City of Miami Beach v. New Floridian Hotel, Inc., 75--515
| Decision Date | 13 January 1976 |
| Docket Number | No. 75--515,75--515 |
| Parties | CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, a Florida Municipal Corporation, Appellant, v. The NEW FLORIDIAN HOTEL, INC., a Florida Corporation, d/b/a Biscaya Hotel, et al., Appellees. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Joseph A. Wanick, City Atty., Lee H. Schillinger and Andrew H. Moriber, Asst. City Attys., for appellant.
Harvey Richman, Miami Beach, for appellees.
Before BARKDULL, C.J., and PEARSON and NATHAN, JJ.
This is an appeal by the City of Miami Beach, defendant in the trial court, from a final judgment in a declaratory judgment action by The New Floridian Hotel, Inc., d/b/a Biscaya Hotel, A. Lionel Bosem, d/b/a President Madison Hotel and A. Lionel Bosem d/b/a Coronet Hotel, plaintiffs, finding that the plaintiffs' establishments are boarding houses and not hotels within the purview of the City of Miami Beach Occupational License Chapter of the City Code, and requiring the defendant to license the plaintiffs' establishments as boarding houses, and from a cost judgment entered against the defendant.
The plaintiffs filed a complaint seeking a declaratory judgment in order to determine whether the three establishments, Biscaya Hotel, President Madison Hotel and Coronet Hotel, are hotels or boarding houses for the purpose of payment of city occupational license fees. The plaintiffs claim to operate boarding houses since their guests, mainly elderly persons, lease the accommodations for long-term stays, rather than transient visits, and since many of the customary hotel services are not provided. The complaint asks the court to determine, inter alia, '. . . that the plaintiff is not in breach of any municipal ordinance. . . .' The City of Miami Beach filed an answer denying the material allegations of the plaintiffs' complaint, contending that the plaintiff's establishments are hotels and must be licensed as such.
At trial, the plaintiffs introduced into evidence copies of Chapter 17 and Chapter 20 of the Code of the City of Miami Beach. Chapter 17 defines and regulates boarding houses, hotels and rooming houses. Chapter 20 provides regulations which apply to the fee schedule for occupational licenses. Section 20--15 of Chapter 20 provides that, 'No license shall be issued except in conformity with the zoning ordinance.' During the presentation of the defendant's case, the city attorney sought to admit into evidence, a City of Miami Beach zoning ordinance which places a unit density maximum on boarding houses and provides for the areas in which they may be located. Counsel for the plaintiffs objected to the admission of or any reference to, the zoning ordinance as being a complete surprise and not material to the pleadings. The objection was sustained and the City was not permitted to raise the zoning issue in defense of the action.
Following the trial, the court entered a final judgment in which...
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