The Key West Citizen Newspaper, November 15, 1952, Page 8

PageS T'E KEY WEST CITIZEN y OWNS THE Here are the last 17 of the total of 78 owners of the Key West waterfront, private and public, from the end of Whitehead Street on the Atlantic around the U.S. Naval Station up to the end of Thmop- ton Enterprise holdings crossing Grinnell Street. The numbers in the above map are keyed to the numbers below which are a con- tinuation of the maps published on the Real Estate pages of Novem- ber 1 and November 8. ‘ 61. Bay bottom from Whitehead Street to old Fort Taylor on the Naval Station owned by the Florida Internal Improvement Board. 62, Waterfront land from Whitehead Street to the Aquarium owned by the United States of America. This includes the navi- gable water from old Fort Taylor, running outside the Mole and the Naval Station, as well as the submarine basin within the Mole: ‘The USA owns the navigable waters into the Gulf of Mexico and the waterfront of the Operational Development Station around to and including the land and waterfront of the Seaplane Base. 63, The Municipal Aquarium, which is the Street end of White- head Street on the Gulf is owned by the City of Key West. 64. The old Mallory dock, including 464 feet of waterfront back to Wall Street was recently bought by the City of Key West. 65. Gulf Oil Company owns the waterfront from the old Mallory Property to Front Street, except for — 66. Duval Street end owned by City. 67. Gulf Oil owns 311 feet and eight inches to Front Street. 68. 88 feet of waterfront and back to Front Street owned by City. 69. Simonton Street end owned by City. 69. William Curry and Sons and A. Maitland Adams own the next huge parcel of waterfrong land which runs from Simonton Street all the way around to Front Street. This includes the old Curry and Sons building. 70. Front Street end owned by City. ‘71. The water in Key West Bight, except for that bordering on the Naval Base's Operational Development Station, is owned by the Florida Internal Improvement Board. 72. Berlin E. Felton owns the waterfront for half a block. No |", bey bottom. 78. Bernie C. Papy owns from the middle of the Dleck, 261 feet on Greene Street, No bay bottom. 14, Greene Street end owned by the City. 18. From Greene to William Street 347 feet along the water- | front and beck to Caroline, 355 feet deep iricluding bay bottom, | Mr. and Mrs. Charley Toppino. This is an entire city block in| Bength, and includes the bay bottom, some of which has been filled by Toppino. It is now under lease to the Key West Shrimp com- | pany. 16. Street end of William owned by City. | 77, Everything from William Street to Trumbo road, a distance @f 898 feet of wa ront, is owned by Thompson Enterprises. At Seme points the property runs 355 feet from Caroline to the water @minishing to 162 feet in depth on the east side of Grinnell Street. | ‘These holdings include rights to docks and piers jutting out into | the waters of Key West Bight, though there is no record of bay! bottom owned by Thompson Enterpriggs, The Matgaret and Grin. | well Street ends are owned by the City. The navigable water in| Rey West Bight is owned by the U.S. Government. 78. Wisteria Island t shown on this map is owned by Pau! Bawyer. It is a soil area 1500 feet by 800 feet and anciudes about 100 feet of bay bottom Surrounding the Island. i Saturday, November 15, 1952 PART Ill WATERFRONT? Grand Jury Strengthens Official’s Fight For Public Ownership Of KW Waterfront And Bay Bottom \ By SUSAN. McAVOY Real Estate Editor The people of Key West are so far the losers in the war of the waterfront, Mayor C. B. Harvey told this reporter yesterday. “Back in 1950 we in the City Commission tried to buy bay bottom all around the Island, from the Florida Internal Improve- ment Board. We were refused. Today, that same bay bottom is being sold off to private individuals. And if you think Key West is bad, take a look at what is happening to bay bottom along the Keys. The people will wake up some time and find out they are permanently shut off from the waterfront.” The subject is such a hot one te ee ane ates in Key West today that the Grand | acquiring through purchase the Jury made strong recommenda-| bay bottom lands and “thereby tions in its report Thursday that jrestraining private individuals from the city try to salvage what it can | exploitation of public property of the ravished shore line of the | through the dredging of areas that Island which was once a coral gem | would ordinarily be used as public in a sea of blue. 5 beaches.” He urged the Commis- The Grand Jury asked the City | Commission to “‘find ways and | this matter so that the City “would means to buy bay bottom land/be in a position to control its along Roosevelt Boulevard.” It | growth in these areas.” er reccmmended that it put| Lester made application to the a stop to the practice of private | Internal Improvement Board as landlords on Palm Avenue running | directed back in 1950. This board down Roosevelt Boulevard, fil- | which is composed of Governor ling the water, out into Garrisqn | Fuller Warren and top cabinet of- Bight, thus drying up more and | ficers turnéd down the city’s re- more of the one little water area quest. that belongs to the people of Key | Yet less than a year later the West. 11B sold off acreage to private in- Though the city sold the street dividuals, Lyman B. Witaker, and ends of Petronia and Pine to own- | his wife. sion to take immediate action in | ers Mrs. Margaret Mitchell and Ralph G. Milner, the Grand Jury asks that the City ‘acquire pro- Perty “opposite the streets ends abutting on Palm Avenue for extension of said streets, thereby affording the public access to the waterfront of Garrison Bight.” That the City of Key West long | ago made a real effort to save part of the waterfront and bay bottom for the public is borne out by a research into the minutes of the commission meeting of June 5, 1950. At that meeting Commissioner Hervey made a motion unani- mously passed that “the City At- | termey take the necessary action te acquire all bay Bottom lands for a distance ef 300 feet from the shore line, beginning at the swimming pee! on Reesevelt Bou- levard circling areund the east- ern end and down to Bertha Street” on the south side of the istand. City Attorney M. Ignatius Les- ter wes instructed by Commission- ers Harvey, Jobo Carbonell, Louis Carbeseil, and Mayor Eisner to ect on this ungnimousiy approved motien Marvey said that the public's The IIB sold to Whitakers five acres of bay bottom for $1,875 at the valuable corner of Dredgers Key Road and Roosevelt Boule- | vard. This is across the causeway from the 28 acre purchase of bay bottom from the IIB by Claude | Gandolfo and Howard Wilson The latter partners paid $2,000 for one parcel 40 feet by 543 feet, according to a deed filed at the courthouse last month. They have not as yet recorded the deed for the larger parcel of the 28 acres rd for a distance of 20 feet to the point of beginning of the property herein after des- cribed from said point of be: ming continue sortheasteriy Tights should be safeguarded by | | thence southwesterly and parallel | with the northwesterly right of , way lene of Roosevelt Boulevard | for a distance of 400 feet to a point | thence southeasterly and parallel with said Dredgers Key Road for a distance of 545 feet to the point of beginning,. containing five acres more or less.” The II Board said in the deed , that “no materials for fill shall | be taken from the submerged bot- toms within 550 feet of the edge |of Roosevelt Boulevard for a dis- tance parallel with the said boule- vard of 3,000 feet each side of the causeway to Dredgers Key, or with- jin 410 feet either side of the edge |of causeway to Dredgers Key for |a distance of 550 feet from Roose- velt Boulevard measured along | Dreders Key causeway, | Outside of non-dredging area, | material may be taken from sub- merged bottoms sufficient to fill the area described in this deed.” The last sentence indicates that Whitaker intends to build on his five acres, just as Gandolfo and | Wilson plan to across the road, an acre just leased to Chuck's Drive-In Restaurant, Both these bay bottoms areas are in that bay bottom area re- | fused the City of Key West in their | request to the Internal Improve- | landlord be made payable to the |5 Teduired to file a notice wi chauge ‘ment Board in June 1950, The city has a 125 foot strip of ‘bay bottom running through the | Gandolfo-Wilson acreage parallel with the boulevard and running | down to its swimming pool. | The city bay bottom does not | cross Dredgers’ Key Road accord- ing to city officials. This bay bot- tom is owned by the II Board up ‘to the parcel of 11 and one half acres now owned by Samuel Golan en over in this fashion. “It is never too late to stop the encroachments upon the water- front and the bay bottom of Key e We don’t want another Miami Beach. Our water belongs to the people. We should protect WEST'S \YAR OF THE WA (These questions were selected | from ‘those often asked of the lo- | cal rent office. If you have a ques- | tion about the rent stabilization’ program, address it to: Area Rent | Office, 216 Federal Building, Key) West, Florida.) Q. This is a question that has, been bothering me for some time.| I'd like to know if a tenant is barred from bringing suit on his own behalf or from receiving a re- fund if the Government brings suit | if he has knowingly paid more than} the legal maximum rent. A. The answer is no. Even if| the tenant knowingly and wil-| fully paid more than the legal maximum rent either in monthly payments or in a lump sum he is not barred from seeking treble damages in a suit brought by| himself or from receiving a re- fund of single damages under a | judgment allowing it in the event a suit is brought by the Govern- ment. Of course, some courts may rule in a suit filed by the | Government that the tenant is} not entitled to damages and that | the total judgment against the! U.S. Treasury, | Q. Recently my tenant re-| ported to your office that I had overcharged him a little more than $100. I have offered to settle the claim with the tenant for $50 cash and he has agreed to accept it, Will this settle the case com- pletely with your office? | ter of policy the rent office prefers! | to settle non-willful overcharges to| ; ction of the land-| lord and the tenant. For instance, | | im cases where the overcharge was i ‘wilful and made simply to al- the | The Grand Jury recommendation he City “find ways and means uy bay bettom along Roose- velt Boulevard” may strengthen the hands of these public-spirited officials in their war of the Key West waterfront. Armed with a directive from the Jury, some City Commissioners are already at work finding the means te salvage hat is left of the vguishing shgce- ine so that Key West will sot be Miami Beach an area of 100 blocks with never a sight of from those often asked cf the local rent office. Wf you have a question about the rent stabilization pro gram address it to: tArea Rent Office, 216 Federal | Building, Key West Florida.) @. Two weeks ago the rent atfice granted me a certificate to proceed with eviction of my tenant after a three-month waiting period so that the house could be occupied by mr son who is retorning from over seas. New I have jearned that oy ison plans to live im another city | lization is concerned only with | the rent office within 15 days after A. No. It will not. The tenant’s| The tenant has not yet moved. What should I do now? A. You should immediately in- form the tenant of the change in cireumstances and withdraw the eviction request. You should. noti- fy the rent office in writing and ask that the eviction certificate be cancelled. ©Q. Does the rent office set maxi- mum rents on store buildings and other commercial buildings? A. No. The Office of Rent Stabi- rental units rented or offered for rent entirely or primarily for liy- ing or dwelling purposes. The Fed- eral rent regulations do not affect commercial rentals. Q. Do I have to get approval from the rent office before I can sell a house that I own and am renting out for which a registra- tion statement has been filed? Also, do I have to wait until the house is vacant before I can sell it? A. You do not have to obtain approval of the rent office before you can sell the house nor does it ve to be vacant. The new owner of ownership of the Property with ithe sale and assumes the respon- | sibilities required under the Fed- jeral rent regulations as establish- jed under the former owner (s). |Of course, the new owner cannot jimmediately gain possession from the tenant but is usually required | by the rent laws to wait three mon. ths before being allpwed to try to | eviet the tenant under local law. | The purpose of this waiting period | is to give the tenant time to locate another place in which to live. Eniwetok consists of some 30/ narrow strips of land rising . no | more than 16 feet above the waters of the Pacific. TERFRONT North Minch .: Inn Owner Asks For Breakwater Mrs. Mitchell Asks Army For 5 Year Extension On Garrison Bight Building Mrs. Margarita L. Mitchell, North Beach Inn owner has ap- plied to the Army Engineers Corps for a five year extension of work to complete her water in Garrison released by the The application states Mrs. Mitchell wants an of time to December 31, complete work under dated February 6, 194’ ing her to construct water in Garrison Bight, an of Florida Bay, at North Road near Petronia West.” This work, tion states, has not pleted. “The authorization expi: cember 31, 1950,” states plication. “The is fore requesting. an extension time in which to perform the work. par “It fs not proposed to a public hearing on this applica- tion,” states the Engineers Corps. bal Hee pipet. a unreasonably interfere with pub- lec navigation or would unfavor- of the said waterway, should submit such protest in writing in sufficient detail to permit of a clear gunderstanding of the rea- sons therefor.” ADDITION OF FOR THAT NEW HOME YOU WANT M. E. BENNETT CONSTRUCTION CO. RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL CONSTRUCTION ... 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