City of Boca Raton v. Siml

Decision Date12 September 2012
Docket Number4D11–1591.,Nos. 4D11–1561,s. 4D11–1561
Citation96 So.3d 1140
PartiesCITY OF BOCA RATON and Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District, Appellants, v. Martin SIML, as chairman and on behalf of Petitioners' Committee, Appellee.
CourtFlorida District Court of Appeals

OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE

Jamie Alan Cole and Daniel L. Abbott of Weiss Serota Helfman Pastoriza Cole & Boniske, P.L., Fort Lauderdale, and Diana Grub Frieser, Boca Raton, for appellant City of Boca Raton.

Arthur C. Koski of Law Offices of Arthur C. Koski, P.A., Boca Raton, for appellant Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District.

Ralf Brookes, Cape Coral, for appellee.

WARNER, J.

The City of Boca Raton (“the City”) appeals from a final order granting a writ of mandamus compelling the City to process a citizen initiative petition that would enact an ordinance to amend the city code. In addition, the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District (“the District”) appeals the trial court's denial of its motion to intervene. We affirm the trial court's order of mandamus, finding that the ordinance is not facially unconstitutional, and we also affirm the trial court's denial of the motion to intervene which the District filed after the final judgment in this case. Because of its lateness, the trial court did not abuse its discretion.

Martin Siml, a representative of a committee of Boca Raton voters, submitted a citizens' initiative petition ballot for a referendum to amend the City's code of ordinances. The proposed amendment would add the following to the City's code:

Section 28–1307. Public Coastal Lands. All public-owned lands owned by the City and the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District located between the Intracoastal Waterway and Atlantic Ocean shall be limited to public uses and public services provided for the general public, and development for private uses (including members-only beach clubs) on these public-owned lands shall be prohibited.

The City Attorney issued an opinion that the amendment should not be processed because it would abrogate the powers of the District. The citizens' committee which had sought to place the referendum on the ballot filed a petition for writ of mandamus to force the City to process the amendment. After hearing, the court entered a final order granting the writ of mandamus compelling the City to further process the proposed amendment. The court ruled that the proposed ballot language was neither facially unconstitutional in its entirety, nor contrary to or expressly preempted by state law. The court explained that pursuant to chapter 2003–313, section 4, Laws of Florida, the special act that created the District, the District is to provide beaches and recreational facilities for taxpayers of the District, including beaches and recreational facilities with the City. The court ruled that the proposed ordinance is not preempted by, and does not conflict with, state law, including chapter 2003–313.

Post-judgment, the District moved to intervene, contending that the judgment affected its interests and would disenfranchisethose voters in the district who were not residents of the City. The City then moved for rehearing, adopting the District's arguments. The trial court denied the motion to intervene and the motion for rehearing. Both the City and the District appeal.

Courts have the authority to determine the facial constitutionality of a proposed ordinance to be submitted to the electorate for passage and whether it is within the powers of the enacting body. Gaines v. City of Orlando, 450 So.2d 1174, 1178 (Fla. 5th DCA 1984) (citations omitted). Prior to election, initiatives on proposed ordinances should not be removed from the ballot unless they are unconstitutional in their entirety, and challenges based upon non-constitutional grounds should not be decided prior to election. See Wright v. Frankel, 965 So.2d 365, 372–73 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007).

The City does not dispute that the ordinance is constitutional as to properties it owns between the Intracoastal Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean. City residents have the opportunity to vote on the ordinance as it affects lands owned by the City. The issue raised in this appeal is the effect of the proposed ordinance on lands owned by the District and whether it unconstitutionally impacts those lands.

The Legislature has imbued municipalities with broad powers to govern and has provided that they “may exercise any power for municipal purposes, except when expressly prohibited by law.” § 166.021(1), Fla. Stat. With respect to special laws, [i]t is the further intent of the Legislature to extend to municipalities the exercise of powers for municipal governmental, corporate, or proprietary purposes not expressly prohibited by the constitution, general or special law, or county charter....” See§ 166.021(4), Fla. Stat. (emphasis added).

The special law which created the District stated its purposes: (1) to reimburse the city of Boca Raton for the acquisition, improvement, and operation of two substantial parcels of beach and park property, described in the law; (2) to reimburse the city for future acquisitions and maintenance of beach and park property; and (3) to acquire, improve, and operate beach and park properties when acquired either through eminent domain, subject to the concurrence of the City, or through approval by referendum of the electorate of the District. To that end, the Board may determine that the purposes of the act are being undertaken by some other public or private entity, and if so, the Board may reduce its expenditures where the other body has obligated itself to spend for the purposes of the act.

The City maintains that the proposed ordinance would prevent the District from exercising its powers, because it contends that the ordinance may prohibit all “private uses” on District-owned land. First, nothing in the special act creating the...

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