Court Case Against Biltmore Accepted

The circuit court has agreed to hear a lawsuit brought by 3 Belleair residents against the town and Legg Mason Real Estate Investors, the owners of the Belleview Biltmore, claiming the Belleair Commission acted inappropriately in its conduct of public hearings regarding the Belleview Biltmore owner’s request for variances to the town’s building code.
The litigation alleges among other things that the commission had already made up its mind to grant the variances and that the May hearing was “tainted by the mayor’s clear favoritism for the applicant.” The suit also suggests that the commission failed to provide equal time to residents to fully present their opposition to the variance requests. The town now has 30 days to file a response, and the complainants have an opportunity to respond.