BRADENTON BEACH – Less than 24 hours after the Aug. 9 city closure of Shawn Kaleta’s four paid parking lots, the lots were reopened following the intervention of Kaleta’s attorney, Louis Najmy.
The paid parking lots at 101 Bridge St., 206 Bay Drive N., 207 Church Ave. and 102 Third St. N. were granted temporary use permits by the city commission subject to multiple stipulations, including the submission of a professionally drawn site plan to the city building official for approval.
Building Official Darin Cushing said most of those stipulations had not been fulfilled, and on Aug. 1, he sent Kaleta a letter that stated his intent to barricade the parking lots on Aug. 9 with a permanent closure deadline of Sept. 6 and revocation of the temporary use permit, if all the stipulations for city approval had not been satisfied by that time.
On Aug. 9, with police vehicles onsite, barriers were placed at the parking lot entrances, and the payment kiosks and signs were covered, but by Aug. 10 the parking lots were back in business.
Mayor John Chappie told The Sun on Aug. 10 that the barriers were not removed by city staff and that the process is currently in abatement, meaning temporarily suspended.
After a meeting on Monday morning among city officials to discuss how to proceed, Chappie said the issue remains “under review” by the city.
BUILDING OFFICIAL WEIGHS IN
“The applicants sent me some site plans via email earlier this week, but they are not satisfactory to meet the after-the-fact stipulations and requirements that were set forth by the commission,” Cushing wrote in an Aug. 9 email to The Sun. “They started to put in some of the landscaping around the Bridge Street lot, but again, they need to submit a site plan showing the landscaping and other items that were stipulated, get it approved and then do the work, in order to get final approval of the temporary use permits.
“I gave them until today to get that done. Though they keep assuring me that they are scrambling to get this done, it’s too little, too late at this point,” Cushing wrote in the email. “So yes, I will be shutting the lots down by close of business today. In the letter that was sent to the property owner, I also gave them until Friday, Sept. 6 to have everything completed and approved or we will then revoke the temporary use permits, and the signs, parking stops and everything related to the parking lots will have to be removed.”
“Darin (Cushing) is doing a great job and he has my support,” Chappie said.
KALETA’S ATTORNEY RESPONDS
“This was much ado about nothing. It was resolved in less than five hours,” Najmy wrote in an Aug. 10 text to The Sun, blaming the issue on “a miscommunication between departments at the city.”
Najmy said the process of closing the parking lots requires due process through the city’s code enforcement department.
“Actions to block access and possession and business operations require due process,” Najmy wrote. “We all want this. Totalitarian regimes outside of the U.S. don’t require due process but the U.S. and State of Florida do.”
Chappie said the city commission does have the right to revoke the temporary use permits. They were granted on Feb. 15 for 101 Bridge St. and on March 21 for the other three lots.
“Maybe the city had a different property than my client’s properties to close off, but the city certainly had no ability, nor as they told me any desire, to do this and after talking with the city leaders they confirmed the goal to continue working together to get these much-needed improvements and operations in place that Mr. Kaleta is generously investing for the entire city’s benefit,” Najmy wrote. “Although Mr. Kaleta suffered some financial loss from this error yesterday, he is contemplating working it out with the city, once again to the city’s benefit. He appreciated their cooperation so far on this matter.”
Kaleta’s parking lots have been up and running with parking rates of $15 an hour since February, illegally, according to the city.
“The actual permits have never been approved and are currently sitting in an under-review status,” Cushing wrote in the Aug. 1 letter to Kaleta. “Furthermore, the parking lots have all been in operation since February of this year, technically illegally, as they have never been approved by the Planning and Zoning Department.”
Cushing wrote that the applications for the temporary use permits were submitted after the fact, as the paid parking lots were all created and put into operation prior to any application being made to the department.
Najmy wrote that Kaleta plans to satisfy the outstanding stipulations as soon as possible.
“They respect the city’s desire and need for this. It will be done ASAP now that we have control back. It will be done right this time,” he wrote. “These stipulations require the outlay of money and, once again, Shawn is the only one willing to do that for the benefit of the improvement to the city but yet he gets attacked for doing so. It’s the classic case of the negative spirits biting the hand that feeds them.”
Easy Parking Group’s Josh LaRose contracted with Kaleta in January to run the parking enforcement and operations of the lots. On July 12, Kaleta terminated the contract with LaRose and on July 18, LaRose filed a lawsuit against Kaleta and Beach to Bay Investments Inc. claiming fraudulent misrepresentation, unjust enrichment and breach of agreement.
