THE OTHER PLACE OF MIAMI, INC., APPELLANT,
v.
THE CITY OF HIALEAH GARDENS, APPELLEE

Fla. 3d DCA | 1977-12-06
No. 77-1519
Before PEARSON, HAVERFIELD and NATHAN, JJ.
353 So. 2d 861 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1977) Caution
Cited by 12 cases

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Synopsis

The Other Place, a liquor vendor, appealed the dismissal of its complaint seeking to enjoin enforcement of a city ordinance reducing alcoholic beverage sales closing hours from 3:00 A.M. to 1:00 A.M. The court affirmed the dismissal, holding that the city's regulation of sales hours was a valid exercise of police power and that the plaintiff failed to allege facts supporting claims of arbitrary action or due process violation.


Holding

The court held that The Other Place failed to state a cause of action. The city's regulation of alcoholic beverage sales hours was a valid exercise of municipal police power authorized by state statute, and in the absence of well-pled allegations of abuse of legislative discretion, the complaint did not support injunctive relief.


Headnotes

[1] A complaint must contain well-pled allegations of fact, not mere conclusions or unsupported opinions, to state a cause of action.

[2] The motives behind the adoption of legislative ordinances are generally not subject to judicial inquiry in the absence of an abuse of discretion.

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Key Quotes

“adoption of such ordinances is legislative in character and in the absence of abuse of discretion, the motives for such action are not the subject of judicial inquiry”

Establishes that the court will not examine city council motives in legislative action absent abuse of discretion

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Facts & Procedural History

The Other Place opened a nightclub in Hialeah Gardens in 1974, relying on the city charter's provision allowing alcoholic beverage sales until 3:00 A.…

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Opinion of the Court
HAVERFIELD, Judge.

HAVERFIELD, Judge.

Plaintiff, The Other Place of Miami, Inc., a liquor vendor, appeals an order dismissing its complaint to enjoin the enforcement of a City of Hialeah Gardens’ ordinance rolling back its closing hours.

In 1974 plaintiff nightclub was the only retail vendor of alcoholic beverages (as distinguished from beer and wine) in the defendant City and contends it chose the Hialeah Gardens location because of the provision of the City’s charter which then permitted premises where intoxicating beverages are sold to remain open from 7:00 A.M. to 3:00 A.M. After The Other Place was opened for business it became the site of numerous late night disturbances and offenses particularly after the hour of 1:00 A.M. Subsequently, by public referendum, on September 7,1976 the City’s charter was amended to provide for the regulation of hours of sale of alcoholic beverages by ordinance as authorized by Section 562.14, Florida Statutes (1975).

Subsequently, the City council enacted ordinances nos. 77-05 and 77-06 changing the closing hours of sale of alcoholic beverages from 3:00 A.M. to 1:00 A.M. Thereupon, The Other Place filed the instant complaint to enjoin the enforcement of these ordinances. The complaint, in essence, alleged that the refusal of the City council to grandfather it in as a 3:00 A.M. licensee was wilfully designed to harm it in the operation of its business; is arbitrary, unreasonable and capricious; and the actions of the City with respect to these ordinances amounts to a taking of its property without due process of law. The City filed a motion to dismiss for failure to state a cause of action which was granted by the trial judge after hearing argument of respective counsel. The Other Place appeals.

In endeavoring to determine whether a complaint states a cause of action, all the allegations within the complaint must be considered and those allegations contained therein which are well pled must be accepted as true. Crutchfield v. Adams, 152 So. 2d 808, 810 (Fla. 1st DCA 1963); State ex rel. Brown v. Sussman, 235 So. 2d 46, 48 (Fla. 3d DCA 1970).

Nevertheless mere statements of opinion or conclusions unsupported by specific facts will not suffice. Brandon v. County of Pinellas, 141 So. 2d 278 (Fla. 2d DCA 1962).

In other words, we will not be bound by bare allegations which are unsupported or unsupportable. See Place v. Shepherd, 446 F. 2d 1239, 1244 (6th Cir. 1971) and cases cited therein. In light of the above controlling principles, we first note that The Other Place makes no direct attack against the constitutionality of the ordinances curtailing the hours of sale of alcoholic beverages. Rather, the gravamen of the complaint is that the actions of the City in enacting the ordinances and in refusing to grandfather in The Other Place as a 3:00 A.M. licensed establishment was arbitrary, wilfully designed to harm it and a deprivation of property without due process of law.

With respect to the allegation that the ordinances were enacted with the design to harm The Other Place in that the City council refused to grandfather it in as a 3:00 A.M. licensee, adoption of such ordinances is legislative in character and in the absence of abuse of discretion, the motives for such action are not the subject of judicial inquiry. South Daytona Restaurants v. City of South Daytona, 186 So. 2d 78 (Fla. 1st DCA 1966).

Turning to the remaining allegations of arbitrariness, deprivation of property without due process and denial of equal protection, we find them to be unsupported or unsupportable. There is no question that Section 562.14, Florida Statutes (1975) permits a municipality to reasonably regulate the hours of sale of alcoholic beverages, and the legislative body of a municipality has a full measure of proper legislative discretion in the enactment of such regulatory ordinances. See Wednesday Night, Inc. v. City of Fort Lauderdale, 272 So. 2d 502 (Fla.1972); South Daytona Restaurants, supra, and cases cited therein. The ordinances curtailing the closing hours for the sale of alcoholic beverages from 3:00 A.M. to 1:00 A.M. were a valid exercise of the City’s police powers and in the absence of any well pled or supportable allegation that the City had abused its legislative discretion in enacting the ordinances, plaintiff’s complaint for injunctive relief failed to state a cause of action. Cf. Wednesday Night, Inc., supra.

Affirmed.

NATHAN, J., dissents.


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Cited By

  • Rishel v. E. Airlines, Inc., 466 So. 2d 1136 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985)
    …on to the fireman’s rule. We begin with the proposition that in considering an order on a motion to dismiss, our obligation is to accept all wellpled allegations of the complaint as true. Price; Other Place of Miami, Inc. v. City of Hialeah Gardens, 353 So. 2d 861 (Fla. 3d DCA 1977), cert. denied, 364 So. 2d 889 (Fla.1978). However, a pleading is deemed insufficient if it contains mere statements of opinion or conclusions unsupported by specific, ultimate facts. Price; Other Place of Miami. Although the compl…
  • Fla. Med. Ctr., Inc. v. NEW York Post Co., Inc., 568 So. 2d 454 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990)
    …he statements are capable of being proved false, they are not protected. In analyzing this article on a motion to dismiss we must take as true all well-pled [*459] allegations of the complaint. Other Place of Miami, Inc. v. City of Hialeah Gardens, 353 So. 2d 861 (Fla. 3d DCA 1977). In its complaint appellant alleged that the factual statements contained in the article were false and published with actual malice or with reckless and wanton disregard as to their truth or falsity. Therefore we must proceed on…
  • City OF Pompano Beach v. BIG Daddy's, Inc., 375 So. 2d 281 (Fla. 1979)
    …he District Court of Appeal, Fourth District, in City of Pompano Beach v. Big Daddy’s, Inc., 360 So. 2d 1264 (Fla. 4th DCA 1978), which we have determined from the record proper to be in conflict with Other Place of Miami v. City of Hialeah Gardens, 353 So. 2d 861 (Fla. 3d DCA 1977), cert. denied, 364 So. 2d 889 (Fla.1978). We have jurisdiction.1 The relevant facts of the instant case reflect that on September 21,1976, the City passed Ordinance No. 76-104 which prohibited the sale of alcoholic beverages by a…
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