Pocket Parks - City Rights of Way

Comment Up

"Pocket Park"
730 S. Lakeside & 806 S. Lakeside

During the Rodney Romano administration back in 1996, the City entered into a Revocable Permit for 20 years with James A. Hardin and Eleanor T. Hardin for the exclusive use of the north 20 feet of the City’s right-of-way of 8th Avenue South, east of South Lakeside Drive at their property located at 806 South Lakeside Drive. The Permits said that it could not be assigned, sublet, transferred, mortgaged, pledged or disposed by the Hardins without the City’s prior written approval.

The City got into a lot of these tricky public rights of way back then, giving away public land to private property owners with other residents just grabbing the rights of way next to their property without a permit. In fact, some owners want to believe that the City abandoned these rights of ways in order to claim the property as their own. We are still involved in one law suit by the Shepherds.

Back in January 2010, the Palm beach Post agreed with Vice Mayor Suzanne Mulvehill that the public owns these properties that have been taken over by owners without Revocable Permits. One such case of a right of way on Notre Dame Drive is still in a law suit.

The same situation occurred with Wolfgang F. Baere and Karen E. Baere who lived at 730 S. Lakeside Drive for the exclusive use of the City’s right-of-way along the south side of 8th Avenue South, east of South Lakeside Drive, upon the same conditions as set out in the Hardins’ Revocable Permit.

Now it seems both properties are in jeopardy of losing their permit because this year the Hardins conveyed their property to a Living Trust and forgot to include the Revocable Permit and forgot to get the City's permission to transfer the permit. Last year, the Baeres, owners of 730 S. Lakeside, sold their property to the Tyrrells and failed to ask for a transfer from the City of those right-of-ways to the new owners.

Both owners of these properties must now, upon the City giving ten (10) days written notice to them, cancel or terminate this permit. Upon such cancellation the Hardins and the Tyrrells must surrender the property back to the City and deliver the property “free of any wall, fence, or other like fixtures or improvements.” Article X of the Revocable Permit.

This is on tonight's agenda under New Business A.