Sea Green parking dispute prompts rash of towings
FROM STAFF REPORTS Gulf Breeze News news@gulfbreezenews.com

Franklin Hayes/Gulf Breeze News

A spat over parking in Sea Green Center and Harbourtown in Gulf Breeze proper has two businessmen threatening legal action against one another. The two neighboring office complexes house popular eateries that draw large numbers of patrons during the lunch and dinner hours, complicating an already compressed parking area shared by the complexes.

It all started when Chris Green, owner of Sea Green Center, had a truck owned by Marty Medve, of Trident Home Loans, towed from the Sea Green Center property. When Medve confronted Green about the towed car, which was in care of Medve's mother at the time, Green called Gulf Breeze Police and filed a trespassing complaint against him. Medve is now threatening to file a lawsuit against Green to recoup the cost incurred from the tow company.

Medve said his lawsuit would be based on a Florida statute that regulates signage for tow-away zones and added that Green has not fully complied with the law.

The statute in question, statute number 715.07, states that "when a person improperly causes a vehicle or vessel to be removed, such person shall be liable to the owner or lessee of the vehicle or vessel for the cost of removal, transportation, and storage; any damages resulting from the removal, transportation, or storage of the vehicle or vessel; attorney's fees; and court costs."

Gulf Breeze Police eventually dropped the trespassing warning against Medve. "Mr. Green does not have authority to [file a trespassing complaint] because even though he owns the complex, he would have to have possesory interest. He can't exclude someone from someone else's business," said Gulf Breeze Deputy Chief of Police, Robert Randle.

The event seemed to be a tipping point that brought ongoing tension between Harbourtown business owners and Green to the forefront. Medve submitted a letter to the Harbourtown Owner's Association to rent 10 spaces from Bahama Bay Condominiums. It is also interesting to note that the previous owner of the Sea Green property signed an easement in the 1980's allowing Harbourtown business owners, customers and invitees to use a portion of the Sea Green lot for parking. After Medve's vehicle was towed, another business owner then came forward and voiced complaints about tow-away zone signs that border Green's property.

"Everyone is afraid to park there," said Lisa Compton, owner of Elite Repeats in Harbourtown. "You would think mature adults could handle this situation better."

Compton added that she fields questions daily about the signs and whether or not her customer's cars will be towed.

Green said he is simply exercising his right as a property owner, and added that there is typically room in the eastern end of the Harbourtown parking lot to accommodate all the complex's patrons and employees.

"I will be exercising my rights as a property owner for the first time in 13 years," Green said. "[The tow-away zone] will be enforced in the future without warning."

Restaurant owner Stavros Varvouris posted his own sign in the front window of Aegean Breeze to pacify his customers' concerns.

"Until the employees of Harbourtown obey the rules of parking and start using the east wing, the problem will never be solved," said Varvouris, who added that he rents 10 parking spaces from neighboring Bahama Bay Condominiums for his employees to use.