Letter to Editor / Stop the 30% Tax Hike – End the Sweetheart Deals Instead

By Gregory Lloyd

Before the City raises our property taxes by a staggering and unprecedented 30%, it must first take a hard look at the sweetheart deals it’s been handing out to a select few—at great financial cost to the rest of the community.

We’re not talking about public-serving organizations like the Community Sailing Center, the SPCA, the Key West Botanical Garden, or the Waterfront Playhouse. We are talking about the private, members-only Key West Yacht Club, located on public land at 2315 North Roosevelt Blvd. in Garrison Bight.

This exclusive, high-end facility offers:

  • 68 wet slips
  • 3 transient rental slips
  • A full-service dining room and bar
  • A ship store and gift shop

It’s a cash cow—generating over $1 million annually—yet it leases this valuable waterfront property from the City for just $1 per year.

Clause Seven of the lease clearly prohibits subleasing or reassignment of slips without written consent. Public records confirm that no such consent was ever granted. Not once.

Florida courts have consistently held that where a lease requires written consent for subleasing or reassignment, that consent cannot be implied, waived, or assumed retroactively. Any subleasing done without written approval is a violation of the lease and legally unenforceable.¹

But even more concerning is the 2006 Corrective Grant Deed (Doc #19259) from the State of Florida to the City of Key West, governing Garrison Bight. It explicitly states:

“Any revenues received by the City of Key West from the private use of the Trustees’ lands… shall be used solely to fund public water-related activities and improvements.”

This Deed establishes that:

  • The City may permit private use of these lands only if revenue is collected from that use, and
  • Those revenues must go to public water-related improvements.

The current lease violates both conditions.

  • It generates no meaningful revenue for the City—despite over a million dollars a year in private income.
  • It enables private use of public land without any public access, public benefit, or revenue sharing.
  • There is no mechanism for the City to collect funds from slip rentals or other subleases, even though these activities take place on public submerged lands.

This is more than poor policy—it conflicts directly with the Deed’s legal restrictions and the City’s obligations under the Public Trust Doctrine. As trustee of these sovereign lands, the City has a fiduciary duty to manage them in the public’s interest.² Instead, it has leased out a prime waterfront parcel to a private club for essentially free, bypassing both the spirit and the letter of the law.

We are not calling to penalize Yacht Club members or reclaim past revenue. But in light of ongoing fiscal mismanagement, corruption, and general incompetence, we are calling for fairness and equity—starting now.

Let’s ensure public resources serve the public.

Join us. Speak out..

Tuesday, June 25

City Hall

Footnotes:

  1. University Commons-Urbana, Ltd. v. Universal Constructors, Inc., 688 So. 2d 1001 (Fla. 3d DCA 1997) (“Where the terms of a lease are unambiguous, courts will enforce the express terms.”);
    Shuck v. Bank of America, 862 So. 2d 20 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003) (“An express provision requiring consent cannot be ignored or waived by implication.”);
    Restatement (Second) of Property, Landlord and Tenant § 15.2 (1977).
  2. Walton County v. Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc., 998 So.2d 1102 (Fla. 2008) (“Submerged lands are impressed with a public trust… for the use and benefit of the people.”);
    Fla. Const. art. X, § 11 (Sovereign submerged lands held in trust for the people);
    City of West Palm Beach v. Bd. of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund, 714 So. 2d 1060 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998) (State-conveyed deed restrictions limiting private benefit are enforceable).
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