Eugene Stearns, board chairman and shareholder at Stearns Weaver Miller Weissler Alhadeff & Sitterson. Courtesy photo

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez and companies affiliated with billionaire auto dealer Norman Braman are suing the city to stop a gambling project and enforce Suarez's veto of the controversial development in the Edgewater neighborhood.

But the lawsuit was subject days later to a change of attorneys. Whether Suarez actually green-lighted to be named as plaintiff in the litigation remained unclear Monday. His office said he was working on a different filing planned for Wednesday, and the mayor would issue a public statement then.

The complaint filed last Wednesday sought declaratory judgment and injunctive relief, and listed attorneys Kendall Coffey of Coffey Burlington, Benedict Kuehne of Kuehne Davis Law in Miami and Braman Management Association assistant general counsel Brian Jay Shack as filing attorneys.

Miami litigator Eugene Stearns on Monday said he is taking over representation of the Braman-affiliated plaintiffs but not Suarez.

Stearns said he is working on an amended complaint and is replacing Coffey on the case and, as far as he knows, Kuehne also is off the case. Coffey and Kuehne had no comment by deadline on the changes with Kuehne directing inquiries to Stearns.

Stearns, who chairs the litigation department at Stearns Weaver Miller Weissler Alhadeff & Sitterson, said he doesn't know why the filing attorneys are being replaced.

"Certainly a lot of this was done hurriedly," Stearns said of the complaint. "We don't have the luxury of time to be able to be very careful and methodical about what's filed, and there will be an amended complaint filed that will clarify some of the questions that arose in the first complaint."

City Attorney Victoria Mendez declined to comment.

The city likely would need to hire outside counsel in defending itself in a case filed by Suarez to avoid a conflict as the city attorney's office represents him on city business.

The issue is over a push by West Flagler Associates Ltd., led by Magic City Casino's Havenick family, to open a jai alai fronton with gambling at a 12-acre property at 3030 Biscayne Blvd. Its existing license covers a casino miles away near Miami International Airport.

The lawsuit wants to void a 2012 city gambling interpretation that would allow a casino, claiming the city didn't follow its own procedures, made the change without public hearings and failed to notify nearby property owners and the general public.

"Frankly, this isn't rocket science. The notion that you could in a private letter in 2012 open up gambling to all throughout the city of Miami is pretty self-evidently preposterous. You can't do that. We have a zoning code," Stearns said. "The public has a right to be heard and to participate. You can't do it in secret. You can't convey the kind of power that allegedly was conveyed here with a secret memo."

The complaint said a gambling lobbyist asked the city to interpret its Miami 21 zoning code to allow gambling in six of 18 zoning districts without public hearing or the approval by the City Commission or planning board.

The city zoning administrator issued a letter agreeing to the interpretation, but the suit argued this was illegal. For one, the lobbyist wasn't registered with the city and such zoning interpretations can be issued only by the city planning director. A zoning administrator is limited to deciding on specific properties but a casino site wasn't identified for two years after the zoning interpretation was granted.

In 2017, the state, which licenses gambling operations in Florida, said it required assurance from the city to issue a permit for pari-mutuel wagering on the property. The city in January 2018 issued zoning verification letters for the Edgewater site confirming Miami 21 allows pari-mutuel wagering and card room gambling there, according to the suit. But the city based the letters on the allegedly illegal 2012 zoning interpretation.

The state subsequently permitted the use, but media reports prompted a public outcry, the complaint said.

In response, the City Commission held several meetings and adopted a law requiring a four-fifths super-majority vote to approve any gambling uses. West Flagler sued last April to overturn the requirement for its Edgewater property, and the two sides recently reached a settlement.

The commission voted Feb. 13 to approve the settlement, which allows for West Flagler's casin in Edgewater. Suarez vetoed the settlement a week later, but Mendez maintained the mayor lacked the power to reverse commission approval of a legal settlement.

The lawsuit maintains Suarez has veto power under the city charter and asked the court to uphold the veto.

The Braman plaintiffs are 2020 Biscayne Boulevard LLC, 2060 Biscayne Boulevard LLC, 2060 NE 2nd Ave. LLC and 246 NE 20th Terrace LLC, all of which are addresses for Braman dealerships in Miami. The other plaintiffs are the Paraiso Beachclub Operator LLC, Ronald M. Friedman, the Brickell Homeowners Association Inc. and its president, Ernesto Cuesta.