As the old Country Hearth Inn on Old Dixie Highway continues to rot amid neighbors’ ire, the owners of the property are now in brazen defiance of a court order to put up a $250,000 bond in compliance with their contract with the county: the deadline for payment passed a month ago. Circuit Judge Chris France on July 11 rejected an attempt by he owners at further delays.
Theodore D’Apuzzo, the Fort Lauderdale lawyer representing the owners, told Flagler County’s attorney that he’d notify the county by July 22 if the owners intended to pay. He did not.
Flagler County government is not yet seeking a court order to hold the elusive owners in contempt, or again to seek the demolition of the motel, though it could do either. Both steps would be extraordinary. Instead, county government has filed two motions that turn up the pressure for financial disclosures and accountability on the owners, even though it does not expect them to comply anymore than they have complied with all other contractual or court-ordered obligations so far.
One motion, filed on July 17, asks the court to grant the county attorneys’ fees in the case. The motion doesn’t specify the amount. “I think we’re up to $30,000 or $40,000 right now in legal fees,” says Assistant County Attorney Sean Moylan.
The second motion, filed Friday, asks the court to order the owners to produce financial accounts typically held secret by private individuals and companies. The county wants to know the company’s (or “entity”‘s)gross taxable income as reported to the IRS each of the last three years, its average number of employees employed per month, the names of shareholders owning 5 percent or more of the entity’s stock or equity interests, names of directors, location of bank accounts and account numbers, vehicles owned, loans outstanding, real estate owned, plus a list of requested documents, from tax returns to bank accounts, cancelled checks, deeds, mortgages, bills of sale, financial statements, minutes of meetings and so on.
It is an audacious demand, though not as audacious as the owners’ seeming attempt to make chumps of the court, the county and the community around the motel.
The $250,000 cash bond did not seem to be a lot of money to the county–or to the owners, when they signed the contract agreeing to pay it, and paid $70,000 in property taxes, fines and other costs outstanding from the previous owners, or when they subsequently, under different corporate names, began buying parcel after parcel surrounding the motel, including an office building at 42 Caroline Street. Their local representative, Realtor Gregory Kong, told a special magistrate that the owners “currently own 25 of them,” meaning parcels around the motel.
The owners were supposed to rebuild the motel into what Kong described what was to be called the Henry Hotel in a presentation to the County Commission. He said $5.2 million would be invested. That was in March 2022. Kong said an entity called MG Capital was behind the development. MG Capital had a basic website at the time. It has since vanished. The name “M.G. Capital” not once came up during a lengthy hearing in June before a special magistrate on the county’s effort to demolish the building.
At that hearing–where the magistrate denied the county’s demolition order–an Israeli called Ofer Biton identified himself as “representing Manuel Gomez as the major owner for the group” and as Gomez’s “right hand.” He claimed that he and other investors had poured $2.6 million into the motel to date, a surprising amount considering that to date, while the motel grounds have been cleaned of debris, its pool filled with dirt, some structures demolished and a fence installed around the property, there is not much evidence of that much money having gone into the motel–no apparent evidence, anyway.
Nor is there evidence of that amount when Biton himself, with his attorney’s aid, outlined for a magistrate the specific expenditures to date: $112,000 “brand new roof,” $8,350 for landscape and irrigation, $30,000 for Kim Buck and her engineering firm, $55,000 for mechanical engineers, $20,000 to an architect, $13,000 a year for the fence and $100,000 for Jim Albano, yet another architect. All those expenses add up to about $250,000 (oddly, the bond amount owed), but nowhere near $2.6 million.
On top of that, Biton said before the magistrate, the entity had taken out a $6 million loan.
But still no $250,000 bond payment to comply with the court order. Naturally, that’s left the county perplexed about the entity’s finances and the evidence behind its claims, prompting the next legal move.
“As of the date of the filing of this motion,” the motion states, the owners have “refused to comply with the Court’s Judgment and deposit the cash bond. The [owners’] refusal to comply is consistent with a longstanding pattern of avoiding accountability and procedural maneuvering intended to delay these proceedings.” So the county is asking for the court’s help to compel disclosures. Failure to comply would be “considered contempt of court.”
Jane Gentile Youd says
I just sent this an hour ago to Sean Moylan, Al Hadeed, after finally getting this order I saw tons of mistakes by the magistrate including the date of the Condemnation order as well as him accusing Bo Snowden of not defining unsafe structure when it is the magistrate who has failed to read Florida Statutes regarding same.
e Email just sent to Sean Moylan, Al Hadeed and Abe McKinnon: WHY HAVE YOU NOT AMENDED THE ORDER SIGNED JUNE 14, 2024 WITH A FINAL DATE FOR COMPLIANCE NOR CORRECTED THE MAGISTRATES ERRORS:????
AOL
/DISPOSITION: After the hearing arguments, the Special Magistrate states that while he
does find that the structure meets the definition of unsafe structure which is unfit for human
occupancy in its current state, he did not find there was sufficient evidence to support that
the current state of the building was “unreasonable to repair” as required by the IMPC to
order the demolition. His order is that he affirms the County’s Notice of Condemnation order
issued in December 2024 in all respects that deems the structure unsafe, dangerous, and
unfit for human occupancy. He dismisses the section of the order that mentions the
demolition order as the remedy. Mr. McDermott states that he grants leave for Flagler
County to amend the order with due notice to the respondent with elaboration of other
provisions under the IMPC that are applicable as a remedy for unsafe or dangerous
structure.
6. Public Comments.
Jane Youd, Neighboring homeowner. Shares concerns with the structure
From:
[email protected]
To:
Sean S. Moylan
,
Al Hadeed
,
Abraham McKinnon
Cc:
Bo Snow
Tue, Jul 30 at 4:41 PM
DISPOSITION: After the hearing arguments, the Special Magistrate states that while he does find that the structure meets the definition of unsafe structure which is unfit for human occupancy in its current state, he did not find there was sufficient evidence to support that the current state of the building was “unreasonable to repair” as required by the IMPC to order the demolition. His order is that he affirms the County’s Notice of Condemnation order issued in December 2024 in all respects that deems the structure unsafe, dangerous, and unfit for human occupancy. He dismisses the section of the order that mentions the demolition order as the remedy. Mr. McDermott states that he grants leave for Flagler County to amend the order with due notice to the respondent with elaboration of other provisions under the IMPC that are applicable as a remedy for unsafe or dangerous structure. 6. Public Comments. Jane Youd, Neighboring homeowner. Shares concerns with the structure which has been abandoned since 2013. Sylia Puglisi, concerned with the time and money that has been wasted by both taxpayers and county employees to resolve issues with this property. Asks for a time limit or restriction to be placed on his determination.
Disgraceful game playing with hotel owners – disgusting actually
Shark says
Looks like Flagler County is gong to lose again Their attorneys must have graduated cum laude from Trump University.
The dude says
Cum laude from trump U costs extra…
Robin says
If Eminent Domain does the LLC still own the property? Since they have purchased other surrounding parcels, it appears IMO, that they are using the motel property as a ‘cash cow’ in order to build a storage facility , and purchase other parcels in order to facilitate another plan.
In the meantime, Flagler County is being played as chumps. IMO.
NJ says
WASTING $40,000.00+ of Taxpayer Funds on Legal Fees! WHY??? Flagler County/Palm Coast should have DEMANDED a Bond from the Property owner/Realtor BEFORE this MESS Started!
Roy Longo says
Your comments are completely baseless. All Hadeed is one the best county attorneys around. Do a search of this website for Al Hadeed. He is an amazing person and a great attorney. The County will note “lose again” because of Hadeed’s tenacity. This is 100% the owners not compiling with a magistrate’s order.
FLF says
Convert it into a new tourist welcome center with some rooms for people to stay while they contemplate what the next tourist stop might be, we’ll even have money left over to put some sand on the beach.
FlaglerLive says
It did.
blerbfamilyfive says
Stop screwing around and start up the bulldozers and demolish the POS. Then send the invoice to the owners even though we know it will not get paid. And I do not even live in that area of town but feel for those who do. Poop or get off the pot already.
Marvin Tettle says
You people are amazing. Did anybody ever hear of “DUE PROCESS “ ? Amazing how “MOB MENTALITY” of “tear it down, bulldoze the place, convert it a euphemism for steal it from the owners” is parroted every time this story is updated.
Remember if this is how you react and the demands you make it can backfire when another radical, angry disappointed Commission candidate decides your property is not up to his or her standards.
If you’re angry with the legal DUE PROCESS, you have the right to petition your DULEY ELECTED POLITICIANS for change and not make demand of ANARCHY.
THIS IS STILL AMERICA.
Jane Gentile-Youd says
Mr Tettle.
3 years of due process is far longer than the usual 30 days. Where did you get your law degree?
Through the looking glass says
Seriously Ms. Youd, 3 years of DUE PROCESS in your opinion is long enough and therefore the owners who have invested so much in the county should have their property SEIZED by local government and be DEMOLISHED because of your RADICAL EMOTIONAL DEMANDS.