- November 5, 2024
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A Flagler County Court judge has found the owners of the Old Dixie Motel in contempt for not making a court-ordered payment.
On Nov. 1, Circuit Judge Christopher France, who has overseen the case since it began in 2021, ruled the motel owners were in contempt for ignoring previous court orders. The motel owners are now required to pay a $250,000 deposit owed to Flagler County, and file missing paperwork regarding their financial situation within 14 days of the court’s ruling, according to Flagler County Clerk of Court documents.
“Regardless of the outcome here, whether they pay on time or don't pay on time, we will be moving for attorney's fees for the entire conduct of the case, particularly because of their constant delaying action,” Flagler County Attorney Al Hadeed told the Flagler County Commission on Nov. 4.
If the property owners fail to comply in time, they will owe an additional $1,000 per day until the deposit is made and the documentation is filed, court documents state. France also ordered that all further proceedings in the case must be attended in person by the defendant’s council and “the manager of the defendant.”
The Ajmal and Zubair Zulali, the original motel owners, and the new owners, — Manuel Gomez and David Shebiro, who purchased the property from the Zulalis in early 2021 — have been in a court case with Flagler County since 2021. The county originally sued the Zulalis, pursuing a condemnation and demolition of the derelict motel, located at 2251 S. Old Dixie Highway, across from the Plantation Bay main entrance.
After the county sued for demolition of the motel in May 2021, the new motel owners made some attempt to clean up the buildings and land. The county also struck an agreement with the new owners that month, to ensure hazardous safety and health conditions wouldn’t continue.
The document outlined corrective actions that were to be undertaken by August 2021, or a cash bond of $250,000 would be required to be paid to the Flagler County Clerk of Courts by the owners, according to a May 2021 Flagler County press release. That money would then be set aside for the county to use to demolish the building, if the new owners did not follow through with their side of the agreement.
But there has been little to no movement on the side of the property owners after their initial cleanup efforts, despite the fact they have submitted plans to the county for a new motel on the site as recently as April 2024. The court case has multiple notices cancelling hearings and requests for extensions, according to the Clerk of Court website.
In June 2024, France ordered the owners to pay the $250,000 deposit owed to the county as part of the agreement, since the owners failed to follow through with their part in the agreement. The owners had 10 days to pay the deposit, and 45 days to file paperwork disclosing the defendant’s financial condition.
The owners did file for an extension to comply in July, but France denied the request.
Flagler County filed a motion for contempt of court on Oct. 21, as it still had not received the $250,000 payment nor had the other party followed through with their side of the agreement and filed the financial paperwork, court documents state.
In France’s Nov. 1 contempt ruling, he wrote that the defendant’s actions, including “its continued refusal to comply with the Court’s Orders, is consistent with its longstanding pattern of disregard for the judicial process and the Court’s authority.”
