Can Palm Beach shut down Mar-a-Lago Club? Here are details of pact Trump signed
What is a declaration-of-use agreement, and why does former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club have one with the town of Palm Beach?
Some Palm Beach Daily News readers have asked this question in recent days as the town considers its legal options — including possibly closing the club — to deal with the effects of the U.S. Secret Service-ordered indefinite closure of South Ocean Boulevard near Trump's estate.
And while Palm Beach officials have said that any discussions are premature, the question may arise in a very real sense as the date nears for the club to reopen for the town's busy social season, which typically begins around Thanksgiving each year. Three Mar-a-Lago Club members told the Daily News that the club is expected to open on Oct. 31, with the Beach Club — the part of Mar-a-Lago that sits closest to the Atlantic Ocean — opening a bit earlier.
Here's a look at what we know.
What's happening now?
Palm Beach's council on Tuesday directed town staff to start researching legal options, including the possibility of closing the club, as the island deals with the closure of South Ocean Boulevard next to Mar-a-Lago, from the Southern Boulevard traffic circle north to the intersection with South County Road.
Officials have said the road will be closed through at least the Nov. 5 general election. The Secret Service ordered the road to be shut down following the July 13 attempted assassination of Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, where Trump and two of his supporters were injured and another supporter was killed.
More: Secret Service confirms receipt of Palm Beach's letter about Mar-a-Lago road closure
The road's closure has affected traffic and emergency response times on the island, the town's police chief and fire rescue chief told the council Tuesday.
Congestion has also worsened on the Royal Park Bridge, the middle of the three bridges that connect Palm Beach to the mainland, because drivers who usually would take the Southern Boulevard Bridge near Mar-a-Lago are diverting there. Some drivers reported to the Daily News this week that they waited upwards of 45 minutes to cross the bridge, with one saying traffic Wednesday morning was backed up on Okeechobee Boulevard past the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach.
Officials only expect congestion to get worse as more people return to Palm Beach and season begins.
Council members and town staff have said they understand the need to protect Trump and his family and property from any threats. They have said this is not about politics, but rather about meeting the needs of all residents and ensuring their safety. Palm Beach business owners and residents felt the sting of congestion and delays when the road would close each time Trump visited Mar-a-Lago as president from 2017 to 2021.
More: Secret Service will meet with Palm Beach next week to discuss Mar-a-Lago road closure
What could happen as the club's opening nears?
Town Manager Kirk Blouin told the Daily News on Thursday that the declaration-of-use is not something the town is looking to challenge at the moment, when the club isn't even open. Once it does open, the discussion could be held, he said. But he characterized any considerations of legal action, including closing the club, as "premature."
The town has a meeting with the Secret Service this coming week to discuss the road closure, he said. Town staff will bring updates to the council as needed, he told the council Tuesday.
What is a declaration-of-use agreement?
Also known in some municipalities as conditions of approval, a declaration-of-use agreement is an impact-mitigation tool that Palm Beach can use to limit the effects of a special-exception use on the surrounding area.
In the case of Mar-a-Lago, it is a private club in a residential zoning district. Because it is in a residential zoning district, the Town Council had to vote in 1993 to grant a special exception to allow it.
The Daily News spoke with several current and former local planning officials who said conditions of approval or a declaration-of-use agreement are common tools in a planning official's toolbox, when it comes to limiting the effects of a special use on neighbors.
What are some of the details of Mar-a-Lago Club's agreement?
The original declaration-of-use agreement was created in 1993, when the town originally gave Trump permission to use Mar-a-Lago as a club, and filed with the county in official records in 1995.
Since then, it has been amended four times:
- 1999: The town approved several changes, including more broadly allowing photography at the club, requiring advanced reservations for all club facilities, allowing cabanas and permitting larger events as part of Trump's plans to build a 20,000-square-foot ballroom.
- 2002: This amendment to the agreement allowed construction of the pavilion for the Grand Ballroom to begin. The 1999 amendment had said construction could not move forward until the new Royal Park Bridge was completed.
- 2004: The third amendment incorporated the council's approval that year of plans to add a new kitchen building, covered breezeway between the kitchen, new ballroom and portable stage inside the ballroom, and new driveway and drop-off area on the north side of the ballroom building; increase the size of the loggia on the north side of the ballroom; move an air conditioning chiller; remove the limitation of events at cabanas; and allow the club to provide food and grill service at the cabanas.
- 2024: The most recent amendment changed the club's traffic management plan, a months-long process that involved the Secret Service, Palm Beach Police Department and town officials to work with Mar-a-Lago to mitigate the effects of traffic from large events at the club. That includes limiting the hours when events can be held, and requiring the largest events of several hundred people to provide a shuttle service from off site to lower the number of cars traveling directly to the club.
More: Palm Beach to review legal options, including closing club, over Mar-a-Lago road shutdown
Some on social media have circulated parts of the original declaration-of-use agreement that limit the number of people at an event at Mar-a-Lago to no more than 390 individuals. That changed as part of the first amendment, which allowed for not more than 600 people in an event under a tent at the property, or not more than 700 people at an event in the Grand Ballroom. Those numbers do not include club employees.
Other uses that are not allowed including gambling, docks, helicopter operations and "animal circuses." While Trump may not be able to have a circus at Mar-a-Lago, the estate's first owner, Marjorie Merriweather Post, did, hosting the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus at Mar-a-Lago in 1929 to perform for children in need during a fundraiser.
Those familiar with Trump's visits to Palm Beach as president will remember that the town — somewhat hesitantly — approved a helipad to be installed on Mar-a-Lago's west lawn, with the condition that it must be removed when Trump left office. The helipad was demolished in February 2021.
The agreement limits the number of guest suites at Mar-a-Lago to 10, and they are open only to club members and cannot be advertised.
The declaration-of-use agreement also includes this line: "The operations of the Club shall not result in a nuisance to any of the neighboring properties." Local planning officials who spoke to the Daily News said a nuisance typically involves excessive sound, unkempt property or unpleasant smells that affect neighbors.
Two planning officials and a local real estate attorney said a case to revoke the club's occupational license also could be made based on any perceived threats to the overall health, safety and welfare of Palm Beach's residents.
Ultimately, any decision to revoke an occupational license falls to the Town Council, and then it becomes a legal issue and would be subject to appeal, a local real estate attorney said.
Has this happened with other businesses in Palm Beach?
Yes. The Town Council in the past has held businesses to task for violating portions of declaration-of-use agreements.
The town also has reviewed declaration-of-use agreements, including for private clubs, when the business requests changes to the declaration-of-use, as the Mar-a-Lago Club has.
In 2022, the private, members-only Carriage House proposed amending its declaration-of-use agreement to allow outdoor cafe seating. That club's agreement was finalized in 2019 following hours and hours of negotiations, and that agreement stipulated that the club could not request any amendments within two years of opening.
When the Carriage House opened in March 2022, it faced concerns over the safety of indoor seating following the COVID-19 pandemic, and sought outdoor seating as a potential solution given "the extenuating circumstances" of the global pandemic, a club representative told the council at the time.
The council denied that request. Two years later, an amendment was approved to allow outdoor seating at the Carriage House and to allow the club to increase its membership.
The council also frequently requires businesses that request special exceptions to return in a year to discuss any complaints or issues that have arisen.
That was the case earlier this year when a cigar bar on Worth Avenue returned for its one-year check-in.
The declaration-of-use agreement for Churchill Cigar Co. was called into question at the council's May Development Review Committee meeting by neighbor The RealReal, which said smoke from the cigar bar was seeping into the luxury-goods consignment shop, damaging merchandise and affecting employees' health. The council ordered Churchill to better mitigate the smoke by keeping its door closed and to return in one month for an update.
When Churchill representatives returned to the council in June, the report from The RealReal was positive: No smoke, no smell and a closed door. Churchill was allowed to continue operating.
Kristina Webb is a reporter for Palm Beach Daily News, part of the Paste BN Florida Network. You can reach her at kwebb@pbdailynews.com. Subscribe today to support our journalism.