Fane Lozman says his floating home is here to stay, but he's not getting the warm welcome he hoped for.
"I towed that up here, and the city has gone nuts. They refuse to give me an address," said Lozman, who anchored his floating home off Singer Island on Friday.
The trip took 19 hours from Miami. He went before the Riviera Beach City Council to request an address for his eight-acre property, but the council took no action citing pending litigation between the city and Lozman.
More than 20 Singer Island residents stood and spoke in front of the council asking it not to grant Lozman an address.
"We need help. We want this stopped. This is not what we want for our neighborhood," said Jack Fairbrother, a resident of Singer Island.
Lozman says he owns five lots totaling 25 acres of unfilled waterway north of the Palm Beach Isles community where Fairbrother lives. Lozman wants to develop a floating community.
"All these houses used to be just like this open water, all we're asking to do is to do what these guys are doing," said Lozman, as he pointed to a map showing the communities that have been developed on the water.
However, the tide is rising against him.
Fairbrother and other residents say there's no place for floating homes among the $400,000 to $3 million waterfront homes on the island.
"We believe that the property values will reduce considerably," added Fairbrother.
Fairbrother started a petition to stop Lozman which highlights environmental concerns.
"This is just black muck to come in to fill this in with dirt is not a big deal," said Lozman as he showed what's at the bottom of the wetland area. "No manatee can swim in here. It's so shallow."
Many residents echoed the same concerns about having too many unanswered questions about what floating homes would do to the area.
The item on the city council agenda however, only addressed giving the property a numerical address.
Lozman said he is entitled by the state to have an address, especially for emergency purposes in case he or someone would get hurt on the property, police and fire rescue would have no address to respond.
"This is my residence I’d like to get an address for my taxes, for my home state exemptions, so I could have water, electric and sewer, so I can have my garbage pick up," added Lozman. "Floating homes are the way of the future."
Riviera Beach City Council members took no action on deciding whether to grant Lozman. They say there will be a closed executive session due to pending litigation.
