DADE COUNTY, A POLITICAL SUBDIVISION OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLANT,
v.
VIOLET C. WILLIAMS, APPELLEE

Fla. 3d DCA | 1973-06-05
Nos. 72-1110 to 72-1112
Before PEARSON, CHARLES CARROLL and HENDRY, JJ.
278 So. 2d 634 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1973) Negative Treatment
Cited by 4 cases

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Synopsis

Dade County appealed three consolidated orders in a certiorari proceeding challenging the trial court's decision to quash rezoning resolutions and direct the county to allow the appellee to subdivide her property according to existing zoning. The court affirmed, holding that the trial court properly found the county's rezoning was capricious and undertaken to defeat pending litigation.


Holding

The court affirmed the trial court's findings. The proposed lots were as large or larger than required by existing RU-1 zoning and compatible with many neighborhood lots, and the record supported the trial court's determination that the county's rezoning was capricious and undertaken to defeat pending litigation, making it unreasonable.


Headnotes

[1] A legislative authority has the right to change zoning at any time if the change is made in accordance with the limitations of the police power.

[2] A zoning change may be held unreasonable if it is effected capriciously to defeat pending litigation.

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Key Quotes

“While there are some lots in the area which are larger, there are also many which are smaller. We cannot fault the trial court in its determination that the record before the County Commission affirmatively showed that the proposed platting met the Commission's own guidelines.”

Establishes that the proposed subdivision lots were compatible in size with neighborhood standards and met county guidelines.

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Facts & Procedural History

Violet Williams owned property zoned RU-1 (single family residential) and sought to subdivide it in conformity with that zoning. While she was litigat…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

Dade County is the appellant in all three of these appeals. They arise out of a zoning controversy and are consolidated for all appellate purposes. The principal appeal is #72-1110 which is from a final order of the circuit court in a certiorari proceeding. The order in question had quashed a resolution of the County Commission which had rezoned the appellee’s property from RU-1 (single family residential) to EU-S (three-quarter acre estate zoning), while the ap-pellee was in the process of litigating her claimed right to a revised platting of the property in accordance with the existing zoning. Appeal #72-1111 is from a final order in certiorari which quashed a resolution of the County Commission denying the appellee the right to subdivide her property in conformity with the existing zoning. Appeal .#72-1112 is an interlocutory appeal from an order entered subsequent to the final order in the case concerning the revised platting. This last order denied a motion of the County which asked for relief from the court’s decision because the County had, in the interim between the consideration of the case and the entry of the actual order, rezoned the appellee’s property.

The appellant’s main contention is that the trial court erred in directing the appellant to grant a special exception allowing the appellee to subdivide her property in accordance with the then existing zoning (RU-1, single family residential), because the proposed subdivision did not include lots which were compatible in size with other lots in the neighborhood. The trial court’s determination that the size of the proposed lots was compatible is supported by the record which was before the trial court and which we are now called upon to review. While there are some lots in the area which are larger, there are also many which are smaller. We cannot fault the trial court in its determination that the record before the County Commission affirmatively showed that the proposed platting met the Commission’s own guidelines. It should be clearly understood that the lot size sought by the proposed platting , was as large or larger than that required by the then existing RU-1 zoning.

The appellant’s second argument claims that the County had a legislative right to upgrade the zoning during the time that appellee was litigating her right to a revised platting. In fact, a legislative authority has a right to change zoning at any time if the change is made in accordance with the limitations of the police power. Nevertheless, in the circumstances of this particular case, because the record supports the trial judge’s finding that the zoning change was effected capriciously in order to defeat pending litigation, the zoning •change may be held to be unreasonable. We hold that the record taken as a whole supports the trial judge’s finding on this point.

Accordingly, the orders appealed are affirmed.

Affirmed.


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Citator

Cited By

  • James S. Starkey and wife v. Okaloosa Cnty., 512 So. 2d 1040 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987)
    …slative action. Second, appellants argue that there is no evidence to support the trial court’s finding that the ordinances were not adopted capriciously in order to defeat or gain an advantage in pending litigation, citing Dade County v. Williams, 278 So. 2d 634 (Fla. 3rd DCA 1973). We disagree, for regardless of the outcome of the judicial proceeding, it was Okaloosa County’s legislative prerogative to rezone the parcels, provided it met the test for enacting a zoning amendment. Williams is distinguishable…
  • Dade Cnty. v. Murphy, 322 So. 2d 616 (Fla. 3d DCA 1975)
    …exception in that they failed to carry the burden of demonstrating that the County Commission’s affirmance of the denial by the Zoning Appeals Board is not fairly debatable. We find that the facts presented in Dade County v. Williams, Fla.App.1973, 278 So. 2d 634, are similar to the facts presented in the instant case. In both cases, the trial court directed Dade County to grant a special exception allowing the appellee landowner to divide his property in accordance with the then existing RU-1 zoning, where…

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