City awaits follow-up on Palm Avenue lawsuit

Although a jury recently determined the city must pay nearly $50 million in damages to a developer, that judgment is not yet final, City Attorney Robert Fournier stressed at Monday’s City Commission meeting.

Two weeks earlier, a jury turned in a verdict in a lawsuit regarding the development of a city-owned Palm Avenue property. The plaintiff, Buck-Leiter Palm Avenue Development, accused the city of breaching a contract to develop the land that is now the Palm Avenue parking garage and Art Ovation Hotel. The jury agreed with the plaintiff, ordering the city to pay the developer $49.8 million.

On Monday, Fournier briefly discussed the status of the case. He primarily focused on several outstanding motions from the city’s legal team that must be addressed before the ruling is final. They include a motion for directed verdict, which argues the evidence in the case was insufficient to prove the city’s liability, and a motion for remittitur, which argues the award in the jury verdict was excessive.

Fournier said it would likely take 12th Judicial Circuit Court Judge Erika Quartermaine until July or August to rule on those motions. The city will have a 30-day window to appeal after a final judgment, Fournier said.

“Any conversation today about whether to take an appeal is premature at this point until the court has ruled on these outstanding or pending motions,” Fournier said.

Following the ruling, Buck-Leiter attorney Tom Leiter expressed confidence the jury’s verdict would stand. Leiter sent a letter to the city’s legal team May 30 discussing a possible settlement, which could "substantially reduce the potential award and structure the timing of payment,” Leiter wrote.

Because Leiter did not make a specific offer, Fournier recommended against engaging in negotiations at this time.

Fournier said he would like to discuss specifics about the case and a potential appeal in the future, but he held off at Monday’s meeting.

“While I have some definite thoughts about the propriety of that (award) amount, for the time being, I’m going to resist the temptation of characterizing that sum by using any adjectives to describe it,” Fournier said.

Also at Monday’s commission meeting:

• The commission discussed the forthcoming referendum on moving city elections from March and May to August and November. After the Decide the Date campaign successfully gathered enough signatures to get the question on the ballot, the commission must adopt ballot language and an implementation plan, should the referendum pass. Fournier said he would have proposed ballot language for the commission to consider at a June 18 meeting.
• In a 4-1 vote, the board decided not to post a “No thru trucks” sign in the 1800 and 1900 blocks of Hyde Park Street. Although the board previously expressed interest in posting the signs, the commission determined it did not want to adopt an ordinance it thought was unenforceable.
• The commission approved a 20-year lease extension for Save Our Seabirds’ use of a City Island facility at 1708 Ken Thompson Parkway.
• Planning staff outlined its intent to undertake a transportation master plan, which will include a citywide transportation network study.