Commissioners in Lake Worth, Florida, repealed two of three leases for the new casino at Lake Worth Beach in a 3-2 vote yesterday after approving all three leases the day before.
The fickle actions were thought to be due to questions about the process of leasing to a former longtime tenant of the old casino.
In a report by The Palm Beach Post, Suzanne Mulvehill, who is for the leases, said the time spent approving then rescinding the leases for a surf shop and pizza restaurant was “an embarrassment.”
Mayor Pam Triolo said she decided to repeal the two leases as she was “worried about fairness”, stating she “doesn’t want anybody to feel slighted”. The Vice Mayor, Scott Maxwell, was on the Mayor’s side, voting against the leases for Fox Surf and Beach Shop and NYPD Pizza he agreed to scrap them and start over: “We’ve been changing the rules throughout the night,” he said. “I’m embarrassed to have been a part of it.”
The lease that did get approved was a 10-year deal with a chocolate and ice cream shop, which will occupy 1,332 square feet of ground-floor space at a beginning annual rate of $25 a square foot. This would also increase annually, the report stated.
However, the deciding of which restaurants will occupy the restaurant space in the renovated florida casino isn’t over yet. There are plenty of other eateries to look at and apprive leases for to fill the space.
Something the commissioners did decide on, however, was to split the upstairs and downstairs space and lease them to two different restaurants, connecting them with an internal stairwell.
