Friends of the Everglades, Inc. v. Board of Trustees of Intern. Imp. Trust Fund
| Decision Date | 25 February 1992 |
| Docket Number | No. 91-1100,91-1100 |
| Citation | 595 So.2d 186 |
| Parties | 17 Fla. L. Weekly D560 FRIENDS OF THE EVERGLADES, INC., Appellant, v. BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT TRUST FUND and Department of Natural Resources, Appellees. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
David G. Guest of the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, Tallahassee, for appellant.
Kenneth J. Plante, General Counsel, Debra W. Schiro, Asst. General Counsel, Dept. of Natural Resources, Tallahassee, for appellees.
Friends of the Everglades, Inc. (FOE) appeals a final order of the Governor and Cabinet, sitting as the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund (board of trustees) and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), which dismissed FOE's petition for a hearing pursuant to section 120.57, Florida Statutes. The dismissal was based upon FOE's lack of standing. FOE asserts that (1) appellees waived the standing defense by failing to raise it in a timely manner, and (2) FOE has standing to obtain an administrative hearing. We find that Friends alleged sufficient facts to demonstrate standing, it is, therefore, unnecessary for us to discuss the issue of waiver.
In 1987, DNR acquired a seven-acre site known as the North Key Largo Hammocks Site pursuant to section 253.023, Florida Statutes, the Conservation and Recreation Lands statute (CARL). The trustees initially leased the hammocks site to the DNR division of recreation and parks for use as a botanical site. The trustees later decided to lease a portion of the site to the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services for use as a juvenile detention facility. 1
The appellant filed a timely petition and an amended petition, seeking a formal administrative hearing, challenging the decision of the trustees to utilize portions of certain lands purchased under the CARL program as a juvenile facility. The amended petition alleged that the conversion of the hammocks site to a juvenile jail was contrary to the statutory requirements of the CARL program which provides that land purchased pursuant to the program be utilized for "public recreation and conservation."
The trustees moved to dismiss the petition for want of sufficient standing. Appellees argued that the petition should be denied because the appellant (FOE) had failed to demonstrate how its interest would be adversely affected by the execution of the sublease. A response in opposition was filed by the petitioner, stating that the standing issue had been waived by failure to file a motion to dismiss within the time limit. The hearing officer issued a recommended order of dismissal based on lack of standing, but did not address the issue of waiver.
The Governor and Cabinet upheld the decision of the hearing officer.
The amended petition in pertinent part alleged that
[t]he Petitioner, Friends of the Everglades (FOE) is a non-profit environmental organization whose members live near and use the subject area for recreation and educational purposes. The FOE is committed to the preservation and conservation of environmentally endangered lands in the Everglades and South Florida area. FOE strongly supported legislation creating the Conservation and Recreational lands (CARL) program, under which the state buys or otherwise acquires rights to environmentally significant lands. FOE worked to identify suitable sites in South Florida and lobbied for their acquisition. FOE directed considerable effort and resources towards acquisition of the North Key Largo Hammocks site (also known as the New Mahogany Hammocks site) which is the subject of this petition. FOE expended funds to have a video of the Hammocks professionally produced and members of FOE travelled to Tallahassee to endorse the acquisition of the North Key Largo site. Despite well-placed opposition, the site was purchased with CARL funds as an "environmentally endangered land" (EEL). Because of FOE's expenditure of considerable resources to protect the site, FOE will be substantially affected by the state lease to HRS to use the site for purposes which are incompatible with public recreation and conservation.
Standing under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) is conferred on persons whose substantial interest will be affected by proposed agency action. Agrico Chemical Co. v. Department of Environmental Regulation, 406 So.2d 478 (Fla. 2nd DCA 1981), rev. denied, 415 So.2d 1359 (Fla.1982), and 415 So.2d 1361 (Fla.1982). To meet the requirements of standing under the APA, an association must demonstrate that a substantial number of its members would have standing. See Florida Home Builders Ass'n v. Department of Labor, 412 So.2d 351 (Fla.1982).
A party seeking to show a substantial injury must demonstrate
1) that he will suffer an injury in fact which is of sufficient immediacy to entitle him to a section 120.57 hearing, and 2) that his substantial injury is of the type or nature which the proceeding is designed to protect.
Agrico, supra at 482. Florida Society of Opthalmology v. State Bd. of Optometry, 532 So.2d 1279 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988), rev. denied, 542 So.2d 1333 (Fla.1989).
To properly apply the Agrico test, we must analyze both the type and nature of the injury asserted, and the purpose and scope of the administrative proceeding. The alleged substantial interest of the petitioner involves (1) the use of the subject property by its members who live near the property, and (2) the financial and other efforts of its membership to lobby the Cabinet to acquire the site in question. The purpose and scope of the administrative proceeding was to determine whether the use of the land which was proposed by the Governor and Cabinet would be inconsistent with the statutory purpose for the use of lands as contemplated by the CARL program under section 253.023, Florida Statutes (1989).
It cannot be seriously argued that voluntary lobbying efforts of the FOE (while they may be commendable) establish an interest which is designed to be protected pursuant to chapter 253, Florida Statutes. See Agrico, supra. We, therefore, reject that position without further comment. We must, instead, focus on the question of whether the use of the property by FOE members who live nearby is within the zone of interests to be protected by the CARL program.
Appellees assert that in order for FOE to establish standing, the mere use of the property by its membership is insufficient. They assert that to establish standing, the petitioner must demonstrate special injury. The cases cited by appellees for this proposition, however, do not apply to the administrative proceeding below: Cases involving enforcement of a public easement over private property are challenges to local zoning, and enforcement decisions are not covered by the Administrative Procedure Act. U.S. Steel Corp. v. Save Sand Key, Inc., 303 So.2d 9 (Fla.1974); Renard v. Dade County, 261 So.2d 832 (Fla.1972). In those cases, the test for standing which was established by common law is "special injury." Standing under ...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Sickon v. School Bd. of Alachua County, Fla.
...substantive law in order to ascertain a party's substantial interests. See Friends of the Everglades, Inc. v. Board of Trustees of Internal Improvement Trust Fund, 595 So.2d 186 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992); Florida Optometric Ass'n v. Department of Prof'l Regulation, Bd. of Opticianry, 567 So.2d 92......
-
Martin Cnty. Conservation Alliance v. Martin Cnty.
...Chem. Co. v. Dep't of Envtl. Regulation, 406 So.2d 478, 482 (Fla. 2d DCA 1981); Friends of the Everglades, Inc. v. Bd. of Trs. of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund, 595 So.2d 186, 189 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992); see also Hayes, 952 So.2d at 505. It does not depend on the elements or merits of th......
-
NAACP, INC. v. Florida Bd. of Regents
...standing" to associations other than trade or professional associations. See, e.g., Friends of the Everglades, Inc. v. Bd. of Trs. of Internal Improvement Trust Fund, 595 So.2d 186 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992); Farmworker Rights Org., Inc. v. State Dep't of Health & Rehab. Servs., 430 So.2d 1 (Fla. ......
-
Peace River/Manasota Reg. Water Supply Auth. v. Imc Phosphates Co.
...Chem. Co. v. Dep't of Envtl. Regulation, 406 So.2d 478, 482 (Fla. 2d DCA 1981); Friends of the Everglades, Inc. v. Bd. of Trs. of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund, 595 So.2d 186, 189 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992); see also Hayes, 952 So.2d at 505. It does not depend on the elements or merits of th......
-
State Citizen Suits, Standing, and the Underutilization of State Environmental Law
...injury.”); Fla. Stat. Ann. §120.57 (2021). 119. Sellers, supra note 111. 120. Id . 121. Id .; Friends of the Everglades v. Board of Trs., 595 So. 2d 186 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1992) (explaining that a proposed activity will afect one’s use and enjoyment of natural resources protected under th......
-
Standing in Florida administrative proceedings.
...Trust Fund, 647 So. 2d 129 (Fla. 1st D.C.A. 1994); Friends of the Everglades v. Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund, 595 So. 2d 186 (Fla. 1st D.C.A. (17) See, e.g., Edgewater Beach Owners Association, Inc. v. Board of County Commissioners, 645 So. 2d 541 (Fla. 1st D.C.A......
-
Rule-challenge standing after NAACP, Inc. v. Florida Board of Regents.
...Inc., 773 So. 2d 594 (Fla. 1st DCA 2000), and Friends of the Everglades, Inc. v. Board of Trustees of Internal Improvement Trust Fund, 595 So. 2d 186 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992), toward the apparent goal of reconciling the factual context of NAACP (involving the highly personal subject matter of ed......
-
"Intervene" means "intervene": the Florida Legislature revises citizen standing under F.S. s. 403.412(5).
...specific statute at issue is sufficient to demonstrate "substantial interest." See, e.g., Friends of the Everglades v. Board of Trustees, 595 So. 2d 186 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992). As such, it appears Shat this language was intended neither to relax nor to make more stringent the "substantial inte......