- April 26, 2024
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Dennis McDonald and his attorney, Joshua Knight, have agreed to pay at least part of the approximately $19,000 in legal fees Palm Coast incurred in the course of fighting McDonald’s lawsuit about trees in the Palm Harbor Shopping Center, Knight said in a Monday, Aug. 25 hearing.
Palm Coast City Manager Jim Landon had asked the city’s attorneys to press for legal fees from the suit, which he called a “publicity stunt,” after McDonald withdrew his case in January.
“I think our case is very clear,” Palm Coast Mayor Jon Netts said in an interview after the Aug. 25 hearing. “The original complaint is not supported by the facts; it’s not supported by the law. It was a frivolous lawsuit. I think the judge acknowledged that from the get-go. The city and city staff explained to Mr. McDonald why this was not an appropriate action. He decided to proceed.”
The hearing lasted just three minutes.
Though Knight — McDonald did not attend the hearing — acknowledged that the city is entitled to fees, the exact amount has not yet been determined. That will happen through negotiation, or, if that fails, in a subsequent hearing, said Debra Nutcher, who represented the city of Palm Coast at the hearing. Nutcher did not have a precise figure available after the hearing, but said it is now likely in excess of $19,000.
Knight also acceded to the city's motion that his client pay $92.25 in taxes and costs, a motion he called "an additional twst of the knife."
An “Order Granting Defendant’s Motion for Sanctions,” prepared by the city’s legal team and signed Monday Aug. 25 by Judge Dennis Craig, reads: “The court finds that (McDonald) or his attorney knew or should have known that the allegations in the complaint were not supported by the material facts necessary to establish the claims, namely, the attachments to the Complaint contradict and do not support the factual allegations within the complaint, which should have been obvious … Judgment for entitlement to attorney’s fees is entered in favor of the city of Palm Coast and against the plaintiff and his attorney equally, pursuant to 57.105, Florida Statutes.”
Craig asked Knight during the hearing if the language in the orders granting the city's motions for sanctions and tax costs was agreeable to him. Knight said it was.
Knight’s stipulation in court Aug. 25 is a turnaround from his position in October of last year, when the city filed the motion for sanctions to recoup its legal costs.
At the time, Knight told the Palm Coast Observer the city’s move was “a scare tactic to withdraw the temporary restraining order,” and that it was “somewhat revelatory in that it helped us refine the score of our case ... exactly what we were hoping for.” The motion filed by the city gave McDonald 21 days to withdraw or amend his case. He did neither, but then withdrew the injunction in January, Knight said.
McDonald, now a candidate for the Flagler County Commission, District 2, had filed the injunction and temporary restraining order against the city of Palm Coast on Aug. 8, 2013, saying the city planned to illegally remove trees, mostly oaks, in the Palm Harbor Shopping center, as well as 395 trees in the city’s right-of-way as part of the widening of Palm Coast Parkway.
The city said no developer had even submitted a plan that involved removing the trees in the shopping center, and that the city would ensure that any coming construction preserved as many as possible. Trees to be removed along Palm Coast Parkway, largely palm trees and laurel oaks, would be either replanted or mitigated by the planting of 458 new trees on the a 1.23-mile stretch of the parkway that is to be widened, according to a city news release.
To view copies of the orders granting the city's motions for sanctions and tax costs, click here.
