With a 1993 agreement the limited stays at the Mar-a-Lago property to no more than seven consecutive days, Palm Beach’s town council members will take up a complaint from a neighbor that Donald Trump has already overstayed his welcome, the Associated Press reports.
Representing the unnamed neighbor, attorney Reginald Stambaugh submitted a letter to Town Manager Kirk Blouin saying that Trump’s violation of the agreement would reduce the value of surrounding properties.
In an email sent to the Associated Press, Blouin said that the issue may be taken up by the town council at its February meeting.
When Trump bought Mar-a-Lago in 1985, the property had been left largely vacant since 1973, when the previous owner, Marjorie Merriweather Post, died and left it to the federal government as a possible presidential vacation home. The government returned the property to the estate in 1981, with no president having visited the property.
Trump bought the property in 1985 for $10 million, but immediately fell into financial distress and couldn’t afford the estimated $3 million in annual upkeep. In exchange for turning the property into a private club, Trump agreed that the property would not be used as a permanent residence and that guests would be limited in the length of stays at the property.
While those limits were largely bypassed during Trump’s term as president due to security issues, neighbors are now looking to enforce the conditions of the 1993 agreement.