Palm Beach officials could push to shut down Mar-a-Lago in dispute about road closures near Trump compound

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Indefinite, round-the-clock road closures around Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago compound are frustrating Palm Beach officials and residents to the point that the Florida club and residence could be forced to shut down. “Either the club’s open or not.” Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago is under scrutiny from Palm Beach officials taking aim at ongoing road closures that are snarling traffic and frustrating residents. Town attorney Joanne O’Conner has sent a letter to the Secret Service to “provide the legal authority authorizing it to implement the road closure for the specified duration and even when protectee are not in residence in the Town.” The closure, O’Conner wrote, “effectively cuts the Town in two.” Secret Service directed road closures after a 20-year-old gunman fired an AR-15 at the former president while he was speaking on a campaign rally stage in Pennsylvania on July 13. Then-Palm Beach attorney Skip Randolph argued at the time that the agreement did not necessarily prevent Trump from living there; he is allowed to stay under a zoning designation that allows private clubs to allow living space to “bona fide employee.” Palm Beach also has authority to revoke Mar-a-Lago’s occupational license if the property is determined to be in violation of a declaration-of-use agreement.