Legal expert says city defied Judge's Tringali order

The former Tringali lots at 4th Street before clear cutting began last week.

A prominent legal expert said the City of Fernandina Beach is defying a standing court order by its greenlighting construction of triplexes on contentious downtown property lots.

In a highly critical letter sent July 10 to Interim City Attorney Harrison Poole, George Washington University law professor Bradford R. Clark, warned that the city probably violated a December 2023 court ruling by issuing permits for four new triplex units on the former Tringali property on 4th and 3rd Streets.

The city issued building permits for the construction to begin and work crews began clear cutting the lost last week. The property prep work was halted when a litigant in the case filed an administrative appeal with the city and a stop work order was issued.

Bradford Clark

Clark teaches at the William Cranch Research at George Washington Law and is a longtime resident of Fernandina Beach. In his letter, Clark maintains the city is flouting a binding order from Circuit Judge James Roberson. That order, which was upheld last week by an appellate court, found that multifamily development such as triplexes on the property violated the city's Land Development Code (LDC).

“The City cannot, consistent with the LDC, issue any permits for the construction of anything other than single-family dwellings on the property in question,” Clark wrote.

According to Clark, the city is in error in recently issuing permits to Worthy Investment, the new owner of the property once controlled by the Tringali family trust.

Clark stressed that the city's issuance of permits contradicts Judge Roberson’s interpretation of Section 1.03.05 of the LDC, which he says clearly prohibits multifamily units on the parcel without a variance from the Board of Adjustment — a step the developer has not taken.

In an internal email to city commissioners explaining the rationale supporting issuing the permits, City Manager Sarah Campbell asserted that the city is not involved in the pending litigation — a claim Clark calls “patently false.”

“The City was, and remains, a party to the case,” he wrote, pointing out that Fernandina Beach not only participated in the case at the trial level but also filed briefs on appeal before withdrawing in December 2024.

“By withdrawing from the appeal, the City has tacitly accepted the Order,” Clark added.

The original dispute stems from a years-long neighborhood effort to block high-density development on the Tringali property, located downtown on 3rd and 4th Streets. Worthy had sought to build 12 townhouses on a subdivided Tringali property. But the LDC prohibits subdividing the lot unless a variance was granted by the Board of Adjustment. The BOA denied the variance by a 5-0 vote.

Residents, including Clark, have argued that allowing triplexes or townhomes on the site would alter the character of the area and violates zoning restrictions.

At last week's city commission meeting, Campbell was questioned about the building permits and asked to obtain a legal opinion from the city's contracted law firm Carr Allison regarding the triplex project. That opinion has yet to be made public.

Just days after the commission meeting, Campbell terminated the Director of Planning and Conservation Kelly Gibson, an 18-year city employee, in the wake of the current controversy.

The city has 30 days from the filing of the administrative appeal to hold a hearing by the Board of Adjustment to rule on the appeal.

No official response to Clark's letter has been released from the City Attorney’s office or City Manager Campbell.