City of Winter Park v. Rich, 97-208
| Decision Date | 02 May 1997 |
| Docket Number | No. 97-208,97-208 |
| Citation | 692 So.2d 986 |
| Parties | 22 Fla. L. Weekly D1099 The CITY OF WINTER PARK, Florida, etc., Petitioner, v. Jonathan D. RICH, etc., et al., Respondent. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
James Edward Cheek, III, of Winderweedle, Haines, Ward & Woodman, P.A., Winter Park, for Petitioner.
Janet M. Courtney, of Lowndes, Drosdick, Doster, Kantor & Reed, P.A., Orlando, for Respondent.
Jonathan D. Rich, after inheriting his mother's residence which had originally consisted of two separate lots but which had been used by the mother as a single lot, petitioned the City of Winter Park to permit him to again consider the lots separately and to grant him a variance from the subsequently enacted Comprehensive Plan so that he could build on the second lot. The City refused. Rich, by certiorari, took the matter to circuit court. The circuit court granted Rich relief. We reverse.
At the oral argument before the circuit court, Rich announced that he had sold the property in issue. He did not attempt to amend his circuit court pleadings which alleged him to be the property owner. He did not attempt to assert that he sold the property for less than its fair value because of the City's action in refusing his rightful claim to a variance. In short, Rich lost standing to assert the claim then pending before the court because he no longer owned the property at issue (the new owner might well have intended that the two lots continue to serve as a single residence) and the court, therefore, erred in denying the City's motion to dismiss the proceedings.
Petition for Writ of Certiorari GRANTED and the decision of the trial court is REVERSED and REMANDED with instructions to withdraw the court's judgment and to dismiss the action as moot.
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Collins v. Monroe County, 3D07-1603.
...have received compensation and their individual causes of action for a constitutional taking may be moot. See, City of Winter Park v. Rich, 692 So.2d 986 (Fla. 5th DCA 1997) (holding that plaintiff who sold property at issue lacked standing to challenge city's denial of variance to build on......
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Pirate's Treasure, Inc. v. City of Dunedin
...doubts and inferences shall be resolved in favor of the nonmoving party").The City relies extensively on City of Winter Park v. Rich, 692 So. 2d 986, 986-87 (Fla. 5th DCA 1997), but that case is distinguishable (among other reasons) precisely because there was no evidence that the plaintiff......