Received via email 8.31.23:
I have received no reply to my letter of 8/21/202 (see below).
No one has provided answers to my questions about the demolition of 249 Monterey Road.
I have received yet another Demolition Notice for 249 Monterey Road. (see attached)
Does this mean that the Town Council is ignoring my questions?
Shouldn't this demolition issue receive a public airing?
David A. Kelso
255 Monterey Road

Above referenced letter:
Monday
August 21, 2023
To: Town Council members
CC: John C. "Skip" Randolph
The sudden & dramatic demolition at the Playhouse, combined with confusing demolition administration and supervision at other sites in the Town has set off a host of questions. How could this have happened? Exactly who made what decision on demolition? Who signed off and why? Who supervised this work? Town officials and residents are now faced with a host of unpleasant, unintended consequences.
One big question has occurred to me:
Why did the Town Council approve the demolition of the Fatio House at 249 Monterey Road, when it had received a multi-million dollar commitment from the property owner to restore it?
In 2018, the property owner, Alex Griswold, filed a variance request for 249 Monterey Road. (See attached). On July 11th, Griswold and his attorney, Maura Ziska, appeared before the Town Council to present this request. During that meeting they proposed a specific quid-pro-quo:
“Please give me these variances and allow me to split and sell the newly created lot for development. In exchange, I will use those proceeds to restore the remaining Fatio House on my property.”
At this meeting, Griswold and Ziska presented the Town Council with extensive architectural plans that detailed his proposed restoration.
On October 24, 2018, Mr. Griswold and Ms. Ziska, appeared before ARCOM with the same architectural plans, and offered the exact same quid-pro-quo.
Both the Town Council and ARCOM accepted this quid-pro-quo and approved the variances that allowed the lot to be split, having received from Griswold, what was, in effect, a multi-million dollar commitment to restore a unique Fatio House on Monterey Road.
I found this all documented in the Town of Palm Beach meeting archives, agendas, and audio recordings available online.
After getting these variances, Mr. Griswold proceeded to sell the resulting new lot, and then sell his remaining property at 249 Monterey Road, pocketing the proceeds, without fulfilling any of his commitments to Town Council or ARCOM, made in the 2018 meetings.
Just a few days ago, the Town issued a building permit (see attached) to the new property owner, Michael Peacock, to demolish the Fatio House.
I can find no record of the Town Council discussing, or voting to give up, the explicit, multi-million dollar commitment they received from Mr. Griswold, in exchange for valuable variances granted to him in order to restore the Fatio House.
Why is the Town Council allowing this Fatio House to be demolished?
Why did the Town Council give up the multi-million dollar commitment to preserve it made by Mr. Griswold?
Great community concern is rising now about the granting, administration, and supervision of demolition permits.
Doesn’t this demolition permit deserve closer examination? Just asking.
Respectfully,
David A Kelso
255 Monterey Road