Riviera Beach residents sue land company | Maryland Gazette (HometownGlenBurnie.com)

Robynn Squires, Floyd C. Culhane, Jr. and Peter Leimbach, residents who have argued for reform of the organization that holds title to all community-owned land in the beach, sued in county Circuit Court last month.

They're also asking the court to appoint someone to take over Riverbea's operations until new directors are elected, and to bar Riverbea from selling off any more common property.

Riverbea came under fire last fall after residents found out the organization sold a six-tenths of an acre parcel at the mouth of the Patapsco River known as the Triangle. The sale wasn't made public until about six months after it happened.

Riverbea officials said some residents in the beach were misusing community property, and they had to sell the Triangle for money to take those residents to court.

Defendants named in the suit are Riverbea President John Robbins, former board member Edward P. Kiley and current board members Will Guizzardi, Jack Leibsch II , Robert Snyder and Brett Scheibe.

Those officers have misused community assets and acted behind closed doors, the lawsuit states.

John Barry Tiernan, the Pasadena contractor who bought the Triangle for $145,000, was also named in the suit.

The lawsuit asks the court to prohibit Mr. Tiernan from doing anything with the land, "including but not limited to grading or excavating, and any other activities that would interfere with the plaintiffs' right to use and to enjoy the Triangle."

Speaking for the defendants, Mr. Robbins said he had no comment.

The sale of the Triangle appeared to be the breaking point for residents fed up with what they called years of secret behavior by Riverbea members.

More than a hundred residents turned out for Riviera Community Improvement Association meetings in March and April, a far cry from the handful who usually show up, leaders said.

They complained no one told them about the sale of the Triangle until it was too late, including then-RCIA president Mr. Kiley.

Mr. Kiley resigned from RCIA and his position on the Riverbea board two weeks later, citing personal obligations. Other RCIA board members resigned as well.

Residents of Save The Beach, an organization formed by Ms. Squires and others to fight for reform of RCIA and Riverbea, also disputed the use of erosion control funds. Those funds come from extra property taxes paid by about 1,200 households in the Riviera Beach Shore Erosion Control District.

The county, which disperses the funds, ordered RCIA to re-vote its 2008-2009 erosion budget.

The county also put the association under stop-work order for a shoreline improvement project on Lake Riviera after some residents complained that $365,000 for the project was spent improperly. The county auditor's office recommended the county not release $20,000 for a footbridge built across the lake, saying it had nothing to do with erosion control.