KENNETH L. CARROLL, APPELLANT,
v.
CITY OF WEST PALM BEACH AND FLORIDA POWER AND LIGHT COMPANY, A CORPORATION, APPELLEES
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A property owner challenged dismissal of his complaint alleging that a utility company's installation of high-voltage power lines adjacent to his residential property violated municipal zoning ordinances and constituted a nuisance. The court held that allegations of a zoning violation on property adjacent to the plaintiff's land state sufficient causes of action for injunctive relief and damages, reversing dismissal as to the utility company while affirming dismissal as to the city.
A property owner whose property is adjacent to an alleged zoning violation states sufficient causes of action for both injunctive relief and damages because such proximity establishes special damages differing in kind from community-wide damages. Carroll stated valid claims against Florida Power & Light Company on Counts II and III, but had no basis for relief against the City of West Palm Beach or for a mandamus writ against the utility company.
[1] A party seeking redress for a violation of a municipal zoning ordinance must allege and prove special damages peculiar to themselves, differing in kind from those suffere…
[2] Allegations of damage to property adjacent to the site of an alleged zoning violation may be sufficient to state a cause of action for injunctive relief.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“one seeking redress, either preventive or corrective, against an alleged violation of a municipal zoning ordinance must allege and prove special damages peculiar to himself differing in kind (as distinguished from damages differing merely in degree) from those suffered by the community as a whole”
Establishes the legal standard for standing to bring zoning violation claims
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceKenneth Carroll, a property owner in West Palm Beach, alleged that Florida Power & Light Company was installing high-voltage power lines within the ci…
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Appellant suffered dismissal of his amended complaint for its failure to state a cause of action against either of the two defendants, and having informed the court that he did not desire to further amend, final judgment was entered in favor of the defendants.
Appellant-plaintiff, a property owner in the City of West Palm Beach, alleged in essence that the Appellee-defendant, Florida Power & Light Company, was installing .high voltage power lines within the City and adjacent to appellant’s property in violation of City zoning ordinances, thereby creating conditions which were hazardous, dangerous, unsightly, and entirely out of character with the residential district in which they were being placed, and which severely impaired the appearance, utilization, function, character and value of the land area, including plaintiff’s property; that by virtue thereof the power lines constituted a nuisance to the public generally, and to the plaintiff particularly in that it caused irreparable damage and harm in respect to the use, appearance and value of plaintiff’s land; and that as a result thereof he had sustained damages by reason of the loss of value and impairment of use and salability of his property. The amended complaint was in three counts, Count I seeking issuance of writ of mandamus to compel the City and Florida Power & Light Company to remove the power line, Count II seeking injunctive relief from further construction, and Count III for money damages.
This jurisdiction has aligned itself with authorities which hold that one seeking redress, either preventive or corrective, against an alleged violation of a municipal zoning ordinance must allege and prove special damages peculiar to himself differing in kind (as distinguished from damages differing merely in degree) from those suffered by the community as a whole. Boucher v. Novotny, Fla.1958, 102 So.2d 132; Renard v. Dade County, Fla.1972, 261 *493So.2d 832; Continental Con-Dev Co. v. Shallberg, Fla.App.1972, 267 So.2d 40. Of course, in the present posture of this case we were concerned only with the allegations.
The real difficulty in this and similar cases lies in determining into which of these classifications the alleged damages fall. In the Boucher case, supra, and also in the Continental Con-Dev Co. case, supra, the property of the respective plaintiffs was sufficiently removed from the area in which the alleged zoning violation was occurring that in each case the court could hold as a matter of law that the plaintiff’s damages were no different in kind from that of other property owners in the general area, but at most only different in degree. On the other hand, in the case of Conrad v. Jackson, Fla.1958, 107 So.2d 369, and in the Renard case, supra, the property of the respective plaintiffs was adjoining or adjacent to the property upon which the alleged zoning violation existed, and in each of these cases the court held as a matter of law that the plaintiff suffered a damage differing in kind from the community generally. In the case at hand the appellant alleged that the zoning violation existed adjacent to his property. We conclude, on the basis of the two cases last cited, that the amended complaint was sufficient to state a cause of action for in-junctive relief against Florida Power & Light Co. for the alleged zoning violation. Even if the plaintiff is unable to prove his entitlement to equitable relief, the allegations of Count III are sufficient to state a cause of action against Florida Power & Light Co. for damages. Continental Con-Dev Co. v. Shallberg, supra.
We find no basis upon which plaintiff is entitled to any relief against the City of West Palm Beach, nor to a writ of mandamus against Florida Power & Light Co. The judgment appealed is affirmed as to the City of West Palm Beach, reversed as to Florida Power & Light Co., and the cause remanded for further proceedings on Counts II and III on the amended complaint as against the latter defendant.
Affirmed in part; reversed in part and remanded for further proceedings.
REED, C. J., and MAGER, J., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Skaggs-Albertson's Props., Inc. v. Michels Belleair Bluffs Pharmacy, Inc., 332 So. 2d 113 (Fla. 2d DCA 1976)…ged zoning violation existed, whereas, in Boucher and Continental Con-Dev the property of the respective plaintiffs was sufficiently removed from the area in which the violations were occurring. Carroll v. City of West Palm Beach, Fla.App.4th, 1973, 276 So. 2d 491. More recently, the Third District Court of Appeal held that adjacent landowners across a waterway from an island had standing to maintain an action to enjoin claimed zoning violations arising out of the construction of two-story parking garages whi…
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Robert L. Kagan, M.D. v. West, 677 So. 2d 905 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996)…ce where he or she proves special damages differing in kind from the damages suffered by the community as a whole. See Renard v. Dade County, 261 So. 2d 832 (Fla.1972); Boucher v. Novotny, 102 So. 2d 132 (Fla.1958); Carroll v. City of W. Palm Beach, 276 So. 2d 491 (Fla. 4th DCA 1973). In explaining the “special damages” exception, our supreme court stated: An aggrieved or adversely affected person having standing to sue is a person who has a legally recognizable interest which is or will be affected by the a…
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Jacobs v. Sims Crane Serv., Inc., 281 So. 2d 506 (Fla. 1973)…Certiorari denied. 276 So. 2d 491. ADICINS, BOYD, McCAIN and DEKLE, JJ., concur. ERVIN, J., dissents.…
Authorities Cited
- Renard v. Dade Cnty., 261 So. 2d 832 (Fla. 1972)
- Grover v. VAN Heusden, 102 So. 2d 132 (Fla. 1958)
- Boucher v. Novotny, 102 So. 2d 132 (Fla. 1958)
- Conrad v. Jackson, 107 So. 2d 369 (Fla. 1958)
- Cont'l Con-Dev Co. & Con-Dev of Vero Beach, Inc. v. Gustavus A. Shallberg, Jr., 267 So. 2d 40 (Fla. 4th DCA 1972)