Orange County is accusing the onePulse Foundation of unauthorized use of the property once planned for a museum commemorating the Pulse massacre, the latest in a series of controversies for the beleaguered nonprofit.

The publicly-supported organization is facing increased scrutiny since it recently declared its inability to build the museum and permanent memorial in honor of the lives impacted by the 2016 tragedy. Now, the county says onePulse is in default for leasing out portions of the planned museum property to another local business, without obtaining county approval as was required.

onePulse had already signaled its intention to hand over to the county the organization’s 1.7-acre property on 438 Kaley Street. It bought the parcel, which contains a 47,000-square-foot warehouse, in September 2019 for $3.5 million with tourist development tax revenue granted by the county, but then later leased portions of it to the Nassal Company, an entertainment firm located less than a mile away. Orange County is demanding onePulse void those leases before the property is transferred.

The situation begs the question of what happened to the lease proceeds, whose amount has not been revealed. onePulse said in a statement Monday night only that the money had been used for “operating expenses.”

According to the Monday letter declaring the default and signed by Orange County Administrator Byron Brooks, onePulse was obliged to “diligently proceed with the design, construction and operation of the museum in a financially responsible and commercially reasonable manner.”

Its agreement with the county also states that onePulse could only use the property as a museum with associated amenities unless otherwise given prior written consent by Orange County. The organization was not allowed to sell, convey, alienate, transfer, assign or lease the property, or any parts of the facility, without it.

Yet, according to the notice, onePulse entered into four license agreements with the entertainment agency Nassal to use portions of the property. The county approved one of those agreements concerning parking, which existed prior to onePulse’s acquisition of the land. But it did not approve the other three.

The unauthorized licenses were recorded last August and this year over the summer for Nassal’s use of flex space, storage and loading docks.

Orlando Sentinel’s television partner Spectrum News 13 first reported the news of the default notice.

After learning of the breach, Orange County instructed onePulse to cancel the agreements with Nassal before transferring the property. The county also said it “deems it prudent” to perform additional, unspecified “due diligence” prior to accepting the deed to the property.

Representatives with The Nassal Company declined to comment on the issue.

But Yolanda Londoño, onePulse Foundation board spokesperson, said the latest development is simply part of the process to close its agreement with Orange County.

“We maintain active communication with county staff and will continue to ensure everything is done correctly and in accordance with our agreement,” Londoño said.

Leadership at the nonprofit has a documented history of bypassing necessary government approvals.

Earlier in the summer, news surfaced that the permit to use the interim Pulse memorial on South Orange Avenue expired last May.

The former property owners of the site, including onePulse founder Barbara Poma, said it was the foundation’s responsibility to renew the permit while onePulse said it was the property owners’ responsibility.

The property now belongs to the city of Orlando. As an owner, the city oversees the maintenance and security of the site as required by the permit.

It’s unclear if the nonprofit will be penalized for the Orange County unlicensed agreements and if so, how. County commissioners are scheduled to discuss onePulse and related issues at the board’s meeting next Tuesday.

In a response to several questions from the Orlando Sentinel, Jane Watrel, a spokesperson for Orange County, said staff members are gathering information on the situation for the BCC meeting.

“Until that update, there is nothing further to share,” she said.

arabines@orlandosentinel.com