A legal twist leads the Madeira Beach City Commission to reverse a denial of a liquor license for SunCruz Casinos.
By JADE JACKSON LLOYD
Published October 31, 2004
MADEIRA BEACH - SunCruz Casinos executives wanted an alcohol license. City commissioners wanted to ensure the gambling boat's traffic won't choke an already crowded 150th Avenue.
In an attempt to bargain with the gambling boat on its operating hours and traffic generation, the commission Tuesday voted 3-1 to deny the boat's application for an alcoholic beverage use permit.
Then, they rushed to take back their action.
By rejecting the application, the commission unwittingly moved to keep SunCruz from applying for the license for one year - something commissioners realized only after the vote. City Manager Jill Silverboard pointed out the oversight. Then the mayor called for a recess.
A final 4-0 vote by the commission granted the license, with strings. The approval is subject to SunCruz officials discussing a change of operating hours or the city conducting a traffic study.
Though no official date has been set, the 175-foot, 600-passenger SunCruz VII should open by year's end, said SunCruz Director of Marketing Steve Rinaldi.
SunCruz has boats in five other Florida cities - Key Largo, Hollywood, Port Canaveral, Daytona Beach and Jacksonville - and in Myrtle Beach, S.C., Rinaldi said.
The company operated out of the Treasure Island side of John's Pass for seven years. The latest cruise will feature gambling in international waters just 9 miles from the city, something that makes it a desirable location, Rinaldi said.
Commissioner Martha Boos led the charge against the boat, initially making a motion to table the discussion of the liquor license to a later date. Before it died for lack of a second, the mayor asked her to explain her reasons for wanting to table the topic.
"I don't feel like we have enough information about the impact of traffic in this town to move forward," she said. "Yet, we are being asked to approve this boat."
Boos said the sailing hours bother her, with the first boat returning to dock at 5 p.m. and the second one leaving at 7 p.m.
Commissioner Len Piotti said the license had nothing to do with traffic concerns.
"We're mixing oranges and apples here," he said, early on. "We can't hold the company hostage."
Boos argued the license remains the commission's only leverage.
The boat will dock just south of Leverock's Restaurant, leasing the space from attorney and developer James Holton. Its opening hinges on site plan approval by the city and parking lot improvements.
(Site plan approval was scheduled to go through Friday, city Community Development Director Paula Cohen said.)
"We get no money from them," Boos said. "They come in and operate whenever they want. . . . We can't do it forever. At least we can use it as a lever to get them to the table."
Vice Mayor John Wolbert, the lone dissenting vote, argued that he'd never noticed a backup at John's Pass, where other gambling boats have docked for years. (Majesty I Casino, run by a different company, has operated there for roughly 18 months.)
Before the initial vote, City Attorney Donald O'Leary cautioned commissioners to make their reasons for denying the license "articulable."
"It has to have backup," he said. "If it doesn't, it is arbitrary."
Citing the need for a traffic study, the commission voted 3-1 to reject the application.
"We're going to have to do something to vindicate what we have just done," Mayor Charles Parker said, smiling, just after the vote.
Then the city manager alerted them to the oversight and the mayor called a 10-minute recess, during which Piotti and Wolbert huddled on the dais and the new city attorney flipped through city ordinances.
When the recess ended, O'Leary urged commissioners to "reconsider the previous motion." They complied, granting the application 4-0, subject to a review of operating hours or traffic concerns.
Rinaldi, SunCruz's marketing director, said the company has never had problems getting licensed in any of the other six cities in which it operates. He said the company is studying traffic patterns in the area and hasn't solidified a sailing schedule yet, "so there may be an opportunity to address that issue."
In other business, the commission voted to purchase a 2004 Pierce fire truck for the Fire Department for $352,320. The commission had budgeted $350,000 into the fiscal year 2004.
The commission also voted 4-0 to transfer nearly $64,413 from the general fund contingency to cover the FY 2003-04 budget reconciliation. Shortfalls in the finance, fire and community development departments contributed to the atypically large reconciliation.
Finance Director Monica Mitchell cited as contributing factors recent hurricanes, contract negotiations and her joining the city sooner and at a higher salary than expected. In addition, the city has paid $22,277.50 to the special master, who has been hearing code enforcement and variance requests since June.
He makes $125 per hour for each code enforcement case and $175 per hour for variance request hearings.
