DADE COUNTY, A POLITICAL SUBDIVISION OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA, PETITIONER,
v.
ARTHUR C. STILL, A SINGLE MAN, ET AL., RESPONDENTS

Fla. | 1979-11-21
No. 56731
ENGLAND, C. J., and ADKINS, BOYD, SUNDBERG and ALDERMAN, JJ., concur.
377 So. 2d 689 Florida Supreme Court (1979) Caution
Cited by 20 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

Dade County challenged a lower court ruling that prevented it from considering the effect of its own right-of-way ordinances when determining compensation for property taken in eminent domain. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed, holding that a condemning authority cannot reduce compensation based on property value depression caused by its own prior governmental action.


Holding

The ordinance is not a proper element for appraisers to consider, and a condemning authority cannot reduce compensation based on property value depression caused by its own prior governmental action. Compensation must be based on the value the property would have had at the time of taking had it not been subjected to the depreciating threat of condemnation.


Headnotes

[1] A condemning authority cannot benefit from a depression in property value caused by its prior announcement of an intent to take the property for a public project.

[2] Compensation for property taken by eminent domain must be based on the value the property would have had at the time of the taking had it not been subjected to the deprec…

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Key Quotes

“the principle must be adhered to that no action of the government can constitutionally deprive an individual of his property without full compensation for the taking”

Establishes the constitutional foundation that government cannot reduce compensation based on its own prior actions

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Facts & Procedural History

In 1938, Dade County passed a right-of-way ordinance setting a minimum street width of 70 feet for the property at issue; the ordinance was amended in…

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Opinion of the Court
OVERTON, Justice.

OVERTON, Justice.

This is a petition for writ of certiorari to review the decision of the Third District Court of Appeal reported at 370 So. 2d 64 (Fla.3d DCA 1979). The district court generally certified its decision as passing upon a question of great public interest without specifying the question. We phrase the question in this form:

Whether a county ordinance stating that the county would take a portion of the landowner’s property for street widening is a proper element to be used by appraisers in determining the market value of the property taken?

The district court determined that the ordinance was an improper element to be considered by the appraiser and therefore answered the question in the negative. We have jurisdiction,1 and approve the district court’s decision.

The record reflects that in 1977 Dade County filed a petition in eminent domain for the purpose of acquiring sufficient land to widen and convert a two-lane roadway to four lanes. Thirty-nine years previously, in 1938, the county had passed an ordinance entitled “Right-of-way Plan and Minimum Width for Streets and Roads” which set a minimum width of seventy feet for the street abutting the appellee’s property. Later, in 1951, the ordinance was amended to expand the width to 100 feet. There was no “taking” of the subject property by these ordinances. The county asserts that the purpose of the ordinances was to place [*DCCLXX] the public on notice of the specific land needed for future road expansion.

Prior to the trial of the condemnation proceedings, the trial judge issued an order directing the appraisers to disregard these right-of-way ordinances in determining compensation for the land taken.

The appraiser for the county stated in his proffered testimony that the appraisal value of the subject parcels would be substantially less if the ordinances were taken into consideration. The county urged that it was error to exclude from the jury testimony concerning the effect of these ordinances on the market value of the subject property. The district court rejected this contention on the basis of our decision in City of Miami v. Romer, 73 So. 2d 285 (Fla.1954), and affirmed the action of the trial court, saying: “[T]he principle must be adhered to that no action of the government can constitutionally deprive an individual of his property without full compensation for the taking. Article X, Section 6(a), Fla.Const.” 370 So. 2d at 66.

We fully agree with the district court. In Romer we held that the plotting of a street by a city was not a taking that allowed an owner to be entitled to immediate damages, but the “compensation must await the actual ‘taking’ of the property by the City . . . .” 73 So. 2d at 287. In the instant case we are now at the posture of that “taking.” The appraisal evidence in the instant case clearly reflects that the ordinance depressed the value of the property. Since the owner received no compensation at the time the ordinance was passed, the county cannot now seek to have the owner’s compensation reduced by reason of its own governmental action.

This Court expressly held in State Road Department y. Chicone, 158 So. 2d 753 (Fla.1963), that a condemning authority cannot benefit from a depression in property value caused by a prior announcement that it will be taken for a public project. Compensation under those circumstances must be based on the value that the property would have had at the time of the taking had it not been subjected to the depreciating threat of condemnation. Our decision in the instant ease is in accordance with Chicone. To hold as suggested by the county would in fact constitute a deprivation of property without full compensation for the land taken, and thus would violate article X, section 6(a), Florida Constitution.

We affirm and approve in full the decision of the district court.

It is so ordered.

ENGLAND, C. J., and ADKINS, BOYD, SUNDBERG and ALDERMAN, JJ., concur. . Art. V, § 3(b)(3), Fla.Const.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Univ. OF Miami v. Echarte, 618 So. 2d 189 (Fla. 1993)
    …at the expense of a particular claimant is a taking of the claimant’s property without compensation, in violation of the state and federal constitutions. Art. I, § 9, art. X, § 6(a), Fla. Const.; U.S. Const, amends. V, XIV; see Dade County v. Still, 377 So. 2d 689 (Fla.1979) (ordinance taking portion of respondents’ property for public good cannot be used to reduce compensation). Finally, the statutes deny equal protection, for the reasons ably set out by Chief Justice Barkett in her. dissent, and draw an ar…
  • Dep't OF Agric. & Consumer Servs. v. Polk, 568 So. 2d 35 (Fla. 1990)
    …the Department to unilaterally reduce the value of the property by its regulatory declarations concerning the property. In support of its argument, Polk relies on State Road Department v. Chicone, 158 So. 2d 753 (Fla.1963), and Dade County v. Still, 377 So. 2d 689 (Fla.1979). Polk’s reliance upon these decisions is misplaced. In Chicone and Still, announcements were [*42] made of the parcels to be condemned in advance of institution of condemnation proceedings. This Court held that evidence of depression or d…
  • …ng, the owner should be compensated on the basis of the market value prior to such depreciation. The decision was grounded in considerations of equity and fairness. This Court subsequently reaffirmed the principle of Chicone in Dade County v. Still, 377 So. 2d 689 (Fla.1979). The record reveals that the landowners’ tract (of which a part has been taken) and Creekwood were large parcels both of which were bisected by the construction of the north-south interstate highway. Both parcels were contiguous to exist…

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