Residents Sue Miami-Dade to Force a Public Vote on Superyacht Marina at Former Miami Seaquarium

Two Miami-Dade County residents have sued the county to force a countywide vote on a large commercial marina planned for the former Miami Seaquarium site on Virginia Key, arguing that the project would turn more than 56 acres of public bay bottom in the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve into private yacht slips without the voter approval the county charter requires. The lawsuit, filed this week, comes as commissioners move toward final votes on a new 99-year lease and rezoning for the site in mid-November.

Gregory Frankel and Aaron Stauber, both attorneys and longtime county residents, are asking a judge for an injunction and a declaration that the project must go to a referendum, according to WLRN. They are not seeking money. "We're not asking for any money. There's no damages here," Stauber told WLRN. "We really just want the process, good governance."

From marine park to marina

The Seaquarium opened in 1955 and for decades drew visitors to see its dolphins and killer whale. The land belongs to Miami-Dade County, which leased it to private operators. In 2024, the county moved to evict the park's last operator, Mexico-based The Dolphin Company, citing lease breaches and animal welfare violations. That eviction was put on hold when the company entered bankruptcy proceedings in federal court in Delaware.

In September 2025, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and Commissioner Raquel Regalado, whose district includes Virginia Key, announced a proposed agreement under which Miami-based Terra Group, led by developer David Martin, would take over the remaining lease. Court documents showed Terra would pay $22.5 million to take over a lease with about 20 years left on it, WLRN reported at the time. The Seaquarium closed for good on Oct. 12, 2025.

Martin has pitched a redeveloped site with shops, restaurants, a fisherman's village, event space, an accredited aquarium without marine mammals, and an education and research component. In December, county commissioners gave tentative approval to a new 99-year lease, which is still being negotiated. WLRN reported in July that the proposed deal would give Martin 95% of the profits from the marina slips.

How big the marina would be

The scale of the marina surfaced in July, when WLRN reported on an application the county had quietly filed with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. That plan called for 325 wet slips and dry-stack storage for roughly 500 more boats, with nearly 90 slips able to fit yachts longer than 80 feet and some able to take superyachts up to 200 feet. The docks would stretch more than halfway across a channel separating Virginia Key from shallow flats, with a wave break and a fuel dock covering more than 19,000 square feet.

The lawsuit describes the project as a commercial marina of about 847 berths on 56.692 acres of county bay bottom that was never part of any Seaquarium lease, with a fuel dock and a dry-stack boat building of about 692,000 square feet. A county rezoning application would create a special district allowing up to 325 slips and up to 552 boats in dry-stack towers.

State regulators responded to the county's application with a six-page list of questions, including whether the project would affect protected wetlands, how much coral might be damaged, details about dredging, plans for sewage pump-outs and fuel spills, and potential impacts on water quality.

The charter fight

The dispute turns on Article 7 of the Miami-Dade County charter. In 1993, after a petition drive led by lawyer Dan Paul gathered more than 90,000 signatures, voters approved with nearly 60% of the vote an amendment requiring voter approval for commercial operations on county park land. The charter also requires changes within aquatic preserves, including the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve, to be approved by two-thirds of county voters.

Martin's team says the plan complies. A statement from his spokeswoman said the project was designed around the charter's protections and noted that the Seaquarium and marinas are exempt from the referendum requirement. Earlier this month, Martin's representative told WLRN that a bankruptcy court timeline required an expedited acquisition of the amended lease, "leaving no time for a lengthy referendum process that is not required as a matter of law."

Frankel and Stauber argue that when the exemption was written, the Seaquarium's boundaries ended at the seawall, so the submerged bay land where the marina would sit was never covered. They also contend that a new commercial marina falls outside the exemption, noting the charter directs that its rules be liberally construed to protect aquatic preserves. "The county now reads that one word [exemption] as permission to approve something the voters never approved," the lawsuit says.

They point to precedent. Zoo Miami is exempted in the same sentence as the Seaquarium, Frankel said, yet in 2006 county lawyers concluded a proposed water park and hotel there needed a countywide vote, and voters approved it.

Environmental concerns

Virginia Key is one of Biscayne Bay's last remaining natural barrier islands, and the preserve's own management team lists improper boating among its main threats. The bay has lost an estimated 70% to 90% of the flats that once sheltered sea turtles, bonefish and lobsters over the past decade, WLRN has reported. Seagrass flats near the Seaquarium shelter young fish and sea horses, and a 1,000-foot manatee speed zone wraps around the site. The county's Manatee Protection Plan generally limits slips for motorized boats unless operators can show manatees will not be harmed.

Friends of Biscayne Bay has twice asked the county to slow approvals and started a petition to defer the plan. In July, it sent a letter signed by more than a dozen residents and groups, including Save the Manatee Club, The CLEO Institute and Surfrider, seeking an independent environmental study. "We all have a right to understand what's happening there," said Laura Reynolds, an advisor to the group, who said requests for information have repeatedly gone unanswered.

Martin's statement said the project "will deliver a publicly accessible, environmentally conscious destination where residents and visitors can enjoy the waterfront and learn more about South Florida's marine habitat."

Key dates

The project has moved quickly over the past year:

County stays quiet

This week, county commissioners revised the definition of special districts to fit smaller projects, including the redeveloped Seaquarium, clearing one hurdle for the plan. At the commission meeting, Commissioner Danielle Cohen Higgins asked County Attorney Geri Bonzon-Keenan to explain the charter rules for public land; Bonzon-Keenan said pending litigation prevented her from answering, WLRN reported. Neither the county attorney's office nor the mayor's office responded to WLRN's requests for comment.

Darrin Gursky, the residents' attorney, said he met with county staff to explain the concerns but received no answers. "They're just pushing forward," he told WLRN.

What's next

The timeline for the challenge is tight. Commission votes to approve the lease and rezone the land are scheduled for mid-November, and a final bankruptcy closeout hearing originally set for Oct. 20 has been postponed. Whether a judge acts before those votes will determine if the question of a marina in Biscayne Bay ends up on a countywide ballot or is settled by the commission alone. State environmental permits for the marina also remain pending before the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.