After warning them that he would do so if they did not comply with his previous orders, Circuit Judge Chris France last week declared the owners of the Old Dixie Motel in civil contempt of court and warned of $1,000-a-day fines starting on Nov. 15 if they do not comply with a pair of orders.
The judge was not pleased: neither owners nor their attorney had showed up for the hearing. The attorney phoned it in. France ordered that for all subsequent hearings, he expected both to be in the courtroom.
The owners have a well-documented history of delays, evasions or avoidance of court orders or commitments to Flagler County government, including a three-and-a-half-year-old contractual requirement that they issue a $250,000 bond.
The county requires the bond to ensure that the owners will carry out the reconstruction of the old motel, which they have been promising to do since May 2021, when they signed a contract to pay the bond. They never have. The county has sought payment by various means, including a court order, which it got earlier this year. The owners did not comply with the order.
The county then sought detailed financial information from the owners to establish whether they were in a position to make the payment, and if not, why not. The court ordered the owners to produce that statement by Oct. 18, warning them that they would be found in contempt if they did not. They did not.
The owners have “intentionally and steadfastly refused to comply with the Court’s Order and deposit the cash bond,” France wrote in his latest order, or to produce the financial statement. “The Court rejects the Defendant’s proffered excuse in its motion that it was prevented from complying with the Court’s Order as a result of unspecified holidays. The Court finds that the Defendant’s actions, including its continued refusal to comply with the Court’s Orders, is consistent with its longstanding pattern of disregard for the judicial process and the Court’s authority.”
On Oct. 18, the owners filed a motion asking for a 14-day extension to complete the “Fact Information Sheet,” which was due that day. Theodore D’Apuzzo, the owners’ Ft. Lauderdale-based attorney, told the court that he had been “unable to adequately consult with his client due to the numerous Jewish holidays during the month of October, the level of detail and complexity of the issues he ran, and the other obligations of his practice.” (Rosh Hashanah was on Oct, 3-4, Yom Kippur on Oct. 12, and Sukkot on Oct. 17-23).
France held a hearing on the county’s motion for contempt on Oct. 30. Abraham McKinnon, who is representing the county on that part of the Old Dixie motel matter, characterized the owners’ failures to comply with the court’s orders as “consistent with a long pattern of procedural maneuvering and disregard for the judicial process intended to delay the proceedings and avoid accountability.”
France’s latest order, signed on Nov. 1, gives the owners until Nov. 15 to deposit the $250,000 cash bond with the Flagler County Clerk of Court and to produce the financial disclosure form. If they fail to do so, the order states, they will be find $1,000 per day that the order isn’t complied with.
On a separate track, the county earlier this year issued an order for the demolition of the motel, claiming that it was a nuisance and a hazard. At the time, the owners had carried out a limited amount of work on the property. A magistrate ruled against the county’s order without nullifying it, in essence giving the owners more time to make good on their promise to move ahead with reconstruction.
The owners subsequently submitted a site plan for the renovation of the motel. The county approved the plan in September. But there’s been no follow-up: a site plan is just a plan without a construction permit. There’s been no application for a building permit, and the grounds of the motel this afternoon looked as they always have: overgrown, neglected, fallow, with the L-shape motel itself, or what’s left of its decomposing shell, forming two rows of gaping holes for wind and vandals to play through.
If the owners run up fines and ignore them, the county’s next option is to place a lien on the property, and (or) to renew the demolition order, lien in hand.
contempt
