Does Sylvester Stallone want to keep out seaweed or boaters from the water next to his multimillion-dollar Palm Beach estate?
The action star's plans to install a barrier in the Intracoastal Waterway next to his North End home are drawing ire from some of his neighbors, according to records obtained by the Daily News.
While the barrier is billed in applications to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as needed to keep out seaweed and debris, a public notice from the Army Corps said "the overall project purpose is to exclude boaters" from coming near the property — with seaweed a secondary concern.
The request has raised the hackles of neighbors who say they were blindsided by the notice they recently received from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection letting them know they have until 5 p.m. Christmas Day to comment on Stallone's proposal.
Stallone's application also includes a request for a submerged lease of state land, because the barrier would in part be on underwater property owned by the state of Florida, records show.
"He bought a beautiful property," neighbor Bradford Gary said of Stallone's estate, calling it "one of the nicest West Indies houses" on the North End. "I can see why you'd want to protect it. But you can't just kind of stake your claim and think you own the water."
Requests for comment to multiple representatives for Stallone — including Isiminger & Stubbs Engineering Inc. of North Palm Beach, the project's engineer — were not returned.
What is Sylvester Stallone asking for in Palm Beach?
The application was submitted to the state and Army Corps for review by celebrity wealth manager Lester Knispel on behalf of Southpaw Trust, the entity through which Stallone in December of 2020 paid a recorded $35.375 million for the property at 1480 N. Lake Way in Palm Beach, records show.
The estate where the famed "Rocky" and "Rambo" actor lives with his wife, entrepreneur and model Jennifer Flavin, includes a 262-foot private beach on the lake, along with a two-story mansion, a guesthouse and a pool pavilion.
The property is just a stone's throw from the very northern edge of Palm Beach, which sits against the Palm Beach Inlet. It looks west toward the Port of Palm Beach and Florida Power & Light's Manatee Lagoon education center. Peanut Island, a popular boating a recreation site, is about a mile north.
According to state records, the floating barrier would rise about 8 inches above the water and extend down about 10 inches below the water's surface. It would be anchored into the bottom of the waterway using a system of nylon ropes and eyelets that would be secured into the substrate by six piles, records show. The barrier would allow marine life to swim underneath, and creatures could also swim around the barrier at each end, an engineer for the project said in an email to the state Department of Environmental Protection that was reviewed by the Daily News.
The barrier would extend 191 feet south from the dock that is at the north end of Stallone's beach, and then make a 90-degree right turn to run 50 feet back toward the shore, forming an "L" shape, according to federal and state public notices describing the project.
Sylvester's notice of public comment surprises Palm Beach neighbors
The project dates back to at least 2022, when the state Department of Environmental Protection completed a site survey, public records show. Representatives for Stallone officially submitted the application to the state on Jan. 23, 2023.
The plans were received by the Army Corps on Aug. 16 of this year, an Army Corps spokesperson said. That agency published a notice for public comment on Oct. 24, and there was a 30-day comment period that ended Nov. 24. The notice was posted on the Army Corps' website, sent via email to the agency's public notice notification mailing list for Florida projects and sent via letter to the two residences on either side of Stallone's property, the Army Corps spokesperson said.
The Army Corps received one public comment that questioned the proposed project's effects on seagrasses and the risk of manatees becoming entangled in the barrier, the spokesperson said, adding that the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission also submitted comments. The FWC also reviewed and commented on the application to the state Department of Environmental Protection, records show.
"The Corps is reviewing the project purpose to determine if the use of barrier for the purpose of deterring boaters within the public waterway is permittable," the Army Corps spokesperson said. The agency asked for more information from Stallone's team, they said.
The notice of the state's public-comment period surprised Susan Gary and her husband, Bradford, when they received it in the mail on Sunday.
"Usually when your neighbors are gonna do something, we've found in Palm Beach, usually they call," Bradford Gary said, adding, "A lot of neighbors are concerned."
The Garys sent a letter to U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel objecting to the project, and they also submitted a letter objecting to the project to the state.
Those who would like to review the entire application for the project can do so by going to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, 3301 Gun Club Road, SC 7210-1, West Palm Beach.
Written comments must be submitted before 5 p.m. Dec. 25 to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, 3301 Gun Club Road, SC 7210-1, West Palm Beach, FL 33406.
Trash washing up on Sylvester Stallone's beach
While the 2022 state survey of the area did not find any seaweed, that is because the survey was done in November, and most of the seaweed accumulates during the summer, a project engineer said in an email to a Department of Environmental Protection employee last year.
The engineer went on to describe some of the items that washed up on the beach in June of 2022, including plastic bottles, trash, sticks, leaves, palm fronds, coconuts and a watermelon, in addition to seaweed.
"All these items would be reduced with the floating seaweed barrier," the engineer wrote. The beach is routinely cleaned to remove seaweed, trash and other debris that wash up on Stallone's property, he said.
Concerns about wildlife and safety
The area where Stallone proposed to install the barrier is a quiet cove that serves as a refuge for kayakers, paddle boarders and others who may get stuck in the strong current that rushes in and out of the inlet, Susan Gary said.
Among those boaters are the small vessels used by the Sailfish Club to teach young people how to sail, she said.
"We would not want a whole section of the beach completely blocked by this net, which is pretty big," Bradford Gary said.
Susan Gary recalled that when they first moved to Palm Beach, she was in a kayak and her husband was in a small Boston Whaler when she got stuck in the inlet's strong current. Bradford Gary had to throw her a tow line to pull her to safety, she said.
"From that experience, I would say it was a safety issue, particularly for people who are new to the area and don't realize how strong the current can be," Susan Gary said. "You could pull in there to get out of the current."
Both said they have never seen an issue with large amounts of seaweed accumulating along the lake shore. Another frequent boater in that area, who asked not to be named because of privacy concerns, concurred, saying that while there may be an occasional bunch of seaweed that enters the inlet, it rarely gathers along the shore in bunches that could be considered a nuisance to Palm Beach's North End.
There are some federally listed species in the area, including manatees and smalltooth sawfish, the Army Corps said in its public notice. The state's survey in 2022 found several seagrasses, along with coral. The Garys also said that starfish are frequently seen in the cove's clear, shallow water.
The Army Corps notice states that the plans would include conditions that are standard for protecting manatees, sea turtles and smalltooth sawfish. The project team would use floating curtains to protect the surrounding area during work, until sediment stabilizes, the Army Corps notice said.
The application to the Army Corps said that the amount of seagrass and hard bottom of the waterway that would be affected is "negligible," the Army Corps notice said.
This story was updated to add new information.
Kristina Webb is a reporter for Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her atkwebb@pbdailynews.com.Subscribe todaytosupport our journalism.