On Tuesday, Alvarez told commissioners the team’s owners are willing to pay the permit fees as long as the city lets them start using the south lot for parking through the end of the season in October. In the end, everyone agreed to head back to the negotiating table, with former Mayor Jack Seiler again taking on the role of mediator and Commissioner John Herbst and Hasan, the assistant city attorney, representing the city.īoth sides spent nine hours in mediation on May 30, but failed to reach an agreement. Also in attendance was Pablo Alvarez, an attorney for team owners Jorge and Jose Mas and soccer legend David Beckham. Mayor Dean Trantalis, hoping there might be a meeting of the minds, urged the team’s owners to make an appearance at this week’s commission meeting.Īnd so on Tuesday, Toothaker showed up for the somewhat awkward public chat. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel) With Lionel Messi on the way, team owners are in a time crunch to add more seats but say work has not yet started. The scene on Wednesday at DRV PNK Stadium, where Inter Miami’s home games are played for now. They also promised to build a park on land south of the stadium.īut that land is being used for parking until the team can move to a new stadium slated to be built at Miami Freedom Park. In return, the team’s owners agreed to pay the city $1 a year over the course of a 50-year lease. Under the deal, Fort Lauderdale granted Beckham United the right to build the stadium. That’s the year the two sides made a deal to get a world-class stadium built on taxpayer-owned land.Īll the details were spelled out in a comprehensive agreement that some have since criticized as leaving the city in a weak position. Things were so much more rosy back in 2019. Three weeks ago, Fort Lauderdale barred Inter Miami from using the 20-acre lot south of the stadium after the soccer club’s owners missed a new May 31 deadline to pay permit fees that were due three years ago.īeckham United needs that parking lot like a desert needs water.īut until those building permit fees get paid, the overflow lot is off-limits, Fort Lauderdale officials say. I’m not into the aggressive, hostile nature of what I’ve seen lately. “That whole letter might have been bogus. “I want to know more about that letter and if we made false allegations without checking out the site before it was sent,” he said. Glassman was also critical of the email that came out of the city attorney’s office. That means long-term parking solutions and finding ways we can accommodate the fans.” “We have to understand that one of the world’s most famous soccer players is going to play here for the next two or three years. “I don’t think that confrontation and attacks are the way to negotiate,” he said Thursday. The incident is the latest in a long-running dispute between the city and Miami Beckham United officials.Ī possible truce seemed to be in the works on Tuesday, with both sides agreeing to head into mediation talks for a second time to resolve their many issues: The $1.4 million in overdue permit fees, the long-promised public park that’s waiting to be built and that overflow parking lot Inter Miami desperately needs, especially with Messi on the way.Ĭommissioner Steve Glassman blamed the latest dust-up on his own city. There was a crane on site which was removing four food and beverage refrigerator containers and replacing them, and another crane was used to move two shipping containers that contain the Fanatics team stores.” Latest flare-up “This is considered regular and routine maintenance. “Metro Sign Company was using a boom lift, not a crane, to repair and reinstall existing scrim (mesh fabric) on the side of the stadium,” she wrote. Toothaker went on to explain the other work taking place earlier in the day.
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