CITY OF NORTH MIAMI, FLORIDA, A MUNICIPAL CORPORATION; J. H. GRIBBLE, AS TAX ASSESSOR OF THE CITY OF NORTH MIAMI, FLORIDA, APPELLANTS,
v.
AMOS BENJAMIN, APPELLEE

Fla. 3d DCA | 1961-04-17
No. 61-56
HORTON, C. J., and PEARSON and CARROLL, CHAS., JJ., concur.
128 So. 2d 753 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1961) Positive Treatment
Cited by 3 cases

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Synopsis

The City of North Miami appeals a post-decree order finding its proposed zoning ordinance insufficient to comply with a final decree requiring the city to rezone property to a use for which it was reasonably adapted. The court affirmed, holding that the ordinance was clearly inadequate as a matter of law to meet the decree's requirements.


Holding

The court affirmed, holding that the proposed ordinance was clearly insufficient as a matter of law to meet the requirements of the final decree, and the chancellor did not commit error in rejecting it on summary proceeding.


Key Quotes

“the determination of a reasonable setback under a given set of conditions is initially for the municipality involved. When that municipality has failed to respond to this duty the court may properly instruct the city council to enact an ordinance doing so.”

Establishes the allocation of responsibility between municipalities and courts in zoning matters

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Facts & Procedural History

Amos Benjamin owned a lot in North Miami approximately 50 feet deep and 250 feet long, originally subject to a 25-foot front setback and 20-foot rear …

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

By this appeal the City of North Miami seeks reversal of a post decretal order whereby the chancellor found that a certain ordinance was not sufficient compliance with a final decree. The appellee, Amos Benjamin, is the owner of a lot in the City of North Miami. He obtained in the circuit court relief from a zoning ordinance which was found to be so unreasonable and arbitrary as to be unconstitutional. By the final decree the defendant City of North Miami was directed to zone plaintiff’s property “to a use for which it is reasonably adapted”. The defendant city, although slow to respond, eventually passed at first *754reading a proposed ordinance purporting to satisfy the directions in the decree. It was this ordinance which the post decretal order now under appeal found to be unsatisfactory and an improper response to the court’s direction.

The burden of establishing error is always upon the appellant. In this case the existence of error has not been demonstrated. There was no appeal from the final decree and we will not therefore go beyond that decree. The arguments before us demonstrated that the real matter of contention between the property owner and the city is the matter of setback restrictions applied to the lot. At the time of the filing of this suit, plaintiff’s lot, which is approximately SO feet deep and 250 feet long, was subject to a 25-foot setback along the front 250 feet and a 20-foot setback along the rear, leaving a strip 5 feet wide subject to development. The chancellor found that under the facts of the case the application of the ordinance did amount to an unconstitutional deprivation of property.

As recognized by the chancellor in the final decree the determination of a reasonable setback under a given set of conditions is initially for the municipality involved. When that municipality has failed to respond to this duty the court may properly instruct the city council to enact an ordinance doing so. In the instant case the ordinance proposed by the city and passed at the first reading was clearly insufficient as a matter of law to meet the requirement of the decree. The court, therefore, did not commit error in rejecting the proposed ordinance on a summary proceeding. It can readily be seen that ordinarily such a determination is a mixed question of law and fact and should be made by the chancellor after the delineation of the issues of fact by appropriate allegations and answer. Upon the return of this case to the trial court, if the city shall make a bona fide attempt to satisfy the directive of the final decree, it will be incumbent upon the plaintiff, property owner, to allege in what manner and to what extent the action of the city fails to meet the mandate of the chancellor’s order. If this is done the issues of fact may be drawn and the exercise of the chancellor’s discretion may be both guided and tested.

As above pointed out, we have in this case determined that error was not shown, inasmuch as the ordinance of the City of North Miami was clearly an inadequate response to the final decree.

Affirmed.

HORTON, C. J., and PEARSON and CARROLL, CHAS., JJ., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Manis v. Prudhomme, 278 So. 2d 292 (Fla. 4th DCA 1973)
    …determine that the trial court actually abused its discretion in denying appellant’s request for a continuance. The duty of affirmatively demonstrating error is upon the aggrieved party, the appellant. City of North Miami v. Benjamin, Fla.App.1961, 128 So. 2d 753. Likewise, it is his duty to perfect the appellate record. Latin American Benefit Center, Inc. v. Johstoneaux, Fla.App.1972, 257 So. 2d 86; Gulf Heating & Refrigeration Co. v. Iowa Mutual Ins. Co., Fla.1966, 193 So. 2d 4. Affirmed. WALDEN and MAGE…
  • City of N. Miami v. Benjamin, 133 So. 2d 321 (Fla. 1961)
    …Certiorari denied without opinion. 128 So. 2d 753.…

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