JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Less than a month before her wedding, a Jacksonville Beach woman now has to find a new venue because of a city lawsuit against the Tuscan River Estate property owner in Miramar.
The lawsuit claims the owner is using the land on the St. Johns River in the neighborhood off San Jose Boulevard in unpermitted ways for weddings and other social events.
Nikki Morris said she's upset, angry and frustrated, but she's staying positive and has already started looking for other venues less than 24 hours after learning of the lawsuit.
COURT DOCUMENT: Lawsuit against Tuscan River Estate
On Thursday, she showed News4Jax why she and her fiance, John, originally picked the riverfront property for their wedding.
"I would walk down the steps. We would have our family sitting down there by the tree and we would have our ceremony right there under the arch of the oak tree," Morris explained.
But her old Hollywood, Florida-themed dream wedding will no longer happen at the Tuscan River Estate property after the lawsuit was filed.
In the lawsuit, the city claims the owner is using the property for short-term rentals and social activities.
Morris booked her dream venue in May and found out Wednesday, just a month before her April 28 wedding, that she would no longer be getting married there.
"A lot of crying and panicking. I know with all the problems going on in the world, this is not a big one. But we have family coming from all over," she said. "We're trying to find a venue that can house our family, which is going to be about 115 to 120 people."
The owner of the property, Michael Johnigean, told News4Jax by phone from Philadelphia that:
- He’s been done wrong by neighbors and the city.
- He’s done everything to keep the $3.2 million mansion up to code.
- And he rents the property a week at a time – even though the lawsuit claims that’s not the case.
Allan Biats, who lives across the street, said when there’s an event at the estate, there will be up to 200 cars driving through the neighborhood.
"It makes it unusable on a Saturday when they're having an event. If you have a bicycle and your child behind you and another bicycle, you can't do that because they're zooming up and down the street," said Biats, who has lived in the Miramar neighborhood for 19 years.
Pending the lawsuit, no more events are allowed to take place at the estate other than two events in which contracts had been signing.
Morris and her fiance said they also signed a contract, but still aren't allowed to have the wedding.
Morris said she feels betrayed, not by the property owner, but by the city of Jacksonville for not allowing her to stick with her contract that she signed nearly a year ago.
News4Jax tried calling both attorneys for the city. One was out for a week, and the other office said no comment.