Legal threats, racial overtones as Wellington votes on vegetation rules

Article Courtesy of  The BPalm Beach Post

By Kristina Webb

Published January 29, 2019

  

One of the village’s major landowners, Glenn Straub, threatened further lawsuits and said if forced to operate his golf courses, ‘You’re not going to like the black people who come in here, the Hispanics.’
 

Already-heated rhetoric between Wellington officials and developer Glenn Straub took on a racial overtone Tuesday when he threatened the village with further lawsuits and said that if forced to operate his now-inactive golf courses, “You’re not going to like the black people who come in here, the Hispanics.”

The comments came as the Village Council considered clarifications to its nuisance vegetation ordinance that would affect the golf courses at Palm Beach Polo Golf and Country Club and Polo West, which Straub owns through a pair of companies.

If forced to operate the courses and not just maintain them, Straub said he would start offering Frisbee golf and soccer golf, which would draw “the black people who come in here, the Hispanics.”

 

Straub’s comments drew shouts from the crowd, which prompted a call from Mayor Anne Gerwig for decorum.


The ordinance — which passed unanimously — updates Wellington’s code to better define how vegetation on all properties must be maintained. Vegetation over six inches tall now is considered a nuisance on golf courses and undeveloped, developed, partially developed or vacant half-acre or smaller parcels.

About a dozen residents with homes along Straub’s courses commented in favor of the updated rules, including Palm Beach Polo Property Owners Association President Andrew Carduner, who said property values at the massive, 1,200-home community have dropped since the 18-hole Dunes golf course stopped operating last year.

“We are in desperate need of relief,” he said, calling the vegetation rules “a win-win for the village and the homeowners.”

“Those properties you think were worse, you think are bad two weeks ago?” Straub responded. “They’re going to be worse, Mr. Carduner, than what they were before, because I’ll have the public in there. You think you had a private facility? You can’t stop the public coming in. For $3, you can come in and play golf at the golf course. You want me to do that, I’ll go ahead and do it. I think I’ve done pretty well for the values of your constituents to go ahead and protect their property values for 27 years. It was a boarded-up facility. I put the money in it. I went ahead and put 27 years of my life in it.”

After the first hearing for the changes Jan. 8, the village and Straub’s representatives met to discuss the ordinance. Straub said he then instructed his crews to cut the grass on his properties to the required six inches.
 

But he asked the village to “hold off” on updating the ordinance.

“I’ll spend the money to beat you in court if I have to, because you’re taking away property rights,” he said Tuesday.

Wellington and Straub are engaged in several lawsuits over property maintenance, with Straub’s companies facing millions of dollars in fines from the village.

Lance Goodwin, president of the Chukker Cove association inside Palm Beach Polo, called the dead grass on the course “a huge fire hazard.”

“All that stood between us and a major fire is a match or a cigarette,” he said. “It’s something that we shouldn’t even contemplate here in the village of Wellington.”

Straub in 2017 applied to Wellington to change the types of uses allowed on his courses. Had those uses been approved, things could be different, said Straub’s attorney Alexander Domb.

“One of those golf courses had to be shut down,” he said, referring to the Dunes.

Straub argued the “emergency” of tall grass on his properties has been taken care of by the recent cutting.

Several residents after the meeting questioned why the village council did not address Straub’s comments, specifically about race. The council does not respond to comments during public hearings.

“I’m not responsible for Mr. Straub’s statements,” Mayor Anne Gerwig said Wednesday night. ”... He really was exposing his own thoughts, whether that’s offensive or not.”

She was “really, really upset” to the point of tears when confronted after the meeting by a resident who accused her of racism, she said.


It’s difficult for officials to sanction commenters for free speech, Gerwig said, adding that she tried to “ratchet down” the tension between Straub, the council and those in the crowd. “I don’t like the grandstanding,” she said.

Gerwig said she has asked Village Manager Paul Schofield to look into the possibility of Straub opening the Palm Beach Polo golf course to the public.

Vice Mayor Michael Drahos addressed Straub in comments before the vote.

“If you buy a golf course, you bought a golf course and you should maintain it as a golf course,” Drahos said. “And the solution is not to stand up here and threaten the council or the community with the idea that you’re going to punish us further or you’re just going to litigate this to death until we let you build on your property. You bought a golf course, maintain it as a golf course and if you don’t want to, sell it to somebody who will, because it’s a golf course,” he said to applause.

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