Yardarm Restaurant (Pompano Beach, Florida)

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In Pompano Beach, city officials groan about the Yardarm property as the lawsuit from hell. The court case began in 1974, after brothers Jim and Tom Stephanis tore down their Yardarm restaurant at the picturesque Hillsboro Inlet and decided to build a high-rise hotel on the spot. The city had issued a permit, but revoked it after neighbors complained it would block their ocean view. The brothers sued. Court battles continue.

The Stephanises lost the property to foreclosure in 1985. The city bought it from the federal government four years later, but never built anything on it, afraid they would have to sell if they got stung with a large court judgment. The site sat empty for years and was turned into a park in 1994.