Ford Appeals Vote On The Pier Lawsuit

Local attorney and current mayoral candidate Kathleen Ford has appealed Circuit Judge Jack Day's decision to side with the city of St. Petersburg in the Vote on the Pier lawsuit. 

"The circuit court committed reversible error when it granted the city's motion for summary judgment holding that the city's five-story, 78,000 sq. ft. 'pier building' was not 'real property' while ignoring the plain meaning of 'permanent disposition' of real property," Ford wrote in the appeal. 

She said the ruling by the court limits the city charter's intentions to protect city-owned park and waterfront property. Ford also said the court erred when it allowed the city to go forward with the pier demolition process. 

"The citizens of St. Petersburg enacted special procedures in their municipal charter to protect the city's spectacular waterfront parks and waterfront property," Ford wrote in Monday's appeal. "Specifically, the charter requires the city to obtain referendum approval for the sale, donation or lease of city owned park and waterfront property."

In April, Day wrote of the Vote On the Pier lawsuit, "This lack of connection to the charter is the most serious problem with the form of the petition. It is a fatal defect."

He sided with the city that argued the Vote On The Pier petition was not related to a city ordinance, only a capital project. The city charter only recognizes petitions dealing with city law. 

Ford originally filed the lawsuit on behalf of the 15,652 Vote on the Pier petitioners following city council's vote to deny the public a right to vote on the future of the St. Petersburg Pier. 

The city then moved forward with the process to build the "Lens" pier design. 

In the fall another group, Stop the Lens, started a petition drive to stop the Michael Maltzan Architecture pier design. 

The anti-"Lens" group was successful in May and turned in the required amount of petitions. 

A public vote on the city's contract with Maltzan to build the "Lens" will happen on the Aug. 27 primary after council approved ballot language in June. Ford is also on that primary ballot for mayor against incumbent Mayor Bill Foster and former city councilor Rick Kriseman.