Dispute Over Paid Parking Leads to Legal Battle in Bradenton Beach

A dispute has erupted in Bradenton Beach over the management of a paid parking lot at the corner of Gulf Drive and Bridge Street, resulting in a lawsuit. The Easy Parking Group, previously contracted to manage the lot, has filed a suit against Beach to Bay, the lot's owner, alleging breach of contract and seeking damages up to $100,000 in circuit court.

Beach to Bay, owned by developer Shawn Kaleta, was granted city approval in 2023 for a planned urban development (PUD) project that includes a 103-room resort on the lot and adjacent properties. Despite this development plan, the PUD permits the use of the lot for parking in the interim. Thus, on January 12, Beach to Bay entered into a management contract with Easy Parking Group, led by Joshua LaRose.

The contract stipulated that Easy Parking Group would manage and operate the paid parking, receiving 40% of net revenue after repaying improvements, startup costs, and subtracting basic operating expenses from gross revenues. It was a one-year agreement, allowing for termination without cause after the first six months with a 30-day written notice.

According to court records, LaRose received a termination notice on June 11 from Sam Negrin, manager at Beach to Bay LLC, effective July 12. On July 25, Kaleta’s attorney, Louis Najmy of Najmy Thompson PL of Bradenton, was served notice of the breach of contract suit and is expected to respond by August 14.

In response to a request for comment, Negrin provided a statement to The Islander on July 31: “Easy Parking Group owes Beach to Bay money. We are surprised they sued in response to our letter seeking payment. We look forward to resolving the issues and recovering the funds owed to us.”

The termination letter demanded that meter equipment, signage, and other items be removed by July 26, or they would become Beach to Bay’s property. However, the lawsuit asserts that shortly after issuing the termination notice, Beach to Bay replaced Easy Parking Group’s signs with new ones directing hourly parking payments to Beach to Bay, installed new parking meters, and disabled EPG’s meters.

The complaint claims that the agreement prohibited Beach to Bay from terminating services before July 12 and from removing EPG’s equipment and signage.

Court records also reveal that Kaleta does not fully own all the properties comprising the lot. The lot consists of four parcels listed on the Manatee County Property Appraisers website: 105 Bridge St., Apt. 1; 101 Bridge St., 219 Gulf Drive S., and 106 Third St. S. While Kaleta is the registered agent for three of these properties, the fourth, 219 Gulf Drive S., is owned by AMI Plaza LLC with William Saba as the registered agent.

LaRose’s lawsuit alleges that Kaleta misrepresented his ownership and control of the properties. It states that after the contract was initiated, Kaleta removed structures from three properties adjacent to 219 Gulf Drive S. and requested that EPG extend services to the newly cleared lots.

The lawsuit further contends that Easy Parking Group undertook startup activities and incurred initial costs that benefitted Beach to Bay and Kaleta. It argues that it is unfair for Beach to Bay and Kaleta to retain these benefits without compensating EPG.