News commentator Nestor Suarez is fighting to dismiss a developer's libel case over posts on his blog that claim alocal project "stinks" and was tied to "corrupt shenanigans" in a Miami Springs development district.
In the defamation lawsuit, developer Springs Town Center says Suarez and his site, MiamiSprings.com, "viciously defamed" it through a string of articles about its mixed-use project at 1 Curtiss Parkway. The developer accusesSuarez of chiseling away at the project with olfactory barbs over the course of two years, including one post that states, "this smells like Miami Springs corruption, and it really stinks.”
Attorneys for Suarez argue that thecase should be tossed pursuant to Florida's anti-SLAPP law. The statute prohibits strategic lawsuits against public participation - also known as SLAPP cases - which are brought against individuals for exercising their right of free speech in connection with a public issue.
"The four news articles, all published in a local community publication directed to the public community members of Miami Springs, are well within the allowable boundaries of public and political commentary and opinion," Suarez's motion to dismiss argues.
Miami Springs is a three-square-mile town with a population of roughly 13,500, north of Miami International Airport, founded by aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss. A bedroom community once known as Mayberry, Miami Springs now grapples with an affordable housing crunch and big-city crime.
The 50,725-square-foot Town Center at 1Curtiss Parkway sits on a 1.15-acre lot near the Miami Springs entrance bridge, off Okeechobee Road, and includes apartments and retail space.
Published on his MiamiSprings.com site,Suarez's articlesclaim the city's creation of the Gateway Overlay District gave cushy concessions for developers, which allowed the Town Center to bypass parking space requirements and maximize build space. One article referred to the district as "the dirty, filthy, smells-like-corruption Gateway Overlay District."
"What’s happened downtown is a swindle. I don’t blame the developers. Every developer wants to maximize leasable and sellable real estate," Suarez wrote.
Suarez is a lifelong Miami Springs resident whose blog reaches more than 20,000 people per month. Recent posts covered a notice for flag football registration, a council vote for "tree protection," and a local arrested at Sushi Sake for allegedly refusing to pay his bill.
Springs Town Center filed the lawsuit against Suarez in December 2023, claiming he lobbed unfounded accusations of "graft and bribery of elected officials" against it. The developer maintains that its initial investment in the neighborhood, its purchase of the historic Circle Theater, came along months after theGateway Overlay District's 2018 creation.
"Springs Town merely...invested substantial time and resources into rehabilitating the building and revitalizing the neighborhood in accordance with city regulations that Springs Town had no role in shaping," the developer argues.
"There is a distinct line of demarcation that divides public discourse, which free speech principles permit, from personal defamation which free speech principles prohibit. Defendants have crossed that line by making concrete assertions that Springs Town perpetrated criminal activity, including graft and bribery of elected officials, which are not supported by an iota of truth," the lawsuit alleges.
Filed in February, Suarez's 95-page motion to dismiss says the writer was primarily criticizing Miami Springs' creation of the district, not the private developer, and that the articles were protected by free speech rights. The content at issue was published between December 2021 and February 2023, according to court documents.
"The statements which [Town Center] complains of in these new articles are the epitome of what constitutes free speech in connection with public issues, and expressly protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and Section 5, Art. I of the State Constitution," Suarez’s motion to dismiss claims.
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Nestor Suarez, publisher of MiamiSprings.com
Photo by Theo Karantsalis
When reached by New Times, one of Florida's leading free-speech experts said she believes Suarez has a strong case for dismissal.
"Clearly, the developer would prefer that Suarez keep his mouth shut and his opinions to himself, but in reading the complaint, it’s difficult to conclude that Suarez is guilty of defamation, whether per se or by implication," said attorney Barbara Peterson, executive director of the Florida Center for Government Accountability. (Peterson is not representing parties in the case.)
At a May hearing, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Mavel Ruiz listened as both sides pursued motions and argued about where the line should be drawn between criticism and defamation. The judge has not yet ruled on Suarez's motion to toss the case based on Florida's Anti-SLAPP statute.
On June 14, Suarez moved to stay discovery, pointing to his pending motion to dismiss.
If the case proceeds, a trial date has been set for February 16, 2025, according to the Miami-Dade Clerk’s database.
MiamiSprings.com describes itself as "the number one source for news and events for the Miami Springs and Virginia Gardens community." It's run by Suarez and his company Florida Web Marketing, court documents state.
The blog also has a political discussion forum that has spawned local controversy.
The Miami Herald reported in 2020 that city officials were irked over jabs made on the site during Black Lives Matter protests in Miami Springs. Miami Springs' then-mayor Billy Bain said at a 2020 city council meeting that he was offended people were being "ramrodded" and "belittled" via anonymous posts.
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