Years later, Marine Mammal Conservancy property still in limbo
A lengthy court dispute over a Key Largo waterfront property once used as a marine-mammal rescue nears its second year.
"It remains in litigation with our motion for a rehearing," Monroe County Attorney Bob Shillinger said Thursday. "Nothing is going to happen until that gets resolved."
The three-acre Marine Mammal Conservancy property at mile marker 102.4 "is kind of sitting there," Shillinger said.
The nonprofit acquired the property two decades ago to serve as a base for rehabilitating stranded dolphins and whales. During rescue efforts, unpaid volunteers and news media often filled the site on Tarpon Basin.
The most recent rehabilitation effort at the Key Largo center took place in 2011.
Over time, the MMC was cited for numerous Monroe County code violations on permit violations and unapproved storage. Those triggered a series of escalating fines. Most of the violations apparently have been remedied, but the uncollected fines compiled over years -- estimated by the county are close to $700,000 -- remain unresolved.
MMC officers acknowledged they also had missed several mortgage payments, which left the site in danger of foreclosure.
Monroe County commissioners approved buying the mortgages for about $550,000 to prevent the property from being sold at a foreclosure auction.
The MMC, which still holds legal rights to the property, and the county have been at odds since 2014.
In February, MMC attorneys offered to pay Monroe County $146,893 to settle the code cases and pledged pay off the mortgage within 120 days of agreement.
County commissioners, who have suggested using the site for a mooring-field base or affordable housing, have not yet discussed a counter-offer, Shillinger said.
If the property goes to auction, Monroe County wants the code fines to be included in the sale price.
A ruling last year by Circuit Court Judge Luis Garcia said the fines are a separate issue. The county seeks a rehearing on that decision.
This story was originally published April 9, 2016 at 9:49 AM with the headline "Years later, Marine Mammal Conservancy property still in limbo."