Town cites easements i By SUSAN BEACH Daily News Staff Writer The ?wo Council will 2:15 sign the ar-a-la Club 331' ment struck with Donald Trump over the preservation of the landmark is in place. Two weeks ago, Trump signed the final draft of the club agr?e~ ment between him and the town. However, council members Sill? they will not sign the document until Trump donates legal control]. I Editorial. Page A6 0f historic features of the estate - the preservation easements ?r to assure the landmark?s protec- tion. Trump said the town has things backward. He will donate the easements, which are irrevo- cable, only after he receives the signed agreement. ?First, you have to have the agreement. Suppose I put preser? vation easements in place and then they decide to not sign the agreement. Nobody has ever accused me of being stupid,? Trump said Friday from New York. Councilwoman Lesly Smith Sflit] the preservation easements Should be in place before town officials sign the agreement. ?1 do not feel that Mar-a-Lago will he presented if the agree? ment is signed by the town prior to these preservation easements being in place,? Smith said Thurs- day at a special Town Council meeting to set the tentative tax refusal to Si yr, I rate. "All of the members of the council, according to the [meet. ing] tapes that I have listened to and the minutes that were re- corded, express their concern as to the preservation of this proper- ty. And the concerns of the coun? cil were apparently alleviated by the voluntary designation or the offering of these preservation easements by Mr. Trump,? Smith said. Trump, who wants to open the club's doors Oct. 15, 1994, ques- tioned the town?s request. ?They sent me a final agreement to sign and I signed it and sent it back and now they want to make changes?? he said. The council Thursday told 'ibwn Attorney John Randolph to get Trump to establish the ease- ments. Paul Rampell, Trump?s attor- ney. said the deeding of the ease- ments was never a prerequisite to the execution of the agreement. In fact, the issue was intentional- ly' omitted, he said. AE?Palm Beach Dallyr' News, Sunday, August l-Wednesday, August 4, 1993 AGREEMENT from page A1 Trump disagrees that the ease- ments should be donated before the agreement is finalized is that establishment of the easements will take several months and would delay club preparations. ?We would like the declara- tion bf use agreement to be signed as soon as possible so that construction can begin and poten- tial members can be invited to join,? Rampell said. Trump, who restored Mar-a- Lago and kept its original fur- nishings after he purchased the former Marjorie Merriweather Post home in 1985, said he was not required to donate the ease: ments, but offered to don"?so?tu? protect the home. - . . He said he has always intend- ed to donate the easements and considered it similar to condi- tions of the agreement, such as building a wall on the property or installing a fire protection sys- tem. The 17-page Declaration of 1' Tan +119 1' 'l?wimn A yet-unnamed organization con- trol of historic features of the mansion?s interior that are not protected by its landmark status, and other elements such as the main gate, perimeter wall and the vistas to ensure the Hispano- Moresque villa remains un- changed. Trump also signed a dismissal of the $50 million lawsuit he brought against the town in July 1992 over the council?s denial of his subdivision plans. However, Rampell has not submitted it to the court and won?t do so until the town signs the club agree- ment. According to the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach, the easements are crucial for the preservation of the. eState and should be established asf'soon as possible. ?The town is proceeding in a very sensible way and is trying to protect all the residents in town and Mar-a-Lago, which is our only national landmark,? said Pollv Earl. executive director of Another guarantee that the easements will be granted is the town?s position not to issue Trump an occupational license for the club until the easements deed has been accepted and re- corded. ?So the town is 100 per- cent protected in my legal opin- ion that the preservation easements must be granted,? Rampell said. But Councilwoman Smith questioned the town?s right to withhold an occupational license. ?It wouldn?t be fair to the owner to let him go ahead spend- ing thousands of dollars in bring- ing the property into compliance with the code and putting in the Spa and then at the last minute not give him his, certificate of occupancy because the preserva- tion easements are not in place,? Smith said. Rampell said he has contact- ed two organizations about ac- cepting the easements. His first choice is the National Trust for Historic Preservation. ?They have expressed a great deal of interest in this,? Rampell said of the Washington, D.C.-based orga- nization. A National Trust com- mittee is reviewing the ease- ments deed, Rampell said. Mary Hoyt, director of com- munications for the National Trust refused to comment. Randolph said that because Trump volunteered to donate the preservation easements, the mat- ter wasn?t incorporated into the agreement. But the council thought the easements would have been do- nated before the agreement was signed, Randolph said. ?They want the comfort of knowing the voluntary preservation ease- ments are in place prior to the execution of the agreement.? The agreement must be signed by Mayor Paul Ilyinsky, Town Council President William Weinberg and Town Manager Bob Doney to be final. assure you I?m not going to sign any document the council is not happy with,? Ilyinsky said. certainly wouldn?t do so either,? Weinberg said. The Palm Beach Civic Associ~ atio?, which formed a committee to study the club plan, also wants the town to hold off on signing the agreement until the easements are donated. ?Since the preservation of Mar-a-Lago was one of the rea- sons proposed by the owner for conversion to a club, it seems judicious to have documents set- ting forth the easements ap- proved and accepted by the domes organization before final sigma? ture of the agreement in order to ensure that the structure will tru- ly be preserved,? association chairman Harold Scott and presi- dent Louis Pryor wrote in a letter to Town Attorney Randolph. The agreement Trump signed was delivered to Randolph?s of- fice July 26. That afternoon from go clubagreement ?The town, the club and Don- ald Trump agreed to exclude the reservation easements from the declaration of use agreement during the course of the bear- ings,? Rampell said. He and Trump consider the contract completed. ?As far as we are concerned, it is a done deal,? Rampell said. ?This is the final effort to obstruct our appli? cation, even though it?s too late." Rampell said another reason Please see AGREEMENT, Page All his New York office Trump said he would begin accepting appli- cations for club memberships as soon as the town returned the signed agreement. ?We have received inquiries from a number of people who want to join the club many from Palm Beach,? Trump said. Those interested in joining the club number in the ?hundreds,? according to Rampell. ?I?ve got- ten calls and letters almost every day,? he said. The agreement limits the club to 500 memberships. ?There?s community support. A lot of people want to see the club succeed especially as a het- erogeneous social center,? Ram- pell said. People also are lining up for a spot on the club?s governing board, said Trump, who will ap- point officers within the next 12 months. ?There?s a tremendous interest in it. We want it to be a very good board,? he said.