County and Siesta businessman’s attorney ink settlement of Code Enforcement case
Siesta Key businessman and chiropractor Dr. Gary Kompothecras will pay only one-fourth of a fine that a Code Enforcement Special Magistrate imposed in June 2022 on the Crescent Club on south Siesta Key in a noise violation case, The Sarasota News Leader has learned.
The Final Judgment, dated April 5, explains that the fine has been reduced from $4,000 to $1,000, “plus the $10.00 recording fee.”
The document points out that CCSK Land Holdings LLC — which technically is the owner of the Crescent Club property — deposited $4,340 “in the [12th Judicial Circuit] Court Registry as a civil bond in this matter,” so the payment will be taken out of those funds, with the remainder of the money to be released to CCSK.
Further, Kompothecras and Sarasota County agreed that each party would be responsible for its own attorneys’ costs and fees.
Circuit Judge Hunter Carroll presided over the case.
Sarasota attorney Robert Lincoln represented CCSK. Assistant County Attorney Scott Bossard handled the case on behalf of Sarasota County, the Final Judgmentshows.
Kompothecras bought the Crescent Club on Jan. 4, 2019 for $3.4 million, Sarasota County Property Appraiser’s Office records note. In 2022, the market value of the parcel, plus the building, was $1,528,700. That was up from $1,260,100, as shown in the Property Appraiser’s Office records for 2021.
The club stands at 6519 Midnight Pass Road, in the southern commercial district of Siesta Key.
During an April 22, 2022 hearing, the Code Enforcement Special Magistrate heard testimony that the Crescent Club repeatedly had violated the county’s noise ordinance, as indicated by documents that the News Leader received through a public records request. The Special Magistrate ordered the Crescent Club “to correct the violation.”
Rick Russ, the county Code Enforcement officer assigned to Siesta Key, told members of the Siesta Key Association (SKA) during their June 2, 2022 meeting that the initial complaint about the Crescent Club was filed by an SKA member the previous fall. The problem, he continued, was that the live music at the club continued after 10 p.m., contrary to the provisions of the county’s noise ordinance. The club would have to obtain a Special Exception from the county to be able to provide entertainment after 10 p.m., he pointed out.
During the June 3, 2022 Special Magistrate hearing, with the club’s staff having failed to comply with the order to correct the violation, the Special Magistrate imposed the $4,000 fine, “plus interest at the legal rate of 4.25% per annum and a $10.00 recording fee,” the resulting document stated, with emphasis.
No one appeared at the hearing on behalf of the club, in spite of the fact that CCSK Land Holdings was “duly served with a notice” of the hearing, the public records said.
However, Section 2-351 of the Sarasota County Code of Ordinances allows for the appeal of such a decision within 30 days. Thus, on June 29, 2022, attorney Lincoln filed a Notice of Appeal with the 12th Judicial Circuit Court.
Judge Carroll had granted three motions that Lincoln had filed in the case, seeking additional time to submit the initial brief on behalf of CCSK, as Lincoln worked with the Office of the County Attorney to try to settle the issue, court records note. In the last of those motions, filed on Feb. 9, Lincoln wrote, “The parties are progressing in a good faith attempt to reach a settlement in this matter and the require additional time to implement the administrative processes contemplated.”
Kompothecras seems to “own” the judges and Sarasota County commissioners so it is no surprise he can thumb his nose at any county ordinance he doesn’t like.
Judge Carroll, back in the day – 2010 or so – had a good reputation as an attorney. He has become a disappointment as a judge. This is the not the first decision he made that suggested favouritism.