HOLMES BEACH — Special Magistrate Michael Connolly ruled in favor of the city in two code compliance cases against the owners of the Bali Hai Beach Resort, but attorney Louis Najmy said the fight is not over.

The close of a special hearing on April 26 into code compliance involved two cases involving Bali Hai — one for having more units than expected and another for renting low-speed electric vehicles on the property.

The first case involved the rental of GEM cars on the property without the rental being an approved use under the site plan. Representing station ownership, including majority owner Shawn Kaleta, Najmy said that while GEM cars are on the property at any given time, they are not leased by the station. Instead, he said, they are owned and leased by a third-party affiliate, AMI GEM Cars, and he provided a communication from the owners stating they are not otherwise involved with Bali Hai.

After reviewing documentation from code compliance officers showing that the cars were available for rental through the resort’s front desk, Connolly ruled that the resort owners could not rent or store the cars on the property and that they would not couldn’t advertise them for hire through Bali Hai. He acknowledged that if a resort guest had rented a GEM car and it was parked on the property, it would not be a violation.

The resort’s website has since been updated to indicate that GEM cars are available but are rented through AMI GEM Cars, not Bali Hai.

The second case, regarding the existence of an unauthorized 43rd unit on the property, caused Najmy to ask Connolly to recuse himself, saying he felt the special magistrate was biased against his client, Kaleta. Connolly said he was sorry Najmy felt that way, but if the attorney puts his concerns in writing, he should think about it.

After hearing statements from code officers as well as city planner Bill Brisson, Connolly ruled that the owners of the resort were in violation of city codes, having one unit out of the maximum 42 that Bali Hai acquired. While the various building plans presented by city staff and Najmy showed the unit in question as a rental unit on some and a flexible space with no dormitory on another, staff noted that they had observed that the unit had bedding. Najmy argued that while the unit exists, it is being used as a backup in case one of the other 42 units needs repairs and cannot be rented out. He said the resort never rents more than 42 units at a time.

City Attorney Erica Augello said it didn’t matter if the resort only rented 42 units at a time; having a 43rd unit available places the station above its maximum density due to the ability to lease 43 units.

Connolly ordered the owners of the complex to come into compliance by removing the 43rd unit from the property and providing documentation to the building official proving that there were only 42 units available on the property.

The battle over uses in Bali Hai does not end with special magistrate hearings. Several cases are pending in Manatee County Court appealing Connolly’s decisions against the resort owners and the site plan approval granted by the Holmes Beach Commissioners limiting uses on the property.

At the time of going to press for The Sun, no hearings were scheduled in any of the pending cases.

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