NOTICE TO TRUMP FROM FLORIDA NEIGHBORS: “YOU’RE NOT LIVING HERE!”

 

…Mar-A-Lago as a private club, members are banned from spending more than 21 days a year

 

Trump signed that agreement when Mar-A-Lago became a private club

 

It is appearing that the anticipated problems that President Trump is going to face after he is no longer president are already starting.  The next door neighbors to his Mar-A-Lago private club are telling him: “We don’t want you as a neighbor.”  And they have the ability to possibly force him to not live there after he leaves the White House.

The reason is because, in the early 1990’s, he signed the agreement when he converted the estate from his private residence to a private club. The legal maneuver could, at long last, force Palm Beach to publicly address whether Trump can make Mar-A-Lago his legal residence and home,  He has been expected to do exactly that, when he becomes an ex-president after the swearing-in of Joe Biden on Jan. 20.

The current situation is a potentially awkward scenario in which a former Oval Office occupant finds himself having to defend his choice of a place to live during his post-presidency. It also could create a legal headache for Trump because he changed his official residence to Mar-A-Lago, leaving behind Manhattan, where he lived before being elected president.  Trump had originally tried to register to vote in Florida using the White House in Washington as his address, which is not allowed under Florida law. He later changed the registration to the Mar-A-Lago address.

The negative message from the Florida neighbors was formally delivered in a demand letter delivered to the town of Palm Beach.  It was also addressed to the US Secret Service asserting that Trump lost his legal right to live at Mar-A-Lago because of the former agreement he had signed.

In the demand letter, an attorney for the Mar-A-Lago neighbors says the town should notify Trump that he cannot use Mar-A-Lago as his residence.  Making that move would “avoid an embarrassing situation” if the outgoing president moves to the club and later has to be ordered to leave. According to the letter sent on behalf of the neighbors, which are the DeMoss family, which runs an international missionary foundation.

For years, various neighbors have raised issues about disruptions, such as clogged traffic and blocked streets caused by the president’s frequent trips to the club.  Even before he was president, Trump created ill will in the town by refusing to comply with the basic local requirements.  They included his not adhering to height limits for a massive flagpole he installed, and his frequently attempting to ignore the promises he had made when he converted Mar-A-Lago into a private club.

“There’s absolutely no legal theory under which he can use that property as both a residence and a club,” said Glenn Zeitz, another nearby Palm Beach homeowner who has joined the fight against Trump.  Zeitz had previously tangled with Trump over his attempt to seize a private home to expand his Atlantic City Casino. “Basically he’s playing a dead hand. He’s not going to intimidate or bluff people because we’re going to be there.”

“There is no document or agreement in place that prohibits President Trump from using Mar-A-Lago as his residence,” said a Trump business organization spokesman who was not authorized to speak publicly about a legal issue.

The current residency controversy goes back to a deal Trump cut in 1993 when his finances were foundering, and the cost of maintaining Mar-A-Lago was soaring into the multimillions each year. Under the agreement, club members are banned from spending more than 21 days a year in the club’s guest suites and cannot stay there for any longer than seven consecutive days. Before the arrangement was sealed, an attorney for Trump assured the town council in a public meeting that he would not live at Mar-A-Lago.

At the time, the town’s leaders were wary of Trump because he had sued them after they blocked his attempt to subdivide the historic Mar-A-Lago property into multiple housing lots. Placing the limitations on lengths of stays assured that Trump’s property would remain a private club, as he had promised, rather than a residential hotel.

Documents suggest there may be gaps in Palm Beach’s enforcement of key provisions of the agreement that could affect Trump’s ability to live at the club.  Each year, the club is required to report whether at least 50 percent of Mar-A-Lago’s members live or work in Palm Beach; that the club has fewer than 500 members; and that no one is using the guest suites more than 21 days a year. However, the town says it has no records of the reports for four of the past 20 years.

Trump has repeatedly attempted to change parts of his agreement. In 2018 he asked the town to waive a provision banning him from building a dock at the club, initially Trump said the Secret Service and local law enforcement officials needed the structure for his protection. That reasoning was later changed to say the dock was for the private use of the president and first lady Melania Trump.  Neighbors feared that the dock would be used for rowdy booze cruises. Trump withdrew the dock request early this year.  It was withdrawn, three days after a Washington Post report that unearthed the details of his 1993 agreement with the town.

Trump has traveled to Mar-A-Lago at least 30 times during his presidency, and he has spent at least 130 days there.  There has been no public indication that the town has raised objections about that practice. Trump also has appeared to openly flout the agreement, stating on Mar-A-Lago’s website that he maintains private quarters there.

During his presidency, Palm Beach has shown deference on security issues, allowing a helipad that was expressly prohibited in his 1993 agreement. Once Trump leaves office, he will no longer have use of the helipad.

The 1993 Palm Beach agreement isn’t the only document that raises questions about whether Trump can legally live at Mar-A-Lago.

He also signed a document deeding development rights for Mar-A-Lago to the National Trust for Historic Preservation.  The Trust is a Washington-based, privately funded nonprofit organization that works to save historic sites around the country.  As part of the National Trust deal, Trump agreed to “forever” relinquish his rights to develop Mar-A-Lago or to use it for “any purpose other than club use.”

In Trump making Florida his official residence, he may have also made himself a legal mess.

The controversy over Trump’s expected move to Mar-A-Lago could also muddy matters for the Secret Service.  The service will continue to protect Trump after he leaves office. And government agencies take pains to comply with all federal and local laws in their activities.  A legal dispute over Trump’s right to set up residence at Mar-A-Lago could complicate the Secret Service’s ongoing work to prepare for staff to secure his home and safety there.

Since this year’s election, the Secret Service has been preparing for Trump’s life after the White House and the protections he is legally due as a former president.  A much-reduced set of Secret Service agents will shadow him in his private life.  The agency will man and occupy a separate room at his property as a base of security operations.

The protective service would need to make living arrangements for its agents in advance of Trump leaving the White House, wherever he ends up living.  If he is suddenly blocked from living at Mar-A-Lago, the Secret Service would most likely have to scramble to develop a new plan to protect him at a different location.

The Mar-A-Lago neighbors would prefer that Trump finds a new place to bunk.

Their letter, written by the West Palm Beach attorney Reginald Stambaugh.  It includes a zinger that goes back to the vibes of the old money group of Florida’s east coast: “Palm Beach has many lovely estates for sale, and we are confident President Trump will find one which meets his needs.”

In other words, “There are plenty of places that you can find to live in Palm Beach, but not in our neighborhood!”

Such an appropriate beginning for the former president’s return to private life in America.  Many Americans would be very happy if he decided to live in another country.

Copyright G. Ater 2020