MIAMI — Miami residents will have a chance to weigh in on Donald Trump’s plans to build a billion-dollar high-rise legacy project adjacent to the Freedom Tower after Miami Dade College’s Board of Trustees decided Tuesday to take a new, publicly noticed vote on transferring its land for the project.

The college’s attorneys had been fighting against a new hearing for the last two months in court, arguing that its original Sept. 23 vote to transfer the prime downtown property to the state was sufficiently publicized under Florida’s Sunshine Law.

Historian and activist Marvin Dunn has been suing the college, accusing the trustees’ of violating the state’s public transparency laws by not advertising what land it was voting on or its intended purpose as Trump’s presidential library.

“We won,” Dunn told the Miami Herald on Tuesday. “This is what we wanted them to do. Re-notice this and give the public a chance to appear and express our views, so we won. They caved.”

He said he’s planning a “major community organizing effort” to gather “hundreds” to weigh in on the plan during the newly agreed-to meeting.

Earlier this month, a Miami circuit court judge blocked the college from transferring land out of its ownership while the case proceeded, ruling that Dunn’s case had “substantial likelihood of success.” On Monday, Judge Mavel Ruiz set a trial date for August.

“At this point, given that it could drag out a full year, we might as well go ahead and call for a meeting and vote on it as a board,” board chair Michael Bileca said during Tuesday’s regular monthly trustee meeting.

No board member has indicated they plan to vote differently on the project than when they unanimously approved the land transfer the first time. Neither the college nor Trump’s library foundation has released any details about specific concessions or benefits for the college. Trump’s library foundation plans to raise $950 million for the project over three years, tax filings show.

The legal fight is “just going to be a gigantic waste of taxpayer money,” board member Marcell Felipe said during Tuesday’s meeting. “Let’s get it done, let’s put it to bed.”

Dunn has indicated he doesn’t intend to drop the legal fight.

“Even if they redo the land giveaway, they still broke the law on their first try, and we will hold them accountable for that,” Dunn told the Herald. “The lawsuit will go forward in the interest of the public in clarifying the meaning of the Sunshine Act. The capitulation of the board does not clear the issue up.” The college’s attorneys have argued that Florida’s Sunshine Law only requires agencies to provide public notice about the logistics of a public meeting, not the details of what will be discussed.

“The Board should be commended for creating additional transparency far beyond what is required by law. Dunn’s actions are pure lawfare and will not succeed,” said Jesus M. Suarez, the Continental PLLC attorney defending the college in the case.

Open government advocates have said that if a court agrees with the college’s interpretation of the Sunshine Law, it could set new legal precedent undermining public access to information about government meetings in the state.

College President Madeline Pumariega said the new vote could happen as soon as next Tuesday, Dec. 2. The timing of the vote will be posted on the Board of Trustees website.

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