In Response To: ‘The Gentrification of Simonton Street Trailer Park’

RE: The Gentrification of Simonton Street Trailer Park  (Issue #24, August 23, 2013)

A persuasively written article, but it includes a noteworthy mis-statement, i.e,   “The Reach …[was] built on land sold by the Catholic Church.”

Not [exactly].  The Reach was built on an assemblage of parcels, the major parcel having been owned by David Wolkowsky, who built the wonderfully whimsical but short-lived Sands Beach Club there.  David later sold the property to Reach developer Austin Laber, a New York lawyer.   Laber acquired the contiguous parking lot parcel from the Larranaga family, bought some individually-owned parcels along Vernon Ave., tore down The Sands, and built a monstrosity that he named The Reach.  Laber’s tactics were so over-the-top that I withdrew from representing the project.

I spoke today with Key West’s iconic nonagenarian, David Wolkowsky, who confirmed that sometime in the Pleistocene era he purchased the waterfront parcel at the upper end of Simonton St. from the Catholic Church, and that he later purchased the contiguous parking lot parcel from Larranaga. David subsequently sold both of those parcels to Austin Laber.

Laber set out to acquire individually-owned house parcels on Vernon Ave., to expand the footprint of what would become The Reach.  Although he succeeded in acquiring some contiguous lots, his aggressive tactics enraged many of the neighbors, who put signs in their yards that read:  “This house will NEVER be sold to The Reach.”   Vernon Ave. residents Gordon and Marge Smith (owners of The Bike Shop) were among the leaders of the opposition, which incorporated as Save Our Neighborhoods, Inc.

The brief history of David’s “The Sands Beach Club” is worth recalling.  David pulled a building permit that authorized him to “restore old boat shed” at an estimated cost of a few thousand dollars.  He then began constructing a sprawling 200-seat restaurant, without benefit of architectural plans.   As construction progressed, David would periodically invite Bernard Zyscovich (35 years later, architect for Peary Court) to spend the weekend as his guest in Key West, walking him around the construction site to get Bernard’s input on the work in progress.  Several times during construction, David instructed Cotton Construction, the Southern Bell contractor that he hired to install the wood poles supporting the sprawling wood-frame restaurant building, to remove and relocate the poles so as to conform to his evolving design concept.   Eventually, as the restaurant building began to take shape, it caught the eye of then-Mayor (and prominent architect) Sonny McCoy, who was not amused that such a large structure was being built without any architectural plans.   At Sonny’s behest, the City Building Official issued a stop-work order, which David hired me to appeal.   Sonny, who dominated the City Commission, immediately took control of the hearing, summarized the facts as he saw them, and announced that the appeal would be denied.    I thanked the Mayor for his input, and then suggested that perhaps we should hear from the other Commissioners (whom David believed would be more sympathetic).  After a few moments of silence, Commissioner Mary Lee Graham spoke up, commenting on the many good things that David had done in Key West.  Other Commissioners chimed in.  To Sonny’s chagrin, the Commission ultimately voted to allow David to continue building The Sands.  Once completed, The Sands attracted many memorable characters, including David’s frequent guest Tennessee Williams and the legendary contractor/importer, Cris Ray.   All that now remains of The Sands is the “gazebo” that David built over the ocean at the end of a pier.  Atop the gazebo David installed a metal deer that formerly stood guard at the Pier House during its heyday.

Your article posed the question,  “What is the logic behind forcing “new development” to provide 30% affordable housing, while allowing existing workforce housing to be 100% gentrified?”    Good question, so I sought the opinion of a well-known land use expert, who offered the following answer (complete with citations):

Florida law strictly limits the municipal exercise of rent controls [1].  The City of Key West’s affordable housing ordinance escapes statutory violation only to the extent that it can be characterized as a “land use mechanism”, such as an “inclusionary housing ordinance” [2] .  City of Key West land use regulations apply only to “development”.  Therefore, the rental-rate restrictions imposed under the City Code  workforce housing chapter do not and can not apply to existing units, the rental and maintenance of which don’t constitute development. Any effort to extend inclusionary zoning requirements to existing residential units would be subject to challenge as a violation of Fla. Stat. §166.043 rent-control limitations, as an unconstitutional ex post facto law, and an uncompensated taking of property rights.

That said, it may be possible to craft an ordinance that would apply to redevelopment projects, such as the demo/rebuild project on Simonton St.

But the time to enact such an ordinance is before such a project comes before the City Commission for approval.

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[footnote 1]  Fla. Stat. §166.043 “Ordinances and rules imposing price controls”

  (5) No municipality, county, or other entity of local government shall adopt or maintain in effect any law, ordinance, rule, or other measure which would have the effect of imposing controls on rents unless:

 (a) Such measure is duly adopted by the governing body of such entity of local government, after notice and public hearing, in accordance with all applicable provisions of the Florida and United States Constitutions, the charter or charters governing such entity of local government, this section, and any other applicable laws.

 (b) Such governing body makes and recites in such measure its findings establishing the existence in fact of a housing emergency so grave as to constitute a serious menace to the general public and that such controls are necessary and proper to eliminate such grave housing emergency.

 (c) Such measure is approved by the voters in such municipality, county, or other entity of local government.

[Note: the procedural requirements of subsections (b) and (c) were not followed by the City of Key West in adopting the  Workforce Housing ordinance]

 (7) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, municipalities, counties, or other entity of local government may adopt and maintain in effect any law, ordinance, rule, or other measure which is adopted for the purposes of increasing the supply of affordable housing using land use mechanisms such as inclusionary housing ordinances.  [emphasis added]

[footnote 2] The term “inclusionary housing”, also expressed as inclusionary zoning, refers to municipal planning ordinances that require a given share of new construction to be affordable by people with low to moderate incomes.