Item P04 P4
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
COUNTY of MONROE Mayor Craig Cates,District 1
The Florida Keys Mayor Pro Tern Holly Merrill Raschein,District 5
Michelle Lincoln,District 2
James K.Scholl,District 3
m' David Rice,District 4
Board of County Commissioners Meeting
October 18, 2023
Agenda Item Number: P4
2023-1593
BULK ITEM: No DEPARTMENT: County Attorney
TIME APPROXIMATE: STAFF CONTACT: Kelly Dugan
N/A
AGENDA ITEM WORDING: Rejection of settlement offer in the matter of Monroe County, Florida
v. Jakku Properties, LLC, Case No. 22-CA-64-P.
ITEM BACKGROUND:
This is a lien foreclosure case. The Code Case was compliant as of 3/11/22, with fines of$540,500.00
and costs of$3,114.60.
The purpose of this agenda item is to convey a settlement offer presented by counsel for Jakku
Properties, LLC. Defendant offers to settle this case with a total offer of$15,000.00, including all fees.
The County Attorney is ethically obligated to convey this offer to the Board.
The proposed amount is 2.7% of the fines, far less than 25%percent of the total fines plus all of the
costs, which the County Code authorizes the County Attorney to accept without Board approval. The
County Attorney is authorized to accept no less than $135,125 in fines plus costs of$3,114.60 for a
total of$138,239.60.
The County Attorney recommends that the Board reject the offer. This item may be included with the
bulk motion if the Board wishes to reject the offer,provided that no commissioner, staff member, or
member of the public wishes to speak on the item.
PREVIOUS RELEVANT BOCC ACTION:
The BOCC approved litigation in this matter at the 06/16/2021 Board of County Commissioners
meeting.
CONTRACT/AGREEMENT CHANGES:
N/A
STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Rejection of settlement offer.
5064
DOCUMENTATION:
CF20230926 HLY to County.pdf
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
5065
HU111 Y
Hershoff,Lupino&Yagel,LLP
A noRm.)s.m 1-vx Altoriw�s At l,axk AL I CORRESPONDEM h.T0
JAYA.I IERSIAOU F 98539 OVFRSFAS HIGHWAY
JAW�S,I�UPJNO IANERNIER,FLORIDA 33070
Rk,ssi:u.ANAOLL vykvvv.[hNiaw.corn (305)852-9440 EvN(305)852-8849
Jusqw1%L.Ron1FNffl-,RG M W111 01 FK E
ROBF,R-1 C.SIOBIT 9350 S DINIF HIGHWW SuITF 1470
Diiioitml A.SERAI INI MIANH,FLORIDA 33156
VICTORIA G MIRAMM
JOANNE M.PLRI�IRA
September 26, 2023
Via Email Transmission
sveloLa_)yoselaw.corn
Stephanie Velo, Esquire
Vose Law Firm LLP
324 W. Morse Boulevard
Winter Park, Florida 32789
RE: Monroe County, Florida vs. Jakku Properties LLC,
Case No.: 22-CA-64-P
Dear Ms. Velo:
With respect to the above captioned, following is a summary of the events and conditions which
gave rise to the underlying code enforcement case and which delayed my client's attention to
resolution of the case together with an offer to settle this matter with the County.
As a preliminary matter, please note the client's limited liability company is owned by Donald J.
Wood, who is also the owner of the largest dive operation in the Upper Keys, Rainbow Reef Dive
Center ("Rainbow Reef'). Rainbow Reef occupies the structure located at 199760 Overseas
Highway, Key Largo, FL which is the location of the property that was the subject of the code
enforcement case giving rise to the lien sought to be enforced in the above-referenced matter
("Subject Property" or "Property"). Rainbow Reef was a tenant in the building located on the
Subject Property when Hurricane Irma made landfall in September of 2017.
Hurricane Irma caused significant tree and vegetation damage to the Property. The storm caused a
very large tree limb to fall on a fence and in a pool located on the Property. At the time Irma made
landfall, Rainbow Reef utilized four different physical locations for the operation of its dive
business, and the significant damage caused by the storm required immediate attention to all of the
locations so as to resume operations as soon as possible. During this multi-site clean-up effort,the
general manager of Rainbow Reef tasked an intern with removal of the large limb on the property
Pagel of
5066
and general clean-up of debris. For whatever reason, the intern went well beyond the assigned
task and basically cleared an estimated 20 x 35 area of existing vegetation that was not damaged
by the storm. Soon thereafter the then owner of the property realized the error of the intern, and
he ordered some $7500.00 in trees and shrubs in an effort to restore the damage (which was paid
for by Rainbow Reef). To Mr. Wood's memory, these trees and shrubs were planted by the
landlord(at Rainbow Reef's expense) in October of 2017. At that time of the planting, Mr. Wood
was under the impression the current owner of the property (as noted above, they were leasing at
that time) had taken the matter up with the County, and the County had approved the restoration
plan. A review of the County Records reveals the prior owner actually submitted an application
for a restoration permit in December of 2017, apparently as a result of a code violation recorded
in October of 2017; however, for whatever reason, the prior owner abandoned the permit and
subsequently sold the property to our client in June of 2019. In late November of 2019, my client
received a notice of hearing before the Code Enforcement Special Master which was to occur on
January 20, 2020.
Upon receipt of the notice, the client contacted the County and was informed the County was
pursuing the case, and, as the current owner, it was liable for the violation even though it occurred
before it had purchased the property. Through error,the date of the code enforcement hearing was
incorrectly calendared by Mr. Wood, and he missed the hearing. He actually went to the hearing
location the following day only to discover it had occurred the day before. When the client
received the order of the Special Magistrate with a compliance date of April 30, 2020, he fully
intended to comply with same and apply for an after the fact permit for the restoration, which he
believed had already been completed. However, that objective was thwarted by the onset of the
Covid pandemic in the early part of 2020.
As you and your client are well aware,the pandemic caused extreme financial hardship for Florida
Keys businesses. Visitors were prohibited from entering Monroe County for an extended period
and still subject to many pandemic related restrictions and requirements after access to Monroe
County was restored. As noted above, my client's primary business is operation of a dive and
snorkel business; this industry suffered long after the travel ban was lifted because of the
continuing mask and social distancing requirements that stayed in effect long after access to
Monroe County was allowed. In short, the client was financially decimated by the pandemic and
lacked the financial resources and attention to pursue an after the fact restoration permit. Through
the Payroll Protection Program and his own financial resources, Mr. Wood and his business was
able to avoid staff layoffs and bankruptcy. By the summer of 2020, Rainbow Reef's dive
operations had largely adjusted to the continuing pandemic restrictions, and it was fully
operational, but business was well below the levels of past years.
With the challenges of the pandemic still looming over his business, in September of 2020, Mr.
Wood was diagnosed with squamous carcinoma cancer. His treatment included surgery and some
seven (7)weeks of chemotherapy and radiation treatment. As is normally the case,the emotional
and physical impacts of his diagnosis and treatment consumed his thoughts and life until mid-
2021. Notably, even with the significant ongoing challenges facing him and his business, he
actually began working on the restoration issue by engaging Susan Sprunt to assist in a restoration
plan. In March of 2022, a second restoration permit was applied for, and after considerable
discussions and work with staff, a plan was agreed upon and a permit was issued on August 16,
Page 2 of 3
5067
2022. The initial inspection required by the restoration permit was approved on December 1,2022,
thereby making the property "compliant". The County presently asserts it has a lien against the
property for some $543,614.40 in fines and $3,114.60 in costs.
Mr. Wood has been a resident of the Upper Keys and an owner of real property, directly and
through his businesses, for some 22 years. His business employs an average of 90 people. Prior
to this accidental event, he has never had any enforcement action taken against him or his
properties by the County.
For the reasons and challenges set forth above, we believe forgiveness of the great majority of
fines is appropriate. The goal of code enforcement has been achieved, to wit: compliance.
Moreover,the delays in compliance were due to history making circumstances and a serious health
crisis. That being said, the client believes that some fine is appropriate as is the payment of the
costs. For this reason, Mr. Woods proposes he pay Monroe County the sum of Fifteen Thousand
Dollars ($15,000.00) for a release of the lien and the satisfaction of all claims asserted against the
Defendant, together with a dismissal of the above-referenced case, with prejudice and each party
to bear their own attorney's fees and costs.
Please advise if your client is agreeable to the proposal set forth herein.
Respectfully submitted,
Russell A. Yagel, Esq.
RAY/tld
Page 3 of 3
5068