STATE EX REL. HOLLAND ET. AL.
v.
CITY OF EAU GALLIE ET AL.
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Appellants sought a writ of mandamus to compel the City of Eau Gallie to issue them a license to operate a trailer park, challenging an ordinance prohibiting trailer parks except in non-residential areas as unconstitutionally vague. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed dismissal of the mandamus action, holding that appellants failed to demonstrate a clear legal right to the remedy or that no other adequate remedy existed.
The court affirmed dismissal of the mandamus action, holding that appellants failed to establish a clear legal right to the remedy. The court concluded that appellants had not shown no other adequate remedy existed and that the Circuit Judge did not abuse his discretion in dismissing the alternative writ of mandamus.
“mandamus is a legal remedy which is not awarded by a court as a matter of right but only in the exercise of sound judicial discretion and relator is required to establish a clear right to its existence and to show that no other adequate remedy exists”
Establishes the stringent requirements for obtaining mandamus relief
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAppellants applied for a license to operate a trailer park in Eau Gallie, Florida. The City Council had recently passed an ordinance allowing trailer …
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HOBSON, Justice.
Appellants filed their petition for writ of mandamus in the court below alleging that they had sought to secure a license to operate a trailer park in the City of Eau Gallie, Florida, and that their request was refused by the City Council because it had, shortly prior to the filing of the application by appellants, passed an ordinance providing that trailer parks should be licensed but that no trailer parks should be licensed to operate within the city limits of Eau Gallie unless it was located in a non-residential area; that the ordinance was invalid and unconstitutional because, among other reasons, it did not contain within its four corners a formula or yardstick for the determination of just what would constitute a non-residential area and that there were no such areas designated by any comprehensive zoning ordinance.
After the issuance of alternative writ, motions to quash and to dismiss were filed by appellees. The learned Circuit Judge granted the motion to quash and dismissed the action. The appeal is from that order. Counsel for appellees take the position that appellants did not show that there was a clear legal duty upon the appellees to issue to appellants a license to operate a trailer park in that they failed to establish the fact that they had in existence, at the time of their application for the license, a trailer park which they might operate thereunder and that the issuance of a license to operate something not in existence could not be coerced by mandamus.
We appreciate the fact that the appellants, from a practical standpoint, did not desire to expend the money necessary to equip their proposed trailer park with proper sanitary and other facilities before ascertaining whether they in fact might secure a license for such business. However, we have repeatedly held that mandamus is a legal remedy which is not awarded by a court as a matter of right but only in the exercise of sound judicial discretion and relator is required to establish a clear right to its existence and to show that no other adequate remedy exists. City of Miami Beach v. State ex rel. Epicure, Inc., 148 Fla. 255, 4 So. 2d 117, and cases therein cited. See also Somlyo v. Schott, Fla., 45 So. 2d 502 and State ex rel. Keen v. Overstreet, Fla., 47 So. 2d 621.
Appellants have failed to show that no other adequate remedy exists. In such a situation we are forced to the conclusion that the Circuit Judge who dismissed the alternative writ of mandamus should not be held in so doing to have abused his sound judicial discretion.
Affirmed.
TERRELL, SEBRING, MATHEWS and DREW, JJ., concur. ROBERTS, C. J., and THOMAS, J., dissent.
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Sanitarians' Registration Bd. of the State of Fla. v. Solomon, 148 So. 2d 744 (Fla. 1st DCA 1963)…nce of the particular duty sought to be enforced. Eldredge v. Evans (Fla.App.1958), 102 So. 2d 403; State ex rel. Flagler Kennel Club, Inc. v. Florida State Racing Commission (Fla.1954), 74 So. 2d 691; State ex rel. Holland v. Eau Gallie (Fla.1953), 65 So. 2d 877; State ex rel. Brown v. Dewell (1938), 131 Fla. 566, 179 So. 695, 115 A.L.R. 857. When anything remains to be done, or fact to be ascertained, relief cannot be afforded by mandamus. Howell v. State (1907), 54 Fla. 199, 45 So. 453. The same rule obta…
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O'Brien v. Campbell, 118 So. 2d 672 (Fla. 3d DCA 1960)…ed to back pay, he makes no showing that an ordinary action at law is not adequate. The writ of mandamus does not issue as a matter of right but in the exercise of sound judicial discretion. See State ex rel. Holland v. City of Eau Gallie, Fla.1953, 65 So. 2d 877. The county manager disagreed with the Personnel Advisory Board as to the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain charge (2), failure to report the unlawful activities of fellow officers. If the court is to review the record of an administrative pro…
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State of Fla. ex rel. Saul Lane v. Dade Cnty., 258 So. 2d 347 (Fla. 3d DCA 1972)…e a writ of mandamus, the relator must show that he has a clear, legal right to the performance of the duty sought to be enforced, and furthermore, that there is no other method of redressing the wrong. State ex rel. Holland v. Eau Gallie, Fla.1953, 65 So. 2d 877; State ex rel. Norman v. Holmer, 160 Fla. 434, 35 So. 2d 396 (1948). If appellant is correct that authority to give and grade the examination was illegally delegated, then he might seek an order directing that he be given a lawful examination. But h…
Previewing 3 of 5 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- City of Miami Beach v. State, 4 So. 2d 116 (Fla. 1941)
- State v. Lee, 148 Fla. 258 (Fla. 1941)