Lawyer fights Live Local bid to hold Sarasota commissioners personally liable

A developer has filed additional claims in a civil lawsuit against Sarasota County, now attempting to hold county commissioners personally liable for blocking an apartment project proposed under Florida’s Live Local Law.

The decision to sue commissioners in their personal capacities is unusual for local government lawsuits, as state law provides elected officials broad immunity when they implement public policy. If successful, it could provide a roadmap across Florida for developers to challenge local officials who stand up to Live Local’s broad implications.

The legal attack has already drawn a motion from an attorney representing Sarasota County Commissioner Tom Knight, calling the tactics “Rambo litigation” that lack legal basis.

Knight’s attorney, Daniel DeLeo, told Suncoast Searchlight that he’s now calling for sanctions to penalize DLA Piper attorney Christopher Oprison and his client SITC Inc., a company controlled by Halfacre Construction President Jack Cox.

Daniel DeLeo is calling for sanctions to penalize DLA Piper attorney Christopher Oprison and his client SITC Inc., a company controlled by Halfacre Construction President Jack Cox. | Photo courtesy of Daniel DeLeo

“This is a brazen and outrageous attempt to intimidate and harass an elected official who was simply acting in the course of his official duties,” DeLeo wrote in the motion.

The latest legal clash comes just months after SITC Inc. sued Sarasota County and each commissioner for voting down Live Local projects located in rural neighborhoods.

Oprison has not responded to a phone call and text message from Suncoast Searchlight. But the company has argued in court filings that Sarasota County commissioners forfeited their immunity when they blocked six of the seven projects attempting to use Live Local despite a warning from their attorney that any legal case would be an “uphill battle.” 

Sarasota County declined to comment on the lawsuit.

The 2023 Live Local Law allows developers to skip local zoning regulations without a public hearing if they set aside 40% of the units as affordable housing. It has triggered lawsuits across the state as developers seek to push projects deep into areas where they typically wouldn’t be allowed.

Sarasota County commissioners voted in April to block Live Local projects in open-use and low-density residential zones. Since then, developers have filed two lawsuits against the county. The other lawsuit involves Yeshua’s Love Biblical Fellowship and Curco Land Holdings LLC, which does not individually name the commissioners.

Commissioner Knight taps aggressive litigator to fight back 

DeLeo — fresh off a successful campaign to claw back more than $2 million withheld from Sarasota County Schools — has developed a reputation as an aggressive litigator who will not shy away from public comments. 

He wasted no time striking back against the developer’s Live Local claims, filing his motion for sanctions on Tuesday, the same day he officially joined the lawsuit.

Under DeLeo’s court action, Oprison and SITC Inc. have 21 days to remove the claims against the commissioners or face a hearing before 12th Judicial Circuit Judge Hunter Carroll.

“I think it’s a naked attempt to try and intimidate the commissioners,” DeLeo said in an interview. “And I can tell you that Tom Knight is not the type of person to be intimidated.” 

Sarasota County Commissioner Tom Knight | Courtesy photo

Oprison argued in a July 2 amended complaint that commissioners engaged in a deliberate, bad-faith effort to obstruct SITC Inc.’s development rights. The company had planned to build a 500-unit apartment project off Lorraine Road in east Sarasota County.

The company added that commissioners “knowingly weaponized governmental power” when they ignored a memo from Sarasota County Attorney Joshua Moye saying that, under a strict interpretation of the law, their vote would be difficult to defend.

“The commission chose political expediency and pandering over legal compliance, knowingly imposing the very barriers the legislature enacted the Live Local Act to eliminate,” Oprison wrote in an amended complaint. “(Commissioners) acted beyond the authority expressly conferred upon them by Florida law. They did so with full knowledge that they lacked a reasonable good faith legal basis.”

The amended complaint came after Deputy County Attorney David Pearce also notified Oprison that including the commissioners was improper, redundant and had “no legal basis” in a motion to dismiss on June 15. Pearce filed another motion Wednesday to dismiss SITC Inc.’s latest filing. Pearce’s motion also seeks to have commissioners dismissed from the suit in their personal capacities.

Knight said he sought DeLeo out because he wanted an attorney that would defend him personally in court.

“I shouldn’t have to hire him,” Knight told Suncoast Searchlight. “But I did.”

DeLeo didn’t mince words.

“It’s clear to me that what’s going on here is this developer and this lawyer are trying to intimidate and bully the county commission,” he said, “and it’s wrong.”

Derek Gilliam is a watchdog/investigative reporter for Suncoast Searchlight. Email him at derek@suncoastsearchlight.org.