Carnival cruise ship docked in Key West. By Worachat Sodsri @ Shutterstock.com
In an exciting and unexpected move, and an example of a successful grassroots movement, Pier B Development Corporation, owned by the Walsh family and represented in court by attorney Bart Smith, has successfully had a lawsuit seeking to undo the recent charter amendments limiting cruise ships in Key West dismissed. Voters overwhelmingly had approved the amendments in November.
Safer, Cleaner Ships, the grassroots movement that put the amendments on the ballot, maintained from the start, after doing the required homework, that there is no development order protecting Pier B from the will of the voters.
Ahead lies a battle with the Pilot Harbor Pilots and its powerful lobby on Florida Senate Bill 426 and House Bill 267. The Bill seeks to pre-empt Key West’s charter amendments and eliminate home rule in Florida’s 15 seaports.
