In a major win for cities waging battle against the state’s Live Local Act, a Broward judge has ruled Hollywood had the right to say no to a developer seeking to build a 17-story beachfront tower with affordable housing.
Keith Poliakoff, attorney for the developer, says his client will appeal the ruling and also request that the lower court rehear the case due to what Poliakoff called a misinterpretation of the Live Local Act.
The ruling, filed Thursday by Broward Circuit Judge David A. Haimes, says the developer erred in using the nearby Margaritaville resort as a height benchmark.
Under Live Local, developers can match the currently allowed height of a commercial or residential building up to a mile away.
In his ruling, the judge notes that the developer’s project called for a 183-foot tower “almost three times” the local height cap of 65 feet.
Margaritaville received an explicit “bonus” via resolution by the City Commission when it was approved in 2013 and therefore cannot serve as a height benchmark under the state’s Live Local Act, Haimes wrote in his ruling.
The lawsuit, filed last year by Condra Property Group, accuses Hollywood of wrongly blocking the apartment tower from being built under the state’s Live Local law. The law allows developers to bypass certain height and zoning requirements if at least 40% of the residential units qualify as affordable housing.
Haimes filed his ruling on Thursday, just hours after Poliakoff and legal counsel for the city filed a joint motion requesting that the judge hold off on a ruling because both parties had agreed to enter into settlement negotiations.
That decision was made in public during a City Hall meeting the night before that underscored how nervous both commissioners and residents were about losing the Live Local case. A loss would create a domino effect, making it possible for more apartment towers to rise on the barrier island, each as tall as the next.
Commissioners heard from 30 or so residents worried about what might be coming down the pike under Live Local. More than a few also mentioned the pending lawsuit against the city.
The Sea Angel, left, and the Flamingo Hollywood Beach Hotel are shown on McKinley Street in Hollywood on Jan. 9. Those two and nine other low-rise properties were slated to be demolished by a developer who filed a Live Local lawsuit against the city. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Losing the case could open up the possibility that every property on the beach could eventually be as tall as Margaritaville, Mayor Josh Levy said.
Before a crowded room, the commission discussed the possibility of changing zoning laws at the beach to encourage what the mayor referred to as tasteful reinvestment in the right places.
“It’s about maintaining local control,” Levy said. “We want to control our own destiny. We don’t want to change the vision of Hollywood beach. We want to update how we achieve it. And ensure the city shapes the future of the beach.”
Poliakoff, watching from the audience, also spoke.
His client spent years assembling properties at the beach with one goal, he told the commission. And that was to build a 13-story hotel along the Broadwalk.
“When the city said, ‘Absolutely not,’ they said, ‘We’re stuck, we have to do something,’” Poliakoff said.
That’s when they turned to Live Local and came up with their latest proposal, an even taller tower with affordable housing instead of hotel rooms.
“The Florida Legislature just amended Live Local for the fourth time,” Poliakoff told the commission. “They will continue to amend it each time a municipality tries to figure out a way around it. So mayor, when you say we have to figure out something before the Florida Legislature figures it out for us, it’s 100% correct.”
Not one commissioner objected to trying to settle the case.
“Unfortunately, we’re behind the 8-ball (with Live Local),” Commissioner Peter Hernandez said. “It’s a reality check to some of the residents who feel that the quaintness of the city of Hollywood is something that we can protect. At this point, it’s really not up to us.”
Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com. Follow me on X @Susannah_Bryan