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Holding
their ground
Police
break up Villagers' protest of club's closing
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COURTESY :
The Ocala Star-Banner By
JOE CALLAHAN
Published July 1, 2005
A Lady Lake police supervisor admitted Thursday that she was wrong for ordering three officers to break up a group of Villages retirees protesting the closing of a popular restaurant.
About 30 retirees were protesting in front of The Villages sales office at the downtown square when three officers told the group that they needed a picketing permit to continue.
"It's like the 'Best Little Whore House in Texas,' we're shut down," said one picketer, Villages resident Robert Blakeley. "We have the right to do what we're doing, yet they say we must leave."
Thirty minutes after the protesters left, Lady Lake police Lt. Lori Davis acknowledged she was wrong to break up the peaceful protest before getting advice from Town Clerk Sue Gay and acting Town Attorney Derek Schroth.
"I feel like what she did was wrong," said Bill Garner, who led the protest at the two different Villages sales offices. "She should have checked into the matter before breaking up a lawful protest. She did call to apologize, and we do appreciate that."
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Davis said she thought there was a city ordinance requiring any group that wants to protest to get a permit at the Lady Lake Town Hall.
The supervisor said she thought the permit fell under the same ordinance that requires permits for any organization or person wanting to have a parade.
"Once I found out that I was wrong, I tried to call them and let them know they can picket as long as it is in a peaceful manner," she said.
Responding Lady Lake Officer William Olsen said he was not planning to make any arrests, even if the protesters did not follow their orders.
"I'm not going to arrest people that old," Olsen said as he stood on the sidewalk in front of the sales office |
Lady
Lake Police Officer Jim McGarvey, right, shrugs his shoulders to
Robert
Blakeley, left, after protesters were asked to disperse. |
and listened to numerous complaints.
"This sidewalk is public property and we can protest here," one picketer said.
Officer Gene Wadkins told picketers that police have issued trespass warnings to dozens of people forbidding them from coming back to the downtown square. Wadkins said the developer had the right to keep people off the property if the developer chooses.
But Davis soon learned a few minutes later that the sidewalk, streets and town square are public property and people have the right to visit as long as they are not causing any type of disturbance.
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"Where they were protesting is a public place, and we cannot make them stop protesting unless what they are doing is considered a danger to the public or causes safety concerns," Davis said.
Just an hour earlier, as the group circled the sales office at the new Lake-Sumter Landing sales office, the Sumter County Sheriff's Office also told the protesters to move off the sidewalk.
"This is private property," said Sumter County |
"We've
made our point," Bill Garner(cq), center, said to the group of 30
Village
residents protesting about the closing of the Chula Vista restaurant
Thursday
morning in front of the Lake Sumter Landing sales office. The
group
were run off by the Sumter County Sheriff's Department after they
were
told that the sidewalk they were protesting on was private
property. |
sheriff's Lt. Nehmiah Wolfe, who is assigned The Villages. "My supervisor has informed me that you must picket on the other side of the street at the town square."
Wolfe said he would not arrest any violators. Instead, he said, he would take names of all those who wished to continue protesting on the sidewalk.
"Then we would submit those cases to the state attorney," said Wolfe, who seemed relieved that the protesters followed his orders despite arguments that the sidewalk is public property.
The protesters had gathered to show their displeasure for the closing of the Chula Vista Club, a popular restaurant and lounge that was operated by The Villages development until recent years.
The Chula Vista Club featured quality food and entertainment, including three-piece bands and dancing. The facility has a swimming pool, golf courses and nearby tennis courts.
After Villages developer Gary Morse decided to get out of the restaurant business a few years ago, he leased out all the restaurants. Recently, the Chula Vista Club operator decided not to renew his lease.
The restaurant closed a few weeks ago, and The Villages announced that it plans to turn the building into a recreation center. That means once it is renovated, the structure will be sold to the Villages Center Community Development District.
That means the residents amenity fees will pay for the sale.
"We do not believe this is right," said Joe Gorman, president of the Villages Property Owners Association. "That's why we are out here. We want our restaurant back, and we don't want to pay for another rec center."
Villages spokesman Gary Lester said the picketers can't blame The Villages because a private party chose not to continue operating the restaurant.
"They can protest all they want, but they are protesting against a private person and not The Villages development," Lester said. "It wasn't our choice to discontinue operating the Chula Vista Club. That was a decision by a private person who leased the building."
Protesters claim The Villages administration raised the cost of the lease to the point where no one could operate the club in the black. Lester denied those allegations, stating the facility will now become a new recreational or community center.
"It will undergo the same process as all the other recreational centers in the community," Lester said. Under that process, the developer builds the centers and sells them to VCCDD to operate and maintain.
Picketer Rocky Rocheleau said he will miss the Chula Vista Club, a place where he and his wife had gone for 12 years to dance. He loved the atmosphere and dreads having to pay for another community center.
"We always had a blast there," he said.
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