Sarasota waives fee to fight historic house demolition

Sarasota's La Palme Royale was built in the 1920's and currently is used as a bed and breakfast establishment.

SARASOTA - A group opposing the demolition of a historic bed and breakfast will be able to carry on their fight without paying a hefty fee to the city.

The City Commission on Monday waived a $1,000 fee for three people seeking to appeal the Sarasota Historic Preservation Board's approval of the demolition of La Palme Royale, at 624 S. Palm Ave.

The owners of La Palme Royale, Kristen and Tim Beury, want to have the house demolished to clear the way for an 18-story condo. For the past several years, they have operated the bed and breakfast in a house built in the the 1920s and designated a historic property partly because of its association with turn-of-the-century developer Owen Burns and his wife.

The preservation board, after a public hearing last month, approved the demolition. But Sarasota attorney Emma Joels told commissioners on Monday that she and two other residents want to appeal that decision, and argued that they should not have to pay more than $1,000 in fees, plus costs, to do so. Joels argued that the city had no legal basis for charging the fee, and that it was unfair.

Joels is a vice president at Westwater Construction, Inc., a builder of luxury, waterfront homes in Sarasota. A.M. Hochstadt, another of the residents opposing the demolition, owns property across the street from La Palme Royale, where he has made plans to build a hotel.

Joels gained the attention of commissioners by pointing out that the owners of the bed and breakfast did not have to pay a fee to request permission for the demolition. And yet, Joels said, she was asked for a hefty fee to appeal it.

Vice Mayor Susan Chapman said she questioned whether the policy was fair, or what was intended when the city code was written. I'm just wondering if there's a glitch in the code, she said.

City Attorny Bob Fournier said city staff were properly applying the city code, and there was no legal basis for deciding whether to waive the fee or not. You could really go either way on this, he said.

The City Commission voted unanimously to waive the fee for Joels and the two other residents who had joined with her in appeal, and to ask city staff to prepare a revision of the code. The revision could require a fee to request demolition of a historic building.

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Sarasota waives fee to fight historic house demolition