City of West Palm Beach Zoning Bd. of Appeals v. Education Development Center, Inc.

• Decision Date: 15 June 1988
• Docket Number: No. 87-2889,87-2889
• Citation: 13 Fla. L. Weekly 1412,526 So.2d 775
• Parties: 47 Ed. Law Rep. 786, 13 Fla. L. Weekly 1412 CITY OF WEST PALM BEACH ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS and the City of West Palm Beach, Petitioners, v. EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT CENTER, INC., Respondent.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

Page 775

526 So.2d 775

47 Ed. Law Rep. 786, 13 Fla. L. Weekly 1412

CITY OF WEST PALM BEACH ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS and the City of West Palm Beach, Petitioners, v. EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT CENTER, INC., Respondent.

No. 87-2889.

District Court of Appeal of Florida,

Fourth District.

June 15, 1988.

Carl V.M. Coffin, City Atty., West Palm Beach, for petitioners.

James K. Green of Green, Eisenberg and Cohen, West Palm Beach, for respondent.

PER CURIAM.

For the second time the circuit court, in its appellate capacity, has reversed a decision of the West Palm Beach Zoning Board of Appeals which denied respondent's application to convert its property, located in a residentially zoned area, to a preschool. In the original case, City of West Palm Beach Zoning Board of Appeals v. Education Development Center, Inc., 504 So.2d 1385 (Fla. 4th DCA 1987), we quashed the order on review for failure to apply the correct standard of review. The order now before us is substantially identical to the prior order with the exception of the addition of a sentence finding that there was not substantial competent evidence to support the City's denial of respondent's application.

It is firmly established in the case law that, when the circuit court sits in its appellate capacity to review agency action, its scope of review is limited to a determination of whether the agency (or municipal entity):

1. provided procedural due process;

2. observed the essential requirements of the law; and

3. supported its findings by substantial competent evidence.

City of Deerfield Beach v. Vaillant, 399 So.2d 1045 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981), aff'd, 419 So.2d 624 (Fla.1982).

This court, sitting in review of the circuit court appellate process, restricts its scope of review to a determination of whether the petitioner was afforded procedural due process in the circuit court and whether the circuit court applied the correct legal principles (sometimes phrased: whether there was a substantial departure from the essential requirements of the law). Tomeu v. Palm Beach County, 430 So.2d 601 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983).

It is well settled that a circuit court is not empowered to disapprove findings of an administrative agency unless the record is devoid of substantial competent evidence to support the agency's decision. See, e.g., Skaggs-Albertson's v. ABC Liquors, Inc., 363 So.2d 1082 (Fla.1978). Where conflicting interpretations of the evidence urged by a petitioner and respondent are both reasonable and plausible under the evidence presented, the circuit court may not transcend the scope of its certiorari review by substituting its judgment for that...