From Palm Beach News (Florida)
Headline - Glazer lets his home down
'The 1920 Addison Mizner-designed home at 1200 S. Ocean Blvd., purchased by billionaire Malcolm Glazer in 2000, is in danger of deterioration by neglect, according to the executive director of the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach.
Glazer, owner of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Manchester United soccer team, bought the 12,000-square-foot Mediterranean Revival-style house from
relatives of the late Daniel J. Mahoney Jr., former Palm Beach Post publisher.
Glazer bought 1482 S. Ocean Blvd. in 1989, demolished the 1933 house there, and has resided in the 14,270-square-foot house built in its place. Though both houses were on the market in 2004, 1200 S. Ocean Blvd. is not on the market now, according to broker Lawrence Moens.
The town sent Glazer a notice of building code violation on Jan. 9, said Veronica Close, director of Planning, Zoning and Building.
The notice calls for the property owner to restore the house's roof, doors and windows to water-tight condition, repair and paint rotten wood and cracked stucco and "supply the town with a bond in the amount of 135 percent of all requested work." Failure to comply within one month of the letter's receipt could bring the matter before the Code Enforcement Board at its March 16 meeting.
Glazer's representatives have indicated many of the items have been corrected, Close told the Landmarks Preservation Commission on Wednesday.
Reg Stambaugh, director of the Preservation Foundation, told the board his organization wants fines levied to ensure the house at 1200 S. Ocean Blvd. is properly preserved. "This is an absentee owner," Stambaugh said. "This Mizner house is falling apart.
"It's in worse shape than when the owner got it," Stambaugh said. "They've had it since 2000. It's 2006 and they haven't done a doggone thing but board it up."
Planning administrator Tim Frank said the town's letters to Glazer represent what could be the first steps in a possible determination of demolition by neglect.
Also on Wednesday, landscape architect Morgan Wheelock gave an update on the construction of the redesigned sculpture garden at the Society of the Four
Arts.
Hurricane Wilma and a corresponding scarcity of specimen plants, the removal of the more than 100-year-old Banyan tree along the eastern border, the need
to prune the roots of new plants, and a difficulty in working through rock just below the garden's surface have slowed the $4 million project's progress, Wheelock said.
The anticipated date of completion has moved from the end of April to May or June, Wheelock said.
Also, Close told members the Town Council will hold a meeting from 2-5 p.m. on Monday, April 10 to consider changes to the landmark designation process.
Landmarks board members forwarded recommendations to the council last year.
In addition, the staff implemented changes on its own to try to safeguard landmarked properties.'