Water Damage Restoration in West Palm Beach, FL

Does Sylvester Stallone want to keep out seaweed or boaters from the water next to his multimillion-dollar Palm Beach estate?

The action star's plans to install a barrier in the Intracoastal Waterway next to his North End home are drawing ire from some of his neighbors, according to records obtained by the Daily News.

While the barrier is billed in applications to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as needed to keep out seaweed and debris, a public notice from the Army Corps said "the overall project purpose is to exclude boaters" from coming near the property — with seaweed a secondary concern.

The request has raised the hackles of neighbors who say they were blindsided by the notice they recently received from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection letting them know they have until 5 p.m. Christmas Day to comment on Stallone's proposal.

Stallone's application also includes a request for a submerged lease of state land, because the barrier would in part be on underwater property owned by the state of Florida, records show.

"He bought a beautiful property," neighbor Bradford Gary said of Stallone's estate, calling it "one of the nicest West Indies houses" on the North End. "I can see why you'd want to protect it. But you can't just kind of stake your claim and think you own the water."

Requests for comment to multiple representatives for Stallone — including Isiminger & Stubbs Engineering Inc. of North Palm Beach, the project's engineer — were not returned.

What is Sylvester Stallone asking for in Palm Beach?

The application was submitted to the state and Army Corps for review by celebrity wealth manager Lester Knispel on behalf of Southpaw Trust, the entity through which Stallone in December of 2020 paid a recorded $35.375 million for the property at 1480 N. Lake Way in Palm Beach, records show.

The estate where the famed "Rocky" and "Rambo" actor lives with his wife, entrepreneur and model Jennifer Flavin, includes a 262-foot private beach on the lake, along with a two-story mansion, a guesthouse and a pool pavilion.

The property is just a stone's throw from the very northern edge of Palm Beach, which sits against the Palm Beach Inlet. It looks west toward the Port of Palm Beach and Florida Power & Light's Manatee Lagoon education center. Peanut Island, a popular boating a recreation site, is about a mile north.

According to state records, the floating barrier would rise about 8 inches above the water and extend down about 10 inches below the water's surface. It would be anchored into the bottom of the waterway using a system of nylon ropes and eyelets that would be secured into the substrate by six piles, records show. The barrier would allow marine life to swim underneath, and creatures could also swim around the barrier at each end, an engineer for the project said in an email to the state Department of Environmental Protection that was reviewed by the Daily News.

The barrier would extend 191 feet south from the dock that is at the north end of Stallone's beach, and then make a 90-degree right turn to run 50 feet back toward the shore, forming an "L" shape, according to federal and state public notices describing the project.

Sylvester's notice of public comment surprises Palm Beach neighbors

The project dates back to at least 2022, when the state Department of Environmental Protection completed a site survey, public records show. Representatives for Stallone officially submitted the application to the state on Jan. 23, 2023.

The plans were received by the Army Corps on Aug. 16 of this year, an Army Corps spokesperson said. That agency published a notice for public comment on Oct. 24, and there was a 30-day comment period that ended Nov. 24.

The Army Corps received one public comment that questioned the proposed project's effects on seagrasses and the risk of manatees becoming entangled in the barrier, the spokesperson said, adding that the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission also submitted comments. The FWC also reviewed and commented on the application to the state Department of Environmental Protection, records show.

"The corps is reviewing the project purpose to determine if the use of barrier for the purpose of deterring boaters within the public waterway is permittable," the Army Corps spokesperson said. The agency asked for more information from Stallone's team, they said.

The notice of the state's public-comment period surprised Susan Gary and her husband, Bradford, when they received it in the mail on Sunday.

"Usually when your neighbors are gonna do something, we've found in Palm Beach, usually they call," Bradford Gary said, adding, "A lot of neighbors are concerned."

The Garys sent a letter to U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel objecting to the project, and they also submitted a letter objecting to the project to the state.

Those who would like to review the entire application for the project can do so by going to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, 3301 Gun Club Road, SC 7210-1, West Palm Beach.

Written comments must be submitted before 5 p.m. Dec. 25 to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, 3301 Gun Club Road, SC 7210-1, West Palm Beach, FL 33406.

Trash washing up on Sylvester Stallone's beach

While the 2022 state survey of the area did not find any seaweed, that is because the survey was done in November, and most of the seaweed accumulates during the summer, a project engineer said in an email to a Department of Environmental Protection employee last year.

The engineer went on to describe some of the items that washed up on the beach in June of 2022, including plastic bottles, trash, sticks, leaves, palm fronds, coconuts and a watermelon, in addition to seaweed.

"All these items would be reduced with the floating seaweed barrier," the engineer wrote. The beach is routinely cleaned to remove seaweed, trash and other debris that wash up on Stallone's property, he said.

Concerns about wildlife and safety

The area where Stallone proposed to install the barrier is a quiet cove that serves as a refuge for kayakers, paddle boarders and others who may get stuck in the strong current that rushes in and out of the inlet, Susan Gary said.

Among those boaters are the small vessels used by the Sailfish Club to teach young people how to sail, she said.

"We would not want a whole section of the beach completely blocked by this net, which is pretty big," Bradford Gary said.

Susan Gary recalled that when they first moved to Palm Beach, she was in a kayak and her husband was in a small Boston Whaler when she got stuck in the inlet's strong current. Bradford Gary had to throw her a tow line to pull her to safety, she said.

"From that experience, I would say it was a safety issue, particularly for people who are new to the area and don't realize how strong the current can be," Susan Gary said. "You could pull in there to get out of the current."

Both said they have never seen an issue with large amounts of seaweed accumulating along the lake shore. Another frequent boater in that area, who asked not to be named because of privacy concerns, concurred, saying that while there may be an occasional bunch of seaweed that enters the inlet, it rarely gathers along the shore in bunches that could be considered a nuisance to Palm Beach's North End.

There are some federally listed species in the area, including manatees and smalltooth sawfish, the Army Corps said in its public notice. The state's survey in 2022 found several seagrasses, along with coral. The Garys also said that starfish are frequently seen in the cove's clear, shallow water.

The Army Corps notice states that the plans would include conditions that are standard for protecting manatees, sea turtles and smalltooth sawfish. The project team would use floating curtains to protect the surrounding area during work, until sediment stabilizes, the Army Corps notice said.

The application to the Army Corps said that the amount of seagrass and hard bottom of the waterway that would be affected is "negligible," the Army Corps notice said.

Kristina Webb is a reporter for Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at kwebb@pbdailynews.com. Subscribe today to support our journalism.

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Pilots arriving at Palm Beach International Airport now have an updated way to pay homage to a son of a son of a sailor who had an outsized presence and effect on Palm Beach and the Sunshine State.

The Federal Aviation Administration on Oct. 31 published an updated arrival procedure called JESTR ONE, named for Jimmy Buffett, the original Parrothead, who frequently likened his work to that of a court jester. Buffett lived for decades in Palm Beach, until his death on Sept. 1, 2023, at age 76.

In FAA terms, a procedure is a set of points followed to land at or take off from an airport. Because there is no physical signage to indicate an arrival procedure, those travelers arriving to grab a cheeseburger in paradise could pass through this tribute to Buffett without ever being the wiser.

More:Jimmy Buffett Day is Aug. 30: 7 of the Parrothead's ties to Palm Beach

The FAA on Oct. 31 also released an updated departure procedure from Key West International Airport to honor Buffett: BUFTT ONE.

For pilots, these nods to the man behind the hit song "Margaritaville" feel a little familiar. The Federal Aviation Administration in 2009 first dedicated a departure procedure and waypoints — BUFIT ONE — in PBIA's airspace to Buffett.

The procedure was canceled in 2021, an FAA spokesperson told the Daily News in August.

A pilot himself, Buffett kept his planes at PBIA.

James "Jimmy" William Buffett first moved to Palm Beach in 1993. He had an outsized presence in Florida, which honored him this year by declaring Aug. 30 Jimmy Buffett Day, renaming State Road A1A the Jimmy Buffett Memorial Highway and approving a new license plate. Buffett named one of his albums "A1A," which was released in 1974.

The highway renaming applies to all portions of A1A, which runs along the state's east coast. In Palm Beach, A1A follows South Ocean Boulevard north to South County Road, then west along Royal Poinciana Way to cross the Flagler Memorial Bridge into West Palm Beach, where it turns north on North Dixie Highway.

The license plate will have Florida at the top and Margaritaville at the bottom. The fees from the sale of the plate will be distributed to the SFC Charitable Foundation Inc., also known as Singing for Change, which was founded by Buffett in 1995.

Buffett owned several properties in Palm Beach County, including three homes on Palm Beach's Root Trail. Those went on the market July 12. A Canadian buyer this month closed on Buffett's former home at 138 Root Trail for a recorded $6.11 million.

Kristina Webb is a reporter for Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at kwebb@pbdailynews.com. Subscribe today to support our journalism.

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LAKE WORTH BEACH, Fla. — The swimming pool at Lake Worth High School has shut down indefinitely.

This comes after a large number of iguanas on the property forced the Department of Health and the School District of Palm Beach County to close the pool for safety reasons.

WPTV visited the pool on Friday and found dozens of iguanas of different sizes sunbathing on the bleachers and deck which was covered in the reptile's excrement.

We spotted large amounts of their feces along the edges of the pool near the bleachers.

"What they leave behind is definitely gross," Lake Worth Beach resident Alyssia Jaume said.

She describes the iguana invasion at Lake Worth High School as an oasis for the reptiles.

It's an issue she said she experiences in her backyard daily.

"They like to eat orchids too, I've seen them climbing along the fence, and I've seen their excrement here by the pool," Jaume said.

Officials with the School District of Palm Beach County said despite their efforts to maintain the pool at Lake Worth High School, the pool's filtration and chemical systems were not able to keep up with contaminants by the iguanas.

"We're all having to spend an incredible amount of damage that iguanas are causing to government infrastructure," Lake Worth Beach Commissioner Reinaldo Diaz said. "They're everywhere and they're not going anywhere."

Diaz said the city has spent $100,000+ in iguana prevention infrastructure.

"Unfortunately, they're a problem that's here to stay," Diaz said.

The city has put up climb-resistant barriers to prevent the reptiles from climbing up power poles and damaging the lines since he said one animal can take out an entire block of power.

"They're a bigger priority than maybe people realize," Diaz said. "Everything that we put out that makes us more resilient against storms we also have to think about making it resilient against animals, especially iguanas."

The city has also put up electric fencing in areas after an iguana caused a large-scale outage to the city's electric utility nearly two years ago, which left 1,400+ people without power.

"That doesn't even factor in people's backyards what they're doing to people's residential pools, the amount of flowers and plants that they eat," Diaz said. "All that stuff is racking up a bill."

He's encouraging residents to make sure the trees and landscaping are trimmed away from power poles as iguanas are known to climb.

The Lake Worth Community High School pool is district-owned, and they said there are no plans to reopen it.

WPTV spoke with Frank Baxley, the athletic director at Lake Worth High School, who said the school hasn't had a swim team for about three years.

He said he would like to restart the swim team program if the pool was fixed and the iguana issue was resolved.

The only district-owned swimming pool that is currently open to the public for leases is at Boca Raton Community High School.

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