Kasser v. Dade County, 76--743

• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals
• Writing for the Court: Before HENDRY, C.J., NATHAN; NATHAN
• Citation: Kasser v. Dade County, 344 So.2d 928 (Fla. App. 1977)
• Decision Date: 12 April 1977
• Docket Number: No. 76--743,76--743
• Parties: Norman J. KASSER, Appellant, v. DADE COUNTY, Appellee.

Page 928

344 So.2d 928

Norman J. KASSER, Appellant, v. DADE COUNTY, Appellee.

No. 76--743.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.

April 12, 1977.

Rehearing Denied May 9, 1977.

John G. Fletcher, Coconut Grove, for appellant.

Stuart L. Simon, County Atty., and Stanley B. Price, Asst. County Atty., for appellee.

Before HENDRY, C.J., NATHAN, J., and CHARLESS CARROLL (Ret.), Associate Judge.

NATHAN, Judge.

Norman J. Kasser, plaintiff below, appears from an order dismissing with prejudice his suit for inverse condemnation against Dade County.

Kasser is the owner of certain property in Dade County for which he sought a change in zoning from a GU (Interim) classification to EU--1c (2 1/2 acre gross estates). The GU category prohibits the recordation of new subdivisions (except cemeteries) unless property in such a district is rezoned. Kasser's request for rezoning was denied pursuant to a resolution passed by the Dade County Board of County Commissioners. He thereafter filed an inverse condemnation complaint against the County.

In his second amended complaint, Kasser alleged that the County had effectively taken his property without compensation, since he was precluded from making any reasonable use of the land under the retained interim classification. By way of relief, Kasser sought full compensation for the value of the land, asserting that the denial of rezoning was actually a result of the County's exercise of its power of eminent domain, rather than its police power.

Dade County moved to dismiss the second amended complaint on the grounds that it was essentially a direct challenge to a County zoning resolution and that therefore the trial court was without jurisdiction, since the sole and exclusive method for reviewing a zoning decision of Dade County is through a Petition for Writ of Certiorari. After a hearing, the trial court dismissed the complaint. The dismissal order related the trial judge's finding that Kasser's complaint constituted a 'direct attack upon a zoning resolution of the Dade County Board of County Commissioners rather than a general challenge to the validity of any zoning ordinances.' We agree, and accordingly affirm.

Kasser argues that he has accepted the propriety of the GU designation inasmuch as it conforms to the Dade County Master Plan, which placed the subject property in a conservation subzone. However, he further contends that the classification amounts to a taking for public purposes and that he...