Lawsuit accuses marina foe of libel

Hernando Beach marina owner James Sterling says a letter distributed in the community libeled his business.

By JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEK

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 23, 2000

The battle between some Hernando Beach homeowners and their business neighbors has spilled into Hernando Circuit Court, where marina owner James Sterling has filed a libel lawsuit against one of his detractors.

In his suit, Sterling contends that Sandra Hoyt, an organizer of the fledgling Hernando Beach Homeowners Alliance, made willful, malicious and false statements about his marina in a letter distributed throughout Hernando Beach.

The letter states, in part: "It is unconscionable that illegal and intrusive commercial interests are trying to force homeowners to literally subsidize them and suffer lower property values for the intruders greedy profits and convenience. We owe it to our families to stand up for ourselves and what's right. The Sterling Marina rezoning from CM-1 (recreational boats only) to CM-2 (heavy commercial, shrimp boats, etc.) is of immediate concern."

These accusations caused Sterling "embarrassment, humiliation and damage to (his) reputation," the suit asserts. He seeks unspecified damages.

"He felt personally attacked, and his businesses were being attacked," said Kenneth Warnstadt, Sterling's lawyer. "We're serious about this lawsuit. It's not a frivolous lawsuit. We're looking to have our name back."

Hoyt, who had not seen the court documents, denied any wrongdoing.

"We'll see how far it goes, but I'm not going to worry about it because I didn't write the letter," she said. "This is all bogus as far as I'm concerned. Let him prove I wrote this letter. I didn't."

Hoyt said the letter was written and endorsed by the Homeowners Alliance board of directors and not by any single member. She questioned how a sticker with her name and address wound up at the bottom of the copy attached to Sterling's lawsuit, and said she placed such stickers only on alliance applications.

"Somebody has pulled a sticker off one of the applications I sent out," Hoyt said. "I never put anything as far as a stamp on anything except for the applications."

Julia Jackson, a Homeowners Alliance co-founder, defended the letter's content. The reference to "illegal and intrusive commercial interests" spoke to fishing boats docked in residential areas, and not to Sterling Marina, Jackson said.

"I don't think that's going to hold up," she said of the lawsuit. "We're perfectly within our rights to protest the rezoning of a property that will affect us."

The Homeowners Alliance, incorporated June 5, formed to defend residents who said they felt the more-established Hernando Beach Property Owners Association had abandoned their needs. The split centered on opinions about the commercial fishing industry and where the boats could dock.

For its test case, the alliance urged the County Commission to stop Sterling's request to rezone a portion of his marina to allow more intense commercial uses. The commission denied Sterling's rezoning, and Sterling vowed to appeal.

The group then began looking into Sterling's licenses, permits and zoning on other properties he owns. Members said they planned to file a formal complaint with the county about non-conforming activities at some of Sterling's businesses.

In the meantime, Sterling erected a sign on one piece of his land, which has the only agricultural zoning in Hernando Beach's commercial district. "The pigs are coming soon," the sign reads.

His libel suit came about a week later.

Sterling declined to comment for this story and referred all calls to Warnstadt.

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