J-II INVESTMENTS, INC., AND JOHNNY PETRANDIS, II, AN INDIVIDUAL, APPELLANTS,
v.
LEON COUNTY, FLORIDA, A POLITICAL SUBDIVISION OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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The court held that Leon County has the authority to enforce its existing ordinances regarding development activities, even if the land is used for agricultural purposes, because the relevant statute does not preempt the enforcement of pre-existing regulations.
[1] A county may not exercise its powers to adopt any ordinance, resolution, regulation, rule, or policy to prohibit, restrict, regulate, or otherwise limit an activity of a…
[2] The plain and unambiguous terms of a statute must be given their plain and obvious meaning.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceLeon County investigated a property for unauthorized clearing and developmental activities without a permit. The property owners claimed the land was …
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THOMAS, J.
We review the trial court’s entry of final summary judgment in favor of Appellee Leon County. Because there is no issue of material fact, we affirm.
This case arose when a Leon County environmental compliance officer investigated Appellant’s property for unauthorized clearing without a permit. According to his affidavit, the compliance officer observed piles of dirt, uprooted trees, and other debris on the property. Appellee contacted the owners of the property, Appellants, to conduct an inspection of the property. After observing what he believed to be unpermitted developmental activities, the compliance officer placed a stop work order on the property.
On July 1, 2003, Appellee filed a Verified Complaint for Temporary and Permanent Injunctive Relief, stating that Appellants violated Leon County ordinances by performing developmental activities on the property without a permit. In response, Appellants answered the complaint, as serting that the land is used for agricultural purposes. Appellee then filed a motion for summary judgment. Appellants then submitted a Motion Against Entry of Summary Judgment with a supporting affidavit of Johnny Petrandis, the acting agent of J-II Investments. According to this affidavit, the property was not being developed, but rather was being used for aquaculture and livestock pasture.
In this appeal, Appellants assert that the land in question is being used for agricultural purposes and maintain that Leon County does not have regulatory authority over agricultural activity. However, Leon County maintains that development has taken place on the land and requires a permit pursuant to section 163.3202(1), Florida Statutes (2004).
Meanwhile, the Florida Agricultural Lands and Practices Act says that a “county may not exercise any of its powers to adopt any ordinance, resolution, regulation, rule or policy to prohibit, restrict, regulate, or otherwise limit an activity of a bona fide farm operation on land.... ” § 163.3162, Fla. Stat. (2004) (emphasis added). See also § 832.14(6), Fla. Stat. (containing identical language relating to nuisance suits, stating that “a local government may not adopt any ordinance, regulation, rule, or policy to prohibit, restrict, regulate, or otherwise limit an activity of a bona fide farm operation on land classified as agricultural land....”). A statute must be given its plain and obvious meaning. McLaughlin v. State, 721 So. 2d 1170, 1172 (Fla.1998).
The plain, unambiguous terms of section 163.3162(4), Florida Statutes, prevent counties from adopting ordinances relating to agriculture. The statute does not address the enforcement of provisions already in place. If the legislature intended to include the term “enforce” in the statute, it clearly could have done so. See, e.g., § 403.7603, Fla. Stat. (2004) (“... no county or municipality shall adopt or enforce regulations that discriminate against privately owned solid waste management facilities ... ”) (emphasis added); § 163.3174(6), Fla. Stat. (2004) (“If a joint planning entity is in existence on the effective date of this act which authorizes the governing bodies to adopt and enforce a land use plan effective throughout the joint planning area ....”) (emphasis added).
Thus, since the legislature did not include the word “enforce” in section 163.3162(4), Florida Statutes, we cannot assume that they intended to preempt all existing county regulations. Tallahassee Mem’l Reg'l Med. Ctr. v. Tallahassee Med. Ctr., 681 So. 2d 826, 831 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996) (“The courts should be careful in imputing an intent on behalf of the Legislature to preclude a local elected governing body from exercising its home rule powers.”). Here, Appellee is not attempting to adopt any ordinance that restricts agricultural activities, but instead is attempting to enforce a regulation that was already in place.
Therefore, section 163.3162, Florida Statutes, does not prevent Appellee from enforcing the ordinance.
Accordingly, there is no issue of material fact. Appellee has the authority to enforce the ordinances whether there are agricultural or developmental activities taking place on the parcel of land in question. Therefore, we affirm the trial court’s entry of final summary judgment.
We decline to address the award of attorney’s fees since the County’s Amended Motion to Tax Costs and Attorney’s Fees was not ruled upon at the time the Notice of Appeal was filed.
AFFIRMED.
WEBSTER and DAVIS, JJ., concur.
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J-Ii Invs., Inc. v. Leon Cnty., 21 So. 3d 86 (Fla. 1st DCA 2009)…P application). Appellants appealed the order, arguing Leon County did not have authority to enforce regulations related to agriculture, given a recent statute prohibiting counties from limiting farm operations. See J-II Invs., Inc. v. Leon County, 908 So. 2d 1140 (Fla. 1st DCA 2005). We affirmed the summary judgment, finding the statute in question did not affect preexisting county ordinances. Id. Despite being instructed by the trial court to expeditiously remediate the damages and submit an EMP applicatio…
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Wilson v. Palm Beach Cnty., 62 So. 3d 1247 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011)…eaning must control, unless this leads to an unreasonable result or a result clearly contrary to legislative intent. Daniels v. Fla. Dep’t of Health, 898 So. 2d 61, 64 (Fla.2005). Applying those principles, in J-II Investments, Inc. v. Leon County, 908 So. 2d 1140 (Fla. 1st DCA 2005), the First District considered identical language in section 163.3162, the Agricultural Lands and Practices Act (ALPA), and held that the statute’s prohibition on counties adopting ordinances relating to agriculture did not preve…
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Leon Cnty. Bd. of Cnty. Comm'rs v. Gholam Reza Karimipour and Ashrae K. Moghaddam, 4 So. 3d 777 (Fla. 1st DCA 2009)…PER CURIAM. Leon County Board of County Commissioners has failed to establish any basis for reversal. We reject Leon County’s claim that the trial court’s decision runs counter to J-II Investments, Inc. v. Leon County, 908 So. 2d 1140 (Fla. 1st DCA 2005). There is nothing in the record establishing when Leon County adopted the provisions that it sought to enforce against appellees in 2007. AFFIRMED. DAVIS and PADOVANO, JJ., Concur. BENTON, J., Dissents With Opinion.…
Previewing 3 of 5 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- McLAUGHLIN v. State, 721 So. 2d 1170 (Fla. 1998)
- Cygnet Homes, Inc. v. Kaleny Ltd. OF Fla., Inc., 681 So. 2d 826 (Fla. 5th DCA 1996)