Lawyers for the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board said the agreement Disney made with the previous Reedy Creek Improvement District is "null and void" because it did not follow state sunshine laws.
The agreement tried to undercut the state takeover of the central Florida district encompassing the Walt Disney World Resort, but David Thompson, an attorney for the new board, said the agreement did not go through the proper procedure to be enacted.
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"Procedurally, Disney and the prior board failed to adhere to the state sunshine laws. Specifically, they failed to mail notice to the other property owners in the district. The obligation to make such a mailing is crystal clear under the law. And Disney’s failure dooms their entire effort to evade the will of the people of Florida," Thompson said at the board meeting Wednesday.
"There is a second procedural flaw in Disney’s efforts. Under Florida law, a development agreement of this type can be entered into only if the district has put in place procedures governing the adoption of such an agreement. The Reedy Creek Improvement District neglected to do so. They had no such procedures. And these purported contracts are therefore null and void," he continued.
Thompson also argued the agreements are "unconstitutional." He said governments within the state may not "confer their own powers onto private parties" under the private nondelegation doctrine.
The board, which was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) after the district was restructured, also shared it had hoped to work with Disney but was forced to take action.
"Before we learned about Disney’s illegal, eleventh-hour agreements, our board was genuinely looking forward to working with Disney in a productive and collaborative manner to improve the functioning of the district. In this spirit, before we were formally appointed, our board members met with Disney’s vice president of external affairs to launch what we hoped would be a mutually beneficial relationship," board chairman Martin Garcia said at the meeting Wednesday.
"Unfortunately, we were unaware that Disney had no intention of abiding by the new legislation. Weeks earlier, it leapt to subvert the will of the people of Florida by creating illegal agreements. Again, our board truly wished to work with Disney. Instead, the corporation decided that compromise was out of the question. It was Disney’s way or the highway. This is why we were forced to hire litigation counsel," he continued.
The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board announced last month it hired four outside law firms to work to void the agreement made under the previous board.
"All agreements signed between Disney and the District were appropriate, and were discussed and approved in open, noticed public forums in compliance with Florida's Government in the Sunshine law," Disney said in a statement to the Washington Examiner after the DeSantis-appointed board discovered the agreement.
The board said it would look into uses for the land owned by the district, including possibly building affordable housing. DeSantis joked on Monday that the district could build a competing theme park or a state prison on the land.
At the meeting, the board also approved a measure that asserts "superior authority" over the two cities within the district. The board voted to remove the Planning and Zoning Board members and appointed themselves to fill the role.
The agreement between the prior board and Disney was made on Feb. 8, and the legislation restructuring the district was signed into law by DeSantis on Feb. 27.
The accord does not permit the board to make most changes without permission from the Walt Disney Company. The "King Charles clause" in the agreement ensures Disney has autonomy over the district, which includes the Walt Disney World Resort, until "21 years after the death of the last survivor of the descendants of King Charles III, King of England, living as of the date of this declaration."
DeSantis announced plans to revoke the last-minute agreement with what he called "a strong one-two punch" on Monday. The first part of his plan was through the board, and the second part was through the state legislature.
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Florida GOP state Sen. Blaise Ingoglia introduced an amendment on Tuesday that would nullify the agreement. It would change statutes to say that new governments of special districts have to review and readopt any agreements from the three months prior to the new governing body taking office.
The battle between DeSantis and Disney, which led to Disney's central Florida district being restructured, stemmed from the entertainment giant's comments denouncing DeSantis's push for the Parental Rights in Education Act last year. Disney had maintained full autonomy over the district since its creation in 1967.