Frustration is mounting in Tamarac as residents are mobilizing to stop the sale of a private community’s clubhouse to the city, arguing it isn’t the city’s job to subsidize a crumbling problem.
A resident late Tuesday filed an emergency temporary injunction in Broward courts seeking to halt the pending sale. And residents on both sides of the issue were prepping for protests. At stake: In July, Tamarac city leaders voted 3-2 to pay $1.94 million to purchase a clubhouse in Shaker Village, a working-class community in the eastern section.
The community’s clubhouse, off Commercial Boulevard, has been in ruins since 2017 when a windstorm blew through and the roof collapsed.
The existing structure will be bulldozed and a new clubhouse would be open to the city residents. Construction for the new clubhouse is expected to be at least $6 million. Demolition is expected to cost another $75,000, city officials said. Those costs, too, would be funded by taxpayers.
But there is plenty of objection to those plans.
Tonya Nesbitt, a Shaker Village resident who opposes the sale, has filed a lawsuit in Broward circuit court seeking an emergency injunction “to protect Association members’ property rights and prevent the sale of Association property until members of the Association approve the sale.”
Records show Nesbitt has owned her three-bedroom unit since 2002, and she lives there with her youngest child, a 15-year-old son. She acknowledges the clubhouse is an “eyesore” but says the rules allow the 358 property owners to vote on the sale.
She also worries property values will be rise higher with the new construction, and that in turn will raise property taxes. And she argues that opening up the clubhouse to residents citywide will bring traffic woes.
She says until now, it’s been “too secretive of a process,” saying the board “is not transparent” with the residents.
Her attorney, Myron Siegel, who has taken the case pro bono “because we believe in the litigation,” says however Shaker Village residents vote is up to them — but 75% of them would need to approve the sale.
“We are asking the court to make a determination as to the rights of the parties, and while the court is determining that we’re asking the court to adjoin any attempted sale,” he said Wednesday. “The people who are there need to make that determination, the decision has to be up to them.
“If the court determines they have no rights, “then the Shaker Village association can move forward,” Siegel said. “If the courts determine the owners do have rights, they have to hold a vote.”
In addition, the office of Inspector General has requested records surrounding the deal. And it’s drawn the ire of other Tamarac residents who say they shouldn’t have to foot the bill.
Rich Bobker, the executive president of Kings Point, said a protest was planned Wednesday night, where residents would wear red “for anger” because of the unwelcome financial burden. The protest was set to coincide with city leaders planning to vote on what Shaker Village could do with the public property, such as a promised meeting space.
“It’s not up to the city to pay for a condo association’s amenities,” Bobker said. “We’re all going to be paying for it. Shaker Village does not want to raise their dues to take care of their property. (That) is not the city’s problem.
“We should not be put under this burden. Some people cannot even pay for food and we’re going to hit them with more taxes?”
A chief supporter of the deal is Tamarac’s vice mayor, Marlon Bolton, who also lives at Shaker Village.
He said he has lived at two different locations within the community since about 2017, first renting from the association, then from a private landlord.
He is a church pastor, and his North Lauderdale-based church bought the home he was currently renting from a landlord in May, he said. Bolton still lives in that home and now rents from the church, where records show he and his wife are among the church directors.
Bolton has previously argued that the deal resolves the deficiency of the unequal “distribution of services in the east and the west” since the new clubhouse would be an amenity.
On Wednesday, he elaborated in a text message, saying that “the residents of eastern Tamarac are underserved. Voting yes on the sale of the clubhouse addresses a public need.”
Mayor Michelle Gomez said the city should have held meetings with the community before contracts were being written, “and understand what was wanted and needed,” she said. “This was very much a surprise.”
“It’s pitting neighbors against neighbors,” she said. “It’s bad public policy.”
Gomez said some Shaker Village residents have reported to her that they are being harassed if they’ve spoken out against the sale. “The decision making that was made has already caused a problem.”
Shaker Village residents also have been encouraged to show up to voice support for the project to counter “a misinformation campaign” led by residents out west, according to a letter that is circulating in the community.
The letter offers them a $25 gift card for showing up as long as they wear the “Unity” T-shirt. The person behind the contact phone number did not take phone calls Wednesday, and referred callers to text.
Text requests for comment about who was behind the gift cards were not answered.
Shaker Village President Jodi-Ann Reid said Wednesday no board member has accepted the gift cards, and “I don’t believe you should be incentivized to help your own community.”
She said a woman who identified herself to Reid as an “independent consultant” is giving away the gift cards, but Reid doesn’t have a name.
“The east side of Tamarac is severely underfunded,” she said. “It’s not about Shaker Village, it’s about the entire east side. It’s (going to be) a community center for the entire city of Tamarac.”
Lisa J. Huriash can be reached at . Follow on Twitter @LisaHuriash
