund that.)“
May Bal Harbour Village Council minutes: “Mayor Roth thinks that people come to the Village mostly for the beach. Councilman Rosenfield disagreed. She pointed out that people who only use the beach don’t bring any income to the Village.”
June County again directs Army Corps to have sand from Haulover Inlet channel depth dredging placed on Bal Harbour beach (despite severely limited public parking) instead of County’s Haulover Park.
July FDOT parking lot under Haulover Bridge and associated beach access easement along jetty are completely closed to the public.
Bal Harbour Village Council minutes: “Manger Treppeda reported that the north [beach] access is closed for beautification/construction and will re-open in early 2007.” “Councilman Sanz suggested that something be worked out with the Bal Harbour Shops for parking, so residents that want to [access the beach can] use 96th St [in Town of Surfside].
Sept. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District Commander Paul Grosskruger, announces at the Florida Shore and Beach Preservation Conference that planning is underway for a federal-state-county cost shared, $5 million T-groin beach project in Bal Harbour to address erosion. (No expense to Bal Harbour – County is local sponsor asking for project.)
Surfrider makes first attempt to amicably resolve parking and access closure with Village by sending a letter noting that beach project funding requires maintaining public access.
Oct. Bal Harbour forwards Surfrider’s letter to WCI, who replies to Surfrider: “A comprehensive plan regarding the closures…has been reviewed and approved by all municipalities [Bal Harbour].”
Surfrider makes 2nd attempt with Village, attends Council meeting and advises that beach project funding is contingent upon maintaining public beach access. They are rebuffed.
Nov. Surfrider submits public record requests to FDOT 6 & Bal Harbour discovering facts of what has transpired & Village’s intent to redesign area under bridge causing loss of 20 parking spaces.
Surfrider makes 3rd attempt to resolve matter with Bal Harbour via mediation, WCI attends. Village Attorney David Wolpin states “f--- you, sue us, we’ll tie you up in court so long you won’t get anywhere.”
Surfrider advises Dade County DERM, FDOT 6, and FL Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) regarding facts discovered in public record requests.
FDOT 6 sends Bal Harbour a certified letter with eviction notice and termination of lease.
[Unbeknownst to Surfrider until a public records request to FDOT 6 on April 14, 2007]
Village is granted meeting with FDOT 6, after Manager Treppeda sends an email noting ‘Ron Book said I should call’. Meeting minutes note: Village blames WCI for encroaching on property, FDOT 6 agrees to commercial use of State land via an “Airspace Lease” and portion of parking area to re-open.
[Gathering unbeknownst to Surfrider until 4/14/07 Surfrider not invited to meeting.]
[FACT: FL Constitution bans commercial use of State property.]
Dec. FDOT 6 sends letter to Surfrider: “We met with officials from the Village to address your concerns and to ensure that the Department’s property is put to its intended use.”
Jan. 2007
Surfrider discovers “Airspace Agreement” for FDOT parking area under the bridge is on Village Council’s agenda. Surfrider appeals matter to newly inaugurated Governor Charlie Crist.
Public first notices a gated, unmarked path to the beach near the Bal Harbour Beach Club (10201 Collins Avenue). Inquiries to Village confirm a temporary beach access path is open. Path is over a ¼ mile from parking under bridge. Public must walk through a construction zone to access the path.
[FACT: Concludes a 6 month period of no access to a federally funded public beach.]
Feb. DEP requires Village to post signage on temporary public beach access path. Signage installed states: “Bal Harbour Village Beach Access” rather than ‘public beach access’.
Surfrider provides detailed presentation of beach access problems in Bal Harbour to Millie Garcia-Navarro, Director of Constituent Services, in Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez’s office. DERM Director Espinosa, whose department coordinates beach projects, attends.
March Directly due to problems in Bal Harbour, Surfrider introduces Beach Access Bill in Florida Legislature, later incorporated into Senate Bill 1472.
April Surfrider sends certified letter to Army Corps of Engineers: “on behalf of the general public, [Surfrider] demands that Bal Harbour beach be disqualified from further federal taxpayer funding consideration on beach projects as well as receipt of sediment from maintenance dredging of Baker’s Haulover Inlet.”
May Senate Bill 1472, containing Surfrider’s beach access bill unanimously passes Florida Legislature.
June Governor Crist signs Senate Bill 1472, containing Surfrider’s beach access bill, into law. Gov. Crist later states: “it is vital we make beaches accessible to all residents and tourists.”
July Village arbitrarily decides to allow commercial vehicles to park in free public area under the bridge, contrary to posted signage . Village begins ticketing the public using spaces commercial vehicles vacate.
Aug. Surfrider threatens FDOT with mandamus action for allowing commercial use of State property.
Surfrider presents matter to Dade County Attorney Peter Tell with DERM staff in attendance. Mr. Tell notes, he is appalled and disgusted with what is taking place but cannot act unless directed by the Mayor or County Commission.
FDOT 6 calls meeting with Surfrider and Village. Surfrider calls for closure of property since beneficiary at the current time is a corporation (WCI). FDOT 6 orders end to all commercial usage of property.
All areas under bridge are cleared of commercial use, made fully open to public at no cost.
[FACT: Concludes over 1yr period wherein parking capacity is under thresholds required for matching beach project funding from the State of Florida - DEP .]
[FACT: Concludes 3yr-8mo. period of WCI Corp. using state property for commercial purposes.]
State FDOT and FDOT 6 seek input from Surfrider regarding situation. Surfrider advises:
o Village should return $300,000 illegally collected from closing state land to the public.
o Only allow parking area to be redesigned, if maximum number of spaces are created for the public.
o Parking meter rate should be reduced to 25¢ per 15 minutes.
o Maximum parking time period should be set at 3hrs (rather than 4hrs) to deter employees & guests at new WCI hotel from feeding meters.
o Alternate Lessees should be sought, specifically Dade County who has requested and been granted leases to FDOT rights of way in the past to provide beach parking.
Sept. 2007
FDOT 6 calls meeting to address why parking lot redesign under bridge is reducing capacity. It is determined the primary cause is ingress and egress for tractor-trailer to service the new WCI building.
State FDOT calls Surfrider counsel, noting action is being taken to recover $300,000 Bal Harbour illegally collected by closing and sub-letting parking lots under bridge to WCI Corp.
FDOT 6 sends letter to Dade County Mayor Alvarez noting problems in Bal Harbour, asks County to assume stewardship. “Please advise if the Dept.’s parking lots under the southside of the Baker’s Haulover Bridge are an integral part of the County’s Beach Program.”
DERM receives ‘Golden Project Award’ from Florida Shore and Beach Preservation Association. A contributing factor being “The project has excellent public access.”
Surfrider sends letter to Mayor Alvarez’s office detailing why County stewardship of property is needed.
Oct. State FDOT calls Surfrider counsel noting they intend to allow Bal Harbour’s request for utilization of $300,000 illegally collected to go towards ‘improvements’ to property under the bridge. Surfrider provides copy of Bal Harbour/WCI ‘Development Agreement’ showing Bal Harbour has no expenses for improvements or maintenance, they are contractually assigned to WCI Corp.
Army Corps of Engineers sends letter to Mayor Alvarez’s office reiterating that County cooperation to maintain public access is a Federal requirement for matching funds throughout entire Dade County beach project area (13 miles).
Mayor Alvarez’s Office receives over 200 emails and faxes from the public requesting that he accept stewardship of property and protect them from chronic & egregious behavior by Bal Harbour.
Internal emails reveal County Manager’s Office (CMO) knows funds are available to operate area but preference is public access be a municipal responsibility. Decision seems largely based on memo from Parks Director Jack Kardys stating he knows the area is a problem to manage. “It has regularly been used by condos for overflow parking” and “there is simply no upside to the County”.
CMO reports to Mayor’s Office “I have spoken to all parties and arranging for us to meet”. Noting, DERM does not want County to operate property. Surfrider is not invited or aware of a meeting.
Mayor’s Office rejects FDOT 6’s request. Mayor’s letter notes that in light of State legislated property tax cuts, it would be difficult for County to fund management of the parking area.
DERM Director Espinosa writes to CMO stating: “Jack Kardys and I met with Gus Pego of DOT…according to Gus it would be acceptable to DOT for Bal Harbour to enter a new lease agreement to manage the parking lot.”
Nov. FDOT 6 informs Surfrider they are moving forward with a redesign of the parking lot, forwarding a drawing that does not maximize parking according to allowable standards, as noted would be done.
FDOT states they have drafted a new lease to the property for the Village that:
o Allows a parking rate of 25¢ per 10 minutes. [Highest rate in all of Dade County.]
o Allows maximum of 4hrs parking at one time. [Convenient for WCI Hotel employees/guests]
o Allows Village to pay off $300,000 debt by splitting revenue 60/40 with FDOT.
[Places burden on beachgoers not Village & would take 30 yrs to recover funds.]
Surfrider appeals matter to State Secretary of Transportation and Governor’s Office.