Palm Beach council OKs mooring plan to help millionaire keep yacht from being 'destroyed'
Millionaire Peter May has a problem: Wake from passing boats on the Intracoastal Waterway causes his 72-foot yacht to bang into the recently completed dock that extends from one of his Palm Beach properties.
His yacht captain has a solution: Add mooring piles around the boat to secure the vessel and stop the damage.
The Town Council at its Development Review Committee meeting on April 10 voted unanimously to approve two variances to allow May's team to complete the work west of his waterfront property on Dunbar Road. He owns all three properties on the south side of Dunbar’s 300 block, between the Intracoastal and North Lake Way, property records show.
May also keeps a smaller boat on the dock, town records show.
May is a longtime Palm Beach resident, investor and businessman. He is president and founding partner of Trian Partners, a hedge-fund management firm known for its holdings in major companies such as Wendy's and The Walt Disney Co.
The first variance will permit May to install a series of marine mooring piles farther than 150 feet from land, the maximum allowed by the town. The second will allow for one of those piles to be within the 25-foot setback from the north riparian line, which is essentially the line that extends into the water from the property line.
Attorney Maura Ziska, representing May, said the work is necessary and needs to be completed to protect his yacht.
“The boat is getting tossed up against the dock and getting destroyed,” she said.
The mooring piles suggested by the captain should solve that problem, Ziska said.
Mayor Danielle Moore asked for insight into the possible unintended consequences of approving the variances.
The answer from staff and Ziska: There would not be any.
“The Intracoastal is very wide at this part of the island,” Ziska said. “It’s not going to impede boat traffic. No one is going to run into the mooring piles.”
The dock that was approved by the town last year extends as far into the Intracoastal as it does because the depth of water is needed for the boat’s size, she said.
“It’s just logical that to moor it safely, we need the mooring piles on the west side of it,” Ziska said.
Councilwoman Bridget Moran, in her first Development Review Committee meeting after being sworn into office the previous day, said she was concerned that a boat of that size, and that far into the Intracoastal, would disrupt the view of residents who enjoy sitting on the bench at the west end of Dunbar Road.
“You’re literally looking at the broad side of a boat,” Moran said, adding that she feels the boat is too big for the property, while also acknowledging May’s right to have the boat there.
“Just saying,” she said, “moving forward, there is the possibility that at the end of all these beautiful streets, we’re going to be looking at just narrow portions of vista.”
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.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Palm Beacher Peter May gets OK for plan to protect yacht from wake
