Atlantic Shores Resort v. 507 S. St. Corp.

• Decision Date: 27 September 2006
• Docket Number: No. 3D06-245.,3D06-245.
• Citation: 937 So.2d 1239
• Parties: ATLANTIC SHORES RESORT, LLC, Petitioner, v. 507 SOUTH STREET CORPORATION and City of Key West, Respondents.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

937 So.2d 1239

ATLANTIC SHORES RESORT, LLC, Petitioner, v. 507 SOUTH STREET CORPORATION and City of Key West, Respondents.

No. 3D06-245.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.

September 27, 2006.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Morgan & Hendrick, Key West, and James T. Hendrick, for Petitioner.

Lee Robert Rohe, Tallahassee; Johnson, Anselmo, Murdoch, Burke, Piper & McDuff, Fort Lauderdale, and Michael Burke and Cindy A. Williams, for Respondents.

Before SHEPHERD, SUAREZ and ROTHENBERG, JJ.

ROTHENBERG, Judge.

The petitioner, Atlantic Shores Resort, LLC ("the Developer"), petitions for a writ of certiorari, seeking to quash a decision of the Circuit Court of the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit in and for Monroe County ("Circuit Court"). We grant the petition and quash the Circuit Court's decision granting certiorari, as the Circuit Court departed from the essential requirements of law by considering issues barred by collateral estoppel.

The Developer seeks to redevelop a hotel property located in the Historic District of the City of Key West. 507 South Street Corporation ("the Objector") opposes the redevelopment. As the property in question is located in the Historic District of the City of Key West, it is subject to a particular regulatory structure, and governed by the Historic Architectural Review Commission ("HARC"). See City of Key West, Fla., Charter § 1.06(a);¹ City of Key West, Fla., Code of Ordinances § 90-126.² In order to erect a new structure in a historic district, a developer must first obtain a certificate of appropriateness from HARC. See City of Key West, Fla., Code of Ordinances § 102-152. HARC evaluates applications for certificates of appropriateness based upon guidelines that it issues concerning factors including design, scale, massing, and appearance. See City of Key West, Fla., Code of Ordinances § 102-155(a). One of the guidelines that HARC issued for new construction in the historic district is that a building's height may not exceed 2.5 stories. See City of Key West Historic Architectural Guidelines at 38. HARC's decisions regarding certificates of appropriateness are final and such decisions may be appealed to a special master. See City of Key West, Fla., Code of Ordinances § 90-428; City of Key West, Fla., Charter § 1.06(b). The special master's decision, in turn, is reviewable by the circuit court. See City of Key West, Fla., Code of Ordinances § 90-434.

As the property the Developer wishes to redevelop is located in the Historic District of the City of Key West, the Developer applied for a certificate of appropriateness from HARC. The Objector, however, sought to block the redevelopment, arguing that because the redevelopment plan calls for one of the buildings to be elevated, the redevelopment plan violates HARC guidelines limiting building height to 2.5 stories. Specifically, the Objector asserts that the open space beneath the building constitutes a story, and if the property is constructed as designed, that particular building would be 3.5 stories, and thus, violate the 2.5 story height restriction. The Developer's position is that many of the buildings in Key West are required to be elevated for flood safety, the open space beneath the building is not a story, the building in question is only 2.5 stories, and thus, the redevelopment plan is in compliance with the applicable HARC guidelines. HARC found in favor of the Developer and issued a certificate of appropriateness. The Objector unsuccessfully appealed the issuance of the certificate to the special master, based upon the same arguments it had made to HARC, that the redevelopment plan violates the 2.5 story guideline because the open space beneath the building is a story. Instead of appealing the decision of the special master to the Circuit Court as provided in section 90-434 of the Key West Code of Ordinances, the Objector waited until the Developer presented its redevelopment plan to the City Commission, once again raising the same objections it had made to HARC and the special master: that the building exceeded the 2.5 story limitation because the open space beneath the building should be considered a story. The City Commission was equally unpersuaded by the Objector's arguments and passed a resolution approving the proposed plan.

The Objector filed a petition for writ of certiorari with the Circuit Court, challenging the City Commission's resolution, arguing that the redevelopment plan violated the 2.5 story limitation because the open space beneath one of the buildings should be considered a story. The Developer, however, claimed that the Objector's arguments were barred by res judicata and/or collateral estoppel; the open space beneath the building is not a story; and the redevelopment plan does not violate the 2.5 story limitation. The Circuit Court initially denied the petition for writ of certiorari, but after a motion for rehearing, granted the writ and quashed the City Commission's resolution approving the redevelopment plan. The Circuit Court found that the issues before it were not precluded by res judicata or collateral estoppel, and that the redevelopment plan violates the 2.5 story limitation. The Developer now seeks quashal of the writ of certiorari granted by the Circuit Court.

As the petition before this court seeks quashal of a writ of certiorari issued by the Circuit Court, our review is limited to determining whether the Circuit Court afforded procedural due process and applied the correct law, or in other words, whether it departed from the essential requirements of the law. Miami-Dade County v. Omnipoint Holdings, Inc., 863 So.2d 195, 199 (Fla.2003); Peachtree Cas. Ins. Co. v. Prof'l Massage Servs., Inc., 923 So.2d 548, 550 (Fla. 1st DCA 2006); Ferrara v. Cmty. Dev., Ltd., 917 So.2d 907, 908 (Fla. 3d DCA 2005). The Developer claims the Circuit Court departed from the essential requirements of the law by considering issues barred by res judicata and/or collateral estoppel and by refusing to defer to HARC's interpretation of its own 2.5 story guideline. We agree.

Collateral estoppel precludes consideration of an issue when the identical issue has previously been fully litigated and determined between the same parties in a contest that resulted in a final decision by a court of competent jurisdiction. State v. McBride, 848 So.2d 287, 290-91 (Fla. 2003); Husky Indus., Inc. v. Griffith, 422 So.2d 996, 999 (Fla. 5th DCA 1982)(explaining that when its elements are met, collateral estoppel bars the consideration of issues that were actually adjudicated in a prior litigation).³ The Objector claims that while the height restriction was previously raised, it was not raised in "previous litigation." He also argues that the special master's order was not a final decision, and that the special master is not a court of competent jurisdiction.

In determining whether the claims raised by the Objector in its petition before the Circuit Court were previously litigated, one must understand the City of Key West's regulatory system. As previously stated, before property located within the City of Key West's Historic District may be redeveloped, a developer must obtain a certificate of appropriateness from HARC. Any objections to HARC's issuance of a certificate must be appealed to the special master and then to the Circuit Court sitting in its appellate capacity. The Commission cannot issue a certificate and may only approve a plan if a certificate is issued by HARC. The Objector argues that the hearing before HARC, the appeal before the special master, the City Commission hearings, and the appeal to the Circuit Court were a continuation of a single case and, thus, one litigation. The Developer argues that the issuance of the certificate of appropriateness by HARC and the special master's review of that issuance are separate and distinct from the City Commission's approval of the Developer's redevelopment plan and the Circuit Court's review of that approval.

We agree with the Developer that the litigation concerning the certificate of appropriateness issued by HARC and the approval by the special master are separate from the litigation concerning the redevelopment plan approved by the City Commission and reviewed by writ of certiorari to the Circuit Court. Because the Objector has raised and has litigated the height restriction claim in its objection to the issuance of the certificate of appropriateness and subsequent appeal to the special master, its arguments before the Commission are, in fact, arguments previously litigated and satisfy the "previous litigation" requirement of collateral estoppel.

We also find the Objector's argument, that the special master's affirmance of HARC's issuance of the certificate of appropriateness was not a final decision, equally unpersuasive. The Objector claims that the findings of the special master on appeal was not a final order because the City Commission had not yet approved the redevelopment plan. While the City Commission may approve, modify, or reject a redevelopment plan, it lacks the power to review or modify a certificate of appropriateness issued by HARC and approved by a special master, or to analyze whether a redevelopment plan complies with HARC guidelines as it has conveyed that power to HARC. Thus, the special master's decision was not subject to the decision of the City Commission, and constitutes a final decision. The City of Key West Code of Ordinances makes it clear that HARC's decision as to a certificate of appropriateness is a final decision, subject to review only by the special master and then by the circuit court. See City of Key West, Fla., Code of Ordinances § 90-428; City of Key West, Fla., Code of Ordinances § 90-434; City of Key West, Fla., Charter § 1.06(b). As the special master affirmed the issuance of the certificate of appropriateness and the Objector did not appeal that decision to the Circuit Court, the decision...