Palm Beach County commissioners are considering another $300,000 for outside legal counsel as the county continues its challenge to ongoing TFRs surrounding President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence. The proposed amendment would increase the county’s agreement with aviation law firm Kaplan, Kirsch LLP from $322,500 to a maximum of $622,500. County staff said no funding remains under the existing agreement while the litigation continues.
The dispute dates to October 2025, when the FAA established a year-round restriction within 1 nautical mile of Mar-a-Lago and below 2,000 feet, regardless of whether the president was at the property. Previously, presidential TFRs affected the area only when the president was in residence there. The continual restriction also changed procedures at President Donald J. Trump International Airport, formerly Palm Beach International Airport, directing eastbound departures northeast to remain clear of the TFR airspace.
Flight Paths Draw Complaints
County officials say the resulting traffic patterns substantially increased overflights in the El Cid and Flamingo Park neighborhoods of West Palm Beach and parts of the Town of Palm Beach. Commissioner Gregg Weiss has said about 20,000 residents were affected. More than 6,000 noise complaints have been filed since the procedures changed, according to local reporting, compared with fewer than a dozen per month previously. Noise monitors have also been installed in Palm Beach and West Palm Beach to document flight activity.
“I think that they need to speak directly to the public and explain the rationale as to why,” Weiss told WPTV after commissioners voted in December to move forward with the Mar-a-Lago TFR challenge.
The commission voted 4-3 after county attorneys warned that failing to file by a federal deadline could eliminate the county’s opportunity to seek judicial review while it continued negotiations with the FAA and U.S. Secret Service.
Federal Court Challenge
Palm Beach County, the City of West Palm Beach and the Town of Palm Beach are now pursuing the Mar-a-Lago TFR case together in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. In a joint brief filed June 9, the local governments asked the court to vacate the restrictions and related flight procedures. They argue the FAA acted on a Secret Service request without conducting sufficient independent analysis of the effects on the airport and surrounding communities. The filing also challenges the process under federal administrative and environmental laws.
“The genesis of it was communication from the Secret Service to the FAA requesting that this perimeter exclusion zone be established.” FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford told the Washington Examiner in an interview published Monday.
Bedford said the Secret Service did not provide the FAA with the intelligence behind the request. He also said the agency has since redesigned procedures around Mar-a-Lago to reduce noise in affected neighborhoods.
The FAA filed its response to the court challenge Aug. 11, and the local governments’ reply is due Sept. 1, according to the Town of Palm Beach. The county’s proposed $300,000 increase for outside counsel related to the Mar-a-Lago case appears on Tuesday’s commission consent agenda. The underlying Kaplan, Kirsch agreement runs through September 2027.
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