Oct. 15 (UPI) — A Miami court ruledthat the land planned for the presidential library of President Donald Trump temporarily can’t be transferred to the state, then to the president.
The court on Tuesday blocked the transfer until a final ruling in the case. The suit alleges that the trustees of Miami Dade College violated Florida’s Sunshine Law. During a Sept. 23 meeting of the trustees, they voted to transfer the land, purchased for $25 million in 2004, to the state cabinet for no cost, the Miami Herald reported.
The land where Trump’s presidential library in downtown Miami was supposed to be transferred from Miami Dade College to the state of Florida. Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state’s cabinet then planned to give the land to the presidential library foundation a week later, with the condition that construction begin within five years, the Miami Herald reported.
The issue is that there was no adequate public disclosure about the transfer. The suit’s defendants argued that the lawsuit, brought by a local historian, was politically motivated, but the judge disagreed.
“It is understood that the board can provide the reasonable disclosure and convey this property as they see fit,” said Judge Mavel Ruiz of Florida’s 11th Judicial Circuit in her ruling. “That’s why this is not a case, at least for this court, rooted in politics.”
The land is 2.5 acres, and the presidential library would be a high-rise adjacent to the Miami Freedom Tower. A recent Miami Herald poll showed the plan for the library in that location is unpopular with locals, including Republicans.
The Freedom Tower, right next to the property, was built in 1925 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. It has served as a refugee center for Cubans fleeing communism. It’s now owned by Miami Dade College.
The ruling does not permanently block the transfer. The trustees could meet again and give more public notice, allowing the transfer.