Equity Resources, Inc. v. County of Leon

• Decision Date: 08 September 1994
• Docket Number: No. 93-2711,93-2711
• Citation: 643 So.2d 1112
• Parties: 19 Fla. L. Weekly D1953 EQUITY RESOURCES, INC., and Richard L. Pelham, Petitioners, v. COUNTY OF LEON, Respondent.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

Page 1112

643 So.2d 1112

19 Fla. L. Weekly D1953

EQUITY RESOURCES, INC., and Richard L. Pelham, Petitioners, v. COUNTY OF LEON, Respondent.

No. 93-2711.

District Court of Appeal of Florida,

First District.

Sept. 8, 1994.

Rehearing Denied Oct. 24, 1994.

Thomas G. Pelham of Holland & Knight, Tallahassee, for petitioners.

John C. Cooper of Cooper, Coppins & Monroe, P.A., Tallahassee, for respondent.

ZEHMER, Chief Judge.

Equity Resources, Inc., and Richard Pelham invoke this court's jurisdiction under Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.030(b)(2)(B) to review by certiorari the trial court's order denying their petition for writ of certiorari involving a final administrative order that sustained the Leon County Planning Department's denial of their application for a vested rights determination. The trial court's order approved the grounds of the hearing officer's determination with one exception, that Petitioners had not established a vested right to continue their development under the county's 2010 Comprehensive Plan. The standard of review under rule 9.030(b)(2)(B) applies to this proceeding and is limited to whether the trial court afforded procedural due process and applied the correct law. Education Dev. Ctr., Inc. v. City of West Palm Beach Zoning Bd. of Appeals, 541 So.2d 106 (Fla.1989); City of Deerfield Beach v. Vaillant, 419 So.2d 624 (Fla.1982); Leon County v. Mitchell, 611 So.2d 104 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992). Based on the record before us, we conclude that the trial court did not apply the correct law to the facts and therefore grant the writ. ¹

I.

The instant dispute arises under the Leon County 2010 Comprehensive Land Use Plan. Pursuant to the plan, the county adopted Ordinance No. 90-31 to ensure that existing vested rights of Leon County property owners are not lost by operation of the plan's proscriptions. ² On November 13, 1990, Petitioners timely filed an application with the planning department requesting a vested rights determination for a 47-acre parcel of property located in Leon County on the shores of Lake Jackson. Petitioner Equity Resources, a Florida corporation, currently owns or has an ownership interest in all 47 acres. Petitioner Pelham is President of Equity Resources and, with his wife, jointly owns all of the stock in Equity Resources. The 47 acres of property are part of a 165-acre development project bordering the southern portion of Lake Jackson known as Bent Tree. This project has been under continuous planning and development from 1972, when it was originally purchased and rezoned from agricultural to RM-3 multi-family, until 1989, when a portion of the property was down-zoned from multi-family to Estate District. ³

For purposes of this litigation, the 47 acres involved in the application can be treated conceptually as three parcels. Parcel one, referred to as Phase I, consists of approximately 10 acres. It has been developed and is presumptively vested under the plan. Parcel two, or Phase II, adjoins parcel one and consists of approximately 30 acres. Permits for this second phase of the development had been issued and construction of multi-family units had been commenced when the permits were revoked and Phase II was rezoned to Estate District in 1989. Finally, parcel three consists of approximately 7 acres and is zoned commercial. The focus of the instant dispute is primarily on the planned development of the latter two phases.

A.

On October 11, 1972, Pelham and others entered into an option to purchase the overall Bent Tree property. Under the option, the purchase of 40.88 acres of the tract was contingent upon the sellers' obtaining a rezoning of that portion to RM-3 multi-family. Substantially all of the 40.88 acres is included within the property subject to the current application. During the county's process of reviewing and approving the 1972 rezoning application, Pelham disclosed to the county the conceptual uses intended for the overall 165-acre tract. A model depicting the concept plan for development, including the instant property, was also displayed prior to the final rezoning approval. In addition, Pelham informed the county that the project would be developed over an unspecified number of years in several different phases. During the process of review, the impact of drainage from the Bent Tree development on Lake Jackson became an issue. Accordingly, a storm water management system was designed for all of the property and Pelham agreed to complete this system before any development commenced on the project if the county granted rezoning.

Rezoning was ultimately approved in October 1972. Since the 1972 purchase of the project, Pelham has continuously held an ownership interest either directly in the land or in all of the partnerships or corporate entities that have held title to the various portions of the land, including the property under consideration.

Following the purchase of the tract in 1972, the drainage system was designed and built at a cost of $45,000, with a capacity larger than would have been necessary for the instant property alone. After this system was constructed, development of the project commenced. From 1975 to 1989, 128 acres of the original 165 acres were developed in approximately 14 segments, with the county consistently approving permits for the development of these segments. While certain changes to the original concept evolved over time, none were considered substantial enough to warrant denial of any permits.

Equity Resources has held an ownership interest in all of the property involved in this case since 1987. Equity Resources acquired this interest from limited partnerships and other entities in which Pelham has held an interest and control. ⁴ In order to develop the property for commercial and multi-family uses as zoned, Equity Resources made arrangements for sewer and water service to serve the property through Talquin Electric Cooperative, Inc. In 1987, Talquin Electric and Equity Resources applied to Leon County for an expansion of the sewer service franchise area to include all of the property. The franchise granted to Talquin Electric involved capital expenditures of more than $200,000 for the construction of a sewer system to serve the entire project, including both Phases I and II. Equity Resources expended additional sums in contracting with Talquin Electric to expand water lines to serve all of the property. In addition, Equity Resources constructed a road at a cost of $25,000 to serve both Phases I and II of the property. Thereafter, it obtained building permits and completed construction of the multi-family residential development in Phase I, and obtained the environmental and building permits from the county for Phase II. Over all, since December 1986, Petitioners claim they have incurred expenditures in excess of $900,000 for planning, architectural, engineering, utilities, and legal services associated with development of Phases I and II, as well as for obtaining environmental and construction permits and financing for development. They further contend that these claimed expenditures do not include costs for development of the drainage system, costs for land purchases, or any costs associated with permitting, financing, site preparation, or construction in conjunction with Phase II. Petitioners insist that a substantial portion of the $900,000 is related to the property in Phase II.

B.

A hearing on the application for a vested rights determination was held before a staff committee of the Leon County Planning Department on August 5, 1991, following which the committee denied the application. Petitioners appealed, and the county referred the matter to a hearing officer. A hearing was held on October 10, 1991, to give the parties an opportunity to supplement the record, as authorized by the ordinance. Following submission of recommended final orders, the hearing officer entered a final order upholding the staff committee's denial of the application. Although the hearing officer disagreed with the county's position that Pelham and Equity Resources did not have standing to raise the vested-rights issue, the hearing officer concluded that Petitioners failed to prove that they had incurred significant expenses in reliance on any act of the county other than its original 1972 rezoning approval.

Equity Resources and Pelham thereafter filed their complaint for writ of certiorari in the circuit court. On April 8, 1993, the court entered its final order denying certiorari. Preliminarily, the trial court concluded that Pelham and Equity Resources lack standing to seek a vested rights determination. However, the court agreed with the hearing officer that, even if they have standing, Petitioners' equitable estoppel claim must fail "because there is no evidence they incurred expenses exclusively for the undeveloped portion of the property, because the expenditures were not made in reliance on any promise by the county and because the [Petitioners] waited far too long to complete the project."

II.

When the trial court reviewed the decision of the hearing officer under Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.030(c)(3), there were three discrete components to its certiorari review. The trial court was limited to determining (1) whether procedural due process was accorded, (2) whether the essential requirements of law were observed, and (3) whether the administrative findings and judgment were supported by competent and substantial evidence. Education Dev. Ctr. v. Zoning Bd. of Appeals, 541 So.2d at 108. In the present case, there is no contention that due process was denied, and with one minor exception, there is no contention that the hearing officer's final order was not based on competent and substantial evidence. ⁵ Thus, the critical issue is whether the trial court observed the essential requirements of the law in ruling on the petition.

This case turns on the correct articulation and application of the...