CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, A MUNICIPAL CORPORATION, APPELLANT,
v.
100 LINCOLN ROAD, INC., A FLORIDA CORPORATION, APPELLEE
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Miami Beach appeals a trial court injunction barring the city from enforcing a zoning ordinance interpretation that would restrict an apartment building's parking spaces to tenant use only. The court affirmed, holding that zoning ordinances are strictly construed in favor of property owners and that parking requirements exist to alleviate traffic congestion, not to limit parking availability.
The trial court's judgment is affirmed. The ordinance's parking requirements are subject to strict construction in favor of the property owner's unrestricted use of property, and the city's restrictive interpretation is unreasonable and invalid because the purpose of off-street parking requirements is to alleviate traffic congestion, not to provide exclusive tenant parking.
“zoning laws are in derogation of the common law, as a general rule they are subject to strict construction in favor of the right of a property owner to the unrestricted use of his property”
Establishes the fundamental principle that zoning restrictions must be strictly construed to favor property owners' rights.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence100 Lincoln Road, Inc. owns and operates a large apartment building with parking spaces provided pursuant to city ordinance. The city ordered the appe…
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The City of Miami Beach appeals a final judgment which enjoined it from claiming that the actions of the appellant constitute a violation of its zoning ordinance. The appellee owns and operates a large apartment building and provides parking space pursuant to a city ordinance.1 The appellee brought action in the trial court alleging that the city 'had misinterpreted the legal effect of its zoning ordinance and as a consequence of this misinterpretation had ordered the appellee to “discontinue using parking areas within building for other than tenants’ of apartments within building.” The trial court found that any interpretation of the ordinance requiring use of the appellee’s parking space to be limited to the occupants of the appellee’s apartment building is unreasonable and invalid. We agree and affirm the judgment.
The ordinance in question simply requires builders of apartments to provide a designated number of permanent parking spaces for each family unit. Since zoning laws are in derogation of the common law, as a general rule they are subject to strict construction in favor of the right of a property owner to the unrestricted use of his property. Wright v. De Fatta, 244 La. 251, 152 So.2d 10, 14 (1963).
The authorities seem agreed that the purpose of off-street parking requirements is *40not to provide every tenant with a parking space at all times but rather to alleviate traffic congestion. See School Dist. of Philadelphia v. Zoning Bd. of Adjust., 417 Pa. 277, 207 A.2d 864, 868 (1965); 1 Yokley, Municipal Corporations, § 245 ; 58 Mich.L.Rev. 1068, 1071.
The appellant has suggested that the ap-pellee is engaged in the business of operating a parking garage in violation of the use regulation for the business district in which the apartment house is located. This issue has no place in these proceedings, because it was not raised in the trial court. The interpretation of § 16-B of Ordinance 289 was the only matter in issue in the trial court. The judgment is clearly based upon the court’s correct interpretation of that section. We need not pursue the possible application of other ordinances.
Affirmed.
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Rod and Carol Mandelstam v. The City Comm'n OF the City OF S. Miami, 539 So. 2d 1139 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988)…dissenting). Zoning laws are in derogation of the common law and, as a general rule, are subject to strict construction in favor of the right of a property owner to the unrestricted use of his property. City of Miami Beach v. 100 Lincoln Rd., Inc., 214 So. 2d 39 (Fla.3d DCA 1968). Strict construction of sections 10-1-1.05 and 16-22-1 of the South Miami Zoning Ordinance mandates the issuance of a special use permit to the Mandelstams. We, therefore, grant the writ of certiora-ri and quash the decision of th…
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City of Miami v. Airbnb, 260 So. 3d 478 (Fla. 3d DCA 2018)…f the common law and, as a general rule, are subject to strict construction in favor of the right of a property owner to the unrestricted use of his property.” Mandelstam, 539 So. 2d at 1140 (citing City of Miami Beach v. 100 Lincoln Road, Inc., 214 So. 2d 39 (Fla. 3d DCA 1968)); see also Rinker, 286 So. 2d at 553 (“Since zoning regulations are in derogation of private rights of ownership, words used in a zoning ordinance should be given their broadest meaning when there is no definition or clear inte…
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City OF Hallandale v. Leisure Colony Mgmt. Corp. & Dubussey Realty N. V., 358 So. 2d 27 (Fla. 1978)…CA 1972). Also, the decision of the District Court of Appeal in the case sub judice affirming the trial court’s judgment that the off-street parking ordinance is a zoning ordinance, is in conflict with City of Miami Beach v. 100 Lincoln Road, Inc., 214 So. 2d 39 (Fla. 3d DCA 1968), which stated: “The authorities seem agreed that the purpose of off-street parking requirements is not to provide every tenant with a parking space at all times but rather to alleviate traffic congestion. See School Dist. of Phil…
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