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| Fred Karlton |
In case you missed it, there's a great story by the
Miami Herald's David Smiley in today's paper. Something about a Miami Beach rich guy who's tired of all the white trash weekend boaters using the lake behind his $7 million home as a playground.
Miami Beach homeowners and boaters clash over secluded Biscayne Bay waters
By David Smiley
dsmiley@MiamiHerald.com
Boaters, beware: Fred Karlton pays a hefty price for his slice of paradise. And armed with a floodlight and stereo, he will defend it.
A well-heeled property investor who dabbles in local politics, Karlton lives on the east bank of Miami Beach’s idyllic Sunset Lake, a secluded section of Biscayne Bay wedged between the main island and four small residential islands just south of the Julia Tuttle Causeway. The quiet body of water is surrounded by some of South Florida’s more lavish homes — such as Karlton’s $6.8 million abode and the house Anna Kournikova listed on the market for $9.4 million — and at sunset is the type of backdrop that graces postcards and lures gawkers to splurge on $30 boat tours.
Not surprisingly, the placid waters have gained a cult reputation among the international boating community as one of the sweeter locations to drop anchor for a few days, or heck, even weeks.
“Very nice spot,” Dave Campbell, of Plymouth, Mass., wrote last year on the boating forum ActiveCaptain.com. “Except for the homeowners.”
Thing is, while recent changes to state law almost entirely stripped local governments of their ability to regulate the navigation of waterways within their jurisdiction — rendering moot laws like the Miami Beach ordinance that caps a boater’s stay in the city’s waters to one week — homeowners on Sunset Lake are making it clear that their waterfront backyards are not a Holiday Inn.
“I’ve been a boater for 35 years and I certainly understand what it is to want to camp out,” Karlton said. “But there are lots of other places to do it than by sitting in peoples’ backyards. There are times that literally it’s a shantytown out here.”
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| Fred Karlton's crib. |
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| The view from Fred Karlton's pool. |
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Even though I'm not nearly as rich as he is, I feel for Fred. Anyone who's ever had obnoxious neighbors knows what he is going through.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, it IS Florida, the craziest place in America. Fred, what did you expect?
Nice crib Fred. I feel for you. Keep fighting those pesky boaters. They are well beyond a nuisance faze and we need to keep fighting for more stringent regulations to unhinge these freewheelers. A criminal element to the politics in this town seems to be the biggest fight as we are returning to the same lawlessness we saw in the l980's.
ReplyDeleteHmm, seems to me that when you buy a property with a view of the public space you should expect that the public may appear in that view.
ReplyDeleteIf that DB wants privacy, he shouldn't have purchased a home on a public waterway. Moron,,,,,,,,,,,,
ReplyDeleteanon @ 6:57pm
ReplyDeleteWhat wasn't brought out in the story but is evident from reading between the lines, is that this guy is a major a-hole. even his neighbors dislike him!
No mention of the use of loud rap music and floodlights shone on boats at night by this idiot - he's been cautioned by the police regarding his behaviour, since he's also accosted several boaters anchored out here.
ReplyDeleteHe's a complete idiot.
To top it off, Mr K has now moored 19 small boats infront of his house and now 1/2 of the anchorage is "his"
ReplyDeleteHow about federal waters - dont You need permit for this kind of behavior.?
Heard that he paid $ 30 K for the boats.
Hope he and his neighbors likes the new view.
no he paid 139K for those boats and he has about 40 of them with solar powered lights.
DeleteSome friends told us of their bad experiences with this Fred Karlton jerk, so we boated past his place today since we were in the area. He still has 18 of his little boats moored out in front of his place to hog all the space in his efforts to try to prevent anyone from anchoring in this public anchorage.
ReplyDeleteI can tell you that there was a pretty strong current going through there, probably 4 mph. With his dinky little fake boats anchored with their tiny little twine, I'm so very surprised that someone hasn't gone by with a scissors and just snipped his anchor lines. I mean they are as thin as string so it sure wouldn't take much. And the current would quickly carry the boat away. That would be so funny if every time someone went by in their dinghy that they happened to snip another tiny string holding another of these hazardous obsticals blocking the way. Soon all his silly little boats would be washed away, and if he found them, it would be funny to be seeing him always having to re anchor them every time. Maybe not even scissors, if the prop of your dinghy just accidentally backed into or ran over one of his string/twine mooring lines, it would be an honest mistake. I'm just thinking.... Hmmmm....