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In his movies, Sylvester Stallone has taken on drug cartels, Soviet troops and boxer Apollo Creed.
But in real life, he had to a beat a retreat against the Palm Beach Town Council.
The movie star appeared Thursday before the council to defend his proposal to build a sea barrier to block boaters and seaweed from the private beach at his seaside Florida mansion, saying he wanted to shield his home from “derelict” boats that dump “sewage, gas, trash and dog feces” in the water. But he decided to ditch the plan after neighbors and local officials revolted.
The small crowd cheered and Stallone waved after his lawyer interrupted the proceedings to say the council didn’t need to discuss the matter further because Stallone was withdrawing his proposal. Council members and residents called the barrier offensive and said it infringed on the right to public waterways.
Stallone, 78, joined a list of celebrities, billionaires and world leaders who have tangled with Palm Beach’s famously finicky town council and locals. The ultra-wealthy enclave of 9,000 people has strict rules for development that often limit even its most powerful denizens.
President-elect Donald Trump faced off with the council for years over his Mar-a-Lago property, including a failed attempt to subdivide the land in the 1990s and a later effort to turn the residence into a club. Mar-a-Lago is about eight miles (13 kilometers) south of Stallone’s mansion, and the actor said he’d spoken about his beach troubles with the incoming president.
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Stallone’s proposed sea barrier would have risen 18 inches (46 centimeters) above the water and blocked off the waterfront facing his backyard private beach and swimming pool.
“It’s unbelievable to me that you can have your house, your things, your boat — the place that’s your sanctuary — and you can have some guy sit there for 10 months and do his laundry in front of me and there’s nothing you can do about it,” Stallone told the council.
Neighbors argued that a celebrity like Stallone should expect some lack of privacy when purchasing land by a public waterway.
“The onus is on that property owner to come up with a way of mitigating their exposure,” said Jane Lindsay Scott, a lifelong resident of Palm Beach. “But the waterway should remain open.”
Stallone said he too was concerned with environmental degradation in the area, though Scott pointed out that his barrier didn’t appear to address the issue and argued that it would merely “trap the trash and push it down.”
The permits that Stallone sought would have come from the state of Florida and the Army Corps of Engineers. The town council held the meeting only to decide if it would write a letter in opposition to the plan. But comments from the councilors and mayor suggested they opposed the barrier.
“It’s tough being so famous, and we have lots of celebrities and important people who live here, but you’re the only Rocky and Rambo, so it’s tough,” said council President Bobbie Lindsay. “I think we simply must object to this particular one.”