The Commission will be attempting to fill the District 4 commission seat in the coming weeks. We will be seeking someone with integrity, leadership and independence – one who has no further Deerfield Beach political ambitions. We have just such a man residing in District 4. He is a recently retired colonel and doctor, who commanded a combat M.A.S.H. unit, holding a Top Secret Clearance during the Iraqi campaign. Thus, there is no need to check his credentials and we can get three months of his desired expertise at no extra cost to taxpayers for background checks. He is Dr. Jamie Marlowe. It’s a “no-brainer.”
Richard F. McKay
Deerfield Beach
Historical series enjoyed; the question of Boinis’ beach
Dear Publisher:
I always enjoy your historical series; my all-time favorite is “Watching Hopalong Cassidy on TV in 1951 got me in trouble with the law.” It is a classic American story that is funny and paints a picture of life in Deerfield Beach in 1951.
I would like to request that you do a story on how we got into this odd arrangement of having the public restrooms at the beach built on land that does not belong to the city. I know the recent history: Pete Boinis bought it for $200,000 when he was trying to take over the pier and build a restaurant on it. Now, Mr. Boinis wants the city to pay him $600,000 for it. It doesn’t matter that real estate values in Broward County have declined by up to 55 percent. I understand that Mr. Boinis got an appraisal for over $700,000.00, but appraisals are primarily based on what comparable properties sold for, preferably in the past six months.
This property has no comparables. The closest comparable I know of is in three subdivisions that my brother and I developed in Georgia. Each time, we had some excess land left over that had no market value because it was next to a creek and could not be built on or the county required that 4 acres be set aside as green space. Each time, we donated the excess land to the county or the homeowners association. If a property produces no income and cannot be built on, it has no market value. It seems to me that this small parcel had no market value for years and only had value if a restaurant could be built on it. When that was shot down, it went back to a small strip of land with no market value. Mr. Boinis gambled on this property and he lost. Now, he wants the taxpayers to bail him out with a golden parachute, kind of like on Wall Street.
I have been going to our public beach for 30 years and I had no idea that it was not all public property. You would think that the owner gave the city permission to use it and the public-use would be grandfathered in. In that case, why would the city need to buy it? One more question that you probably cannot answer: Why do our city officials want to pay Mr. Boinis three times his purchase price when the value of everyone else’s property is collapsing? I’m sure that your readers would be interested in the history of this parcel of land.
Robert Lloyd
Deerfield Beach
P.S. I wanted to let you know that your paper is read in Clayton, GA by Timothy Butler, who lived in this area 10 years ago. You may know him. After my last letter about four months ago Timothy asked my brother, “Do you have a brother in Deerfield Beach who writes letters to the editor?” In that letter, I said that the last three houses my brother built in Clayton were sold to buyers from West Palm Beach, Pennsylvania and New York. The point being … not only are Floridians fleeing the state, but retirees from the northeast are avoiding Florida in favor of the other southern states where property taxes are much lower.
