VIRGINIA WHETSTONE (w/medal) w/ GOVERNOR RICHARD LYNN SCOTT and CABINET, September 1, 2015. (HCN)
HENRY AND ESTHER WHETSTONE(SAR)
PAUL M. WEAVER, III
The Fifth District Court of Appeals february 10th rejected the WHETSTONE's lawsuit seeking to commandeer City-owned bottomlands for a dock, based on false testimony from PAUL M. WEAVER, III, Vice Chair of the Historic Architectural Review Board (HARB).
Three conclusions:
1. The City of St. Augustine must seek attorney fees and costs from the Whetstones under Florida law.
2. The City must investigate false statements by PAUL M. WEAVER, III for the Whetstones: WEAVER is Vice Chair of HARB.
3. Time for conflicted parasite PAUL M. WEAVER, III to resign from Historic Architectural Review Board?
See prior story here.
Court of Appeal upholds decision favoring city in dispute with Whetstones
Posted: February 12, 2016 - 11:36am | Updated: February 12, 2016 - 11:39am
Judge rules for city in land dispute with Whetstone
By STUART KORFHAGE
stuart.korfhage@staugustine.com
The 5th District Court of Appeal upheld a decision of Circuit Court Judge Howard Maltz in the case of the Whetstone family against the City of St. Augustine in a dispute over a pier permit.
In an opinion filed Friday, Senior Judge Robert Pleus of the DCA wrote that Maltz ruled correctly in the dispute over property rights of submerged lands in Matanzas Bay.
Maltz’s ruling came Sept. 11, 2014, and stemmed from a 2011 permit application from the Whetstones to build a 270-foot pier at the Bayfront Inn. The application was denied by the city, and the property owners filed suit.
The pier, according to Maltz’s order, “would attach to the section of seawall across Avenida Menendez from Lot 4 and the Bayfront Inn, and that would extend perpendicular to Avenida Menendez, 270 feet out into the river.”
Lot 4 is the property that includes the Bayfront Inn at 138 Avenida Menendez, just south of the former Santa Maria Restaurant. It was acquired by the Whetstones in 1965.
In denying the permit, the city found that the plaintiffs do not own the submerged lands in the river.
The Whetstones have contended that their ownership of the property includes “the seawall and the river bottom parallel to Lot 4’s northern and southern lines, out to the mean low water line of the river.”
The DCA affirmed Maltz’s decision that the Whetstones do not own the submerged land. It agreed that the 1905 official city map showed the property line ending at “East Bay Street,” which is now Avenida Menendez.
Another point of contention was that the Whetstones’ property implicitly included submerged lands under Spanish colonial law. But the DCA noted “under Spanish colonial law, ownership of land bordering navigable waters extended to the high water mark, not the low water mark, unless submerged lands were expressly granted or authorized by the Spanish Crown.”
The DCA added that Maltz was correct in denying the Whetstones’ claim of riparian rights as a basis for applying for a dock permit.
Riparian rights are defined by the state as “those incident to land bordering upon navigable waters. They are rights of ingress, egress, boating, bathing, and fishing and such others as may be or have been defined by law.”
In its ruling, the DCA said: “The court observed that the Whetstones’ 1965 deed did not extend to Matanzas Bay and therefore precluded their assertion of riparian rights.”
In the end, the DCA, just like Maltz, agreed that the City of St. Augustine was fair in dealing with the Whetstone application.
“Because the Whetstones had no riparian rights or ownership of submerged lands associated with their property, the City correctly refused to consider their dock application.
“Accordingly, we affirm.”
COMMENTS
I love where I live 02/12/16 - 01:46 pm 20Nice!
That's good news.
I love where I live
I love where I live 02/12/16 - 01:47 pm 20Nice!
That's good news.
Firstcoaster 02/12/16 - 03:56 pm 40Good decision
but not so "sweet" for the Whetstones.
sponger2 02/12/16 - 04:20 pm 40King Whetstone loses a round!
And it's about time. I'll bet Bruce's husband Virginia is PO'ed over this one, as well as Hank and the rest of the gang in the "Strategic Planning Room" at the Whetstone compound. A shame it had to cost so much time and money to come to a common sense conclusion. But what the hell, it's only taxpayer money they're playing with.
sponger2 02/12/16 - 06:32 pm 10The Empire Strikes Back.
In the next episode of the famous series, Darth Whetstone will bring the Death Star to bear upon the City of St. Augustine in retribution for the denial of the application.. Stay tuned!
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