Jun. 12, 2003 - R. Donahue Peebles, owner of the Royal Palm Crowne Plaza Resort, the first majority-black-owned resort hotel in the country, got a brief reprieve in his ongoing financial dispute with Miami Beach when city commissioners agreed to resume negotiations that had fallen apart in recent months. 

Peebles and the city, partners in the hotel deal, have been squabbling over back rent, environmental cleanup costs and construction delays since the hotel opened with much celebration in May 2002. 

Commissioners on Wednesday asked Peebles and staff to reach a preliminary agreement by next month, but said that they may be forced to sue Peebles for nearly $500,000 in unpaid rent if a deal is not reached soon. 

"We're going to get this thing resolved," Mayor David Dermer said. "We look forward to working things out." 

The apparent reconciliation came after two tense hours of debate between Peebles and commissioners. Peebles, flanked by a representative from the state's NAACP office and several black ministers, reminded commissioners that the hotel had been the cornerstone of a deal to end a three-year-long boycott of the county's tourism industry. 

Commissioners -- specifically Richard Steinberg and Saul Gross -- chastised the developer for playing 'the race card' to force the city to settle on his terms. 

"This is not a white or black issue, this is a business issue," Gross said. "I don't care what color you are, at the end of the day, you didn't live up to your end of the bargain," he said. 

Peebles said it was the city who introduced race into the debate. As for criticism that he is goading the city into a lawsuit by reneging on contracts with the city, Peebles said: "If I wanted to litigate against you, I would have filed suit against the city a long time ago." 

By Nicole White and Richard Brand 

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(c) 2003, The Miami Herald. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.