Hollywood icon Sylvester Stallone's proposal for an underwater barrier near his Palm Beach mansion has ignited a neighborhood dispute. The 78-year-old actor aims to install a seaweed barrier in the Intracoastal Waterway adjacent to his $35 million estate. While seemingly an environmental initiative to manage debris, an Army Corps public notice suggests the primary objective is to deter boaters from approaching the property, with seaweed a secondary concern.
Neighbors expressed surprise at the short notice given by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, which set a Christmas Day deadline for comments on the project. Stallone's application also requests a lease of state-owned land required for the barrier's placement. Neighbor Bradford Gary, while acknowledging the desire to protect a valuable property, emphasized that "you can't just stake your claim and think you own the water."
Stallone purchased the sprawling 1.5-acre lakefront property in 2021. The estate boasts over 13,000 square feet of living space, encompassing a main house, guest house, and pool pavilion, with seven bedrooms and 12 bathrooms. The barrier application, submitted in January 2023, and plans received by the Army Corps in August, initiated a month-long public comment period in October. Concerns were raised regarding potential entanglement of manatees and impacts on seagrasses. The Army Corps is currently evaluating the project's purpose to ascertain if using a barrier to deter boaters in a public waterway is permissible.
Residents Susan and Bradford Gary received the public comment notice after the deadline, highlighting a lack of communication with neighbors. Stallone's 2024 relocation from Los Angeles to the East Coast, documented in his Netflix documentary "Sly," was attributed to a desire for creative renewal. His wife, Jennifer Flavin, clarified that the move was motivated by a need for change, not concerns about crime, emphasizing that crime exists everywhere and California remains a beautiful state.
