A procedural misstep lightened the load for a local developer entrenched in legal battles.
Special magistrate Michael Connolly issued an order Nov. 18 approving a Holmes Beach motion to vacate a previous order imposing $1,000 daily fines against Bali Hai Beach Resort, 6900 Gulf Drive, due to concerns that it violated due process.
Bali Hai, which opened in 1971, was purchased by developer Shawn Kaleta in 2019 for about $20 million. He’s since completed extensive renovations, including the addition of a spa and bar for guests.
The city code enforcement officers issued a stop-work order for construction on the property last January due to a lack of permits and an updated site plan.
The city then filed a legal complaint in May 2020 centered around the resort’s bar and lounge area, arguing that the resort failed to submit a site plan for the change of use and that changes made to the property lacked permits.
Connolly ruled June 11 against the resort, imposing two $500 daily fines for a pair of repeated code violations regarding work without a permit and the change of use without an approved site plan.
The fines have been accruing, totaling $160,127.24 by the Nov. 18 hearing, despite city commissioners approving a site plan in October that resulted in several new restrictions on the resort.
However, the city failed to record, provide virtual access to or properly notice the June 11 hearing, according to Najmy Thompson attorney Michelle Grantham’s Sept. 23 appeal to 12th Judicial Circuit Judge Charles Sniffen.
Erica Augello, the city’s code compliance attorney from the Clearwater-based Trask Daigneault law firm, acknowledged the mistake and moved to vacate the fines in an attempt to remedy the situation.
Jay Daigneault, also from Trask Daigneault, told The Islander Nov. 19 that while there had been no ruling against the city to compel such action, their legal team decided it was no longer advantageous to levy fines.
Attorney Louis Najmy from the Bradenton-based Najmy Thompson law firm, representing Kaleta in both cases, lightheartedly objected to the favorable motion, saying he believed the same argument should apply to a case at 305 73rd St., another Kaleta-owned property.
Connolly disagreed, stating that the two cases were irrelevant to each other, and granted the city’s motion.
Next up, Connolly issued the order reducing daily fines against Kaleta for the code violation at 305 73rd St. from $150 to $100.
The city first cited the property in December 2019 for an unsafe and dilapidated structure.
The $150 daily fines began Sept. 25, 2020, and ended Aug. 31, when the property was brought into compliance with city code.
The order is the result of a motion Najmy filed to reduce the accrued $51,000 fines. He said the property owner wanted to move forward after bringing the property into compliance and was petitioning for the reduction on behalf of “mercy and reasonableness.”
Najmy argued that the daily fine was unfair, handled with a “strong lash” and asked Connolly to reduce or vacate the charge. He added that the city’s missteps in providing due process also should apply in this case.
Augello argued against a reduction or vacation, saying the cases were not alike and should not be judged similarly. She said the violation could have been addressed more quickly.
Connolly said he would not vacate the fine since such a motion had not been noticed, but ordered in favor of a reduction.
The reduction, which brings the total fines to $34,127.24, results in about a $17,000 savings for Kaleta.