BRUCE A. RYALS AND BRUCE A. RYALS ENTERPRISES, INC., APPELLANTS,
v.
E. GENE RICH, AS PLANNING AND ZONING DIRECTOR, ORANGE COUNTY PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION, APPELLEE
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The court held that the special act unconstitutionally usurped judicial power by mandating injunctions without regard to traditional equitable considerations or judicial discretion.
Plaintiff sought an injunction to stop defendant from operating a junk yard in violation of a county zoning act. The act, as amended, provided that co…
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This is an interlocutory appeal from a chancery order which denied the defendant’s motion to dismiss. We reverse.
Plaintiff petitioned the trial court for the issuance of an injunction prohibiting defendant from operating a junk yard in violation of the Orange County Zoning Act.
The zoning act in question, ' Chapter 31068, Laws of Florida, Special Acts 1955, was amended by Chapter 63-1716, § 19, Laws of Florida, Special Acts 1963, to provide:
“(a) The Board of County Commissioners or any aggrieved or interested person shall have the right to apply to the Circuit Court of Orange County, Florida, to enjoin and restrain any person violating the provisions of this act, of the comprehensive plan, zoning resolutions and rules and regulations adopted - under this act, and the court shall, upon proof of the violation of same, have the duty to forthwith issue such temporary and permanent injunctions as are necessary to prevent the violation of same.
“ (b) Any person violating any of. the provisions of this act or who shall fail to abide by and obey all orders and resolutions promulgated as herein provided, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. Each day that the violation continues shall constitute a separate violation.”
The gravamen of plaintiff’s complaint was simply that defendant was operating a junk yard in violation of the act. Omitted were the traditional allegations of nuisance, irreparable damages and lack of a law remedy.
The defendant asserts that the omissions are fatal relying upon Philbrick v. City of Miami Beach, 1941, 147 Fla. 538, 3 So.2d *780144; Pompano Horse Club v. State ex rel. Bryan, 1927, 93 Fla. 415, 111 So. 801, 52 A.L.R. 51; Jacobsen v. Padgett, Fla.App. 1958, 108 So.2d 303. The plaintiff relies upon the command found in the literal wording of the act to the effect that the Court shall issue an injunction upon mere proof of a violation. The trial court agreed with the plaintiff and in the order appealed recognized that a niusance had not been plead and found as a basis for the denial of the motion that such allegations were not necessary under the terms of the act.
Going straightway to the fundamental point, it is apparent that if the act is valid, the trial court was • correct and the order should be affirmed. However, we cannot vouch that hypothesis.
The special act in question, according to its clear and unmistakable language provides that the court shall, without exception or limitation, issue an injunction upon proof of any violation of the Orange County Zoning Regulations. It matters not one whit that the infraction be trifling; that no one is aggrieved or damaged; that the violation does not constitute a nuisance or is, in fact, not detrimental to the health, morals, peace, or welfare of the citizenry; that the defendant has valid legal and equitable defenses which, but for the legislative act, would deliver him from prosecution; or that the equities and the chancellors discretion oppose the issuance of an injunction. As one reflects upon the uncountable factual situations that could arise under this comprehensive zoning regulation, which, except for the act, would be unworthy of notice, the impropriety of this legislation is manifest.
Finally, the essential wrongness of the act is revealed by the fact that it strips the chancellor of his discretion and reduces him to an automaton who, regardless of traditional considerations of equity and justice, disgorges an injunction upon mere receipt of news that a zoning violation has occurred.1
This enactment usurps judicial power in a most offensive and unconstitutional way.2 The mentioned terms of it which encroach upon the judicial function in requiring the performance of a judicial act without regard to the essential and traditional considerations of law and justice are unconstitutional and are hereby stricken and rendered without effect by this Court upon its own motion.3 To do otherwise and permit these terms to live and be given application would be to deprive the defendant and the citizens of Orange County of their constitutional right to judicial process.
The order appealed is reversed and the cause remanded with instructions to permit the plaintiff to amend his complaint if he is so advised.
Reversed.
CROSS, J., concurs.
ANDREWS, J., dissents without opinion.
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Rich v. Ryals, 212 So. 2d 641 (Fla. 1968)…of nuisance, irreparable damages, and a lack of adequate remedy at law, and denied the motion to dismiss for the reason that such allegations were not necessary under the terms of the Act. In reversing the trial court, the District Court of Appeal, 202 So. 2d 779 said: “Going straightway to the fundamental point, it is apparent that if the act is valid, the trial court was correct and the order should be affirmed. However, we cannnot vouch that hypothesis.” The District Court then proceeded to initially co…
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Cooper v. Gibson, 208 So. 2d 117 (Fla. 4th DCA 1968)…inion. With this limitation in mind and for the reasons set forth the order appealed from is affirmed. Affirmed. WALDEN, C. J., and REED, J., concur. . This court has had occasion to construe this act previously. See Ryals v. Rich, Fla.App.1967, 202 So. 2d 779, in which the statute was declared invalid in certain aspects not relevant here. . See for example sections 47.16, 47.161, 47.162, and 47.29, F.S.1965, F.S.A. It is important to note that these statutes provide methods for acquisition of personal j…
Authorities Cited
- Pompano Horse Club, Inc. v. State ex rel. John M. Bryan, 93 Fla. 415 (Fla. 1927)
- Simmons v. State, 160 Fla. 626 (Fla. 1948)
- Philbrick v. City of Miami Beach, 147 Fla. 538 (Fla. 1941)
- In re Est. of Nicholas P. Alkire v. Smith, 144 Fla. 606 (Fla. 1940)
- Snyder v. Allen, 100 Fla. 733 (Fla. 1930)
- Hay v. Frank W. Isetts and wife, 98 Fla. 1026 (Fla. 1929)
- In re Est. of Nicholas P. Alkire v. Smith, 142 Fla. 862 (Fla. 1940)
- Jacobsen v. Sanford W. Padgett, 108 So. 2d 303 (Fla. 2d DCA 1958)
- A. B. C. Bus. Forms, Inc. v. The Honorable Harold B. Spaet, 201 So. 2d 890 (Fla. 1967)