Outgoing U.S. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump prepare to travel to their Sea Lake estate in Palm Beach, Fla. on Jan. 20, 2021.
Former President Trump has the right to live at his Mar-a-Lago resort, John Randolph, an attorney hired by the town of Palm Beach, Florida, said in a memo this week.
Randolph said Trump could be considered a bona fide employee of the resort if necessary, and that the definition of employee in the town’s code includes business owners and partners. Randolph wrote, “If he is a bona fide employee of the club, it appears that the Zoning Ordinance (Zoning Code) allows him to reside at the club without specific restrictions prohibiting former President Trump from residing at the club.”
The memo was later obtained and published by National Public Radio (NPR).
Trump bought Sea Lake Estates in 1985 and converted it from a private residence to a private club in 1993. That same year, his lawyer told a town council meeting that Trump would not “continue to live” on the land, but would “become a member of the club and be entitled to use the guest rooms.
Some have taken this statement to mean that Trump can only use the club as a member. According to Sea Lake, members are not allowed to stay at the club for more than three non-consecutive seven-day periods per year.
Randolph noted in the memo that the final rules for Sea Lake Estates do not include a direct ban on Trump’s residence at the club, making it necessary for the Town of Palm Beach to look at the zoning ordinance provisions for the area.
Last December, after Trump revealed that he might move to Sea Lake Estates after leaving office, a non-Trump supporter who lives near the club delivered a letter from his attorney to local authorities and the federal Secret Service, demanding that Trump find another place to live. He claimed that Trump had violated the 1993 agreement.
“To avoid embarrassment for everyone and to give the president Time to make other living arrangements in the area, we trust that you will work with his team to remind them of the (compliance) agreement.” Reginald Stambaugh, the lawyer who delivered the letter, wrote, “There are many lovely estates for sale in Palm Beach, and he will certainly be able to find one that meets his needs.”
In January, Trump’s personal attorney, John Marion, wrote to Palm Beach Township about the matter and said that Trump “has a right to live there.” He wrote, “While the Town of Palm Beach allowed (the parties) to specify in the agreement that the owner could not live on the property, the agreement at the time did not do so.”
Since Trump lived there before the Sea Lake estate was converted into a club, his attorney said Trump’s residency is retroactive, and Trump himself also changed his permanent residence from New York to Florida in 2019. Trump can also be an employee (business owner) of Sea Lake Estates, according to the town’s zoning ordinance.
Palm Beach Town Manager Kirk Blouin confirmed to the Epoch Times last week that the town is reviewing Trump’s residency in Sea Lake Estates. “Our town attorney, John Randolph, is reviewing the Declaration of Use Agreement and our zoning ordinance to determine if former President Trump can live at Sea Lake Estates,” he said in an email.
The town is expected to discuss the issue at the Feb. 9 town council meeting.
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