Kuster Enterprises, Inc. v. State, Dept. of Transp., II-137

• Decision Date: 28 April 1978
• Docket Number: No. II-137,II-137
• Citation: Kuster Enterprises, Inc. v. State, Dept. of Transp., 357 So.2d 794 (Fla. App. 1978)
• Parties: KUSTER ENTERPRISES, INC., Petitioner, v. STATE of Florida, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, Respondent.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

Page 794

357 So.2d 794

KUSTER ENTERPRISES, INC., Petitioner, v. STATE of Florida, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, Respondent.

No. II-137.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.

April 28, 1978.

Carlos Alvarez of Mahoney, Hadlow & Adams, Jacksonville, for petitioner.

John J. Rimes, III, Tallahassee, for respondent.

ERVIN, Judge.

Kuster Enterprises is a manufacturer of prefabricated swimming pools and contends DOT has abridged its right to equal protection by denying its petition for proposed rule-making allowing the transport of its 14-feet wide prefabricated swimming pools. We earlier remanded for the finding of additional facts, Kuster Enterprises, Inc. v. State of Florida, Department of Transportation, 347 So.2d 1092 (Fla. 1st DCA 1977), and the parties have now entered into a stipulation of facts.

DOT has permitted the transportation of 14-feet wide boats since 1967. Mobile homes of the same width have been permitted by DOT since December, 1976, on a trial basis to determine if this movement can be conducted safely in Florida. The parties have agreed there are no significant distinctions as regards safety in the transportation over state roads of 14-feet wide boats and 14-feet wide prefabricated pools. A large majority of states allow for the transportation of both structures. There have been relatively few studies on the effects of 14-feet wide vehicles on highway safety and traffic patterns and these have generally been inconclusive. The only comprehensive Florida study, made in 1972, recommended against the use of oversize modules on Florida highways.

DOT, in its final order denying the rule-making request, pointed to Section 316.009 (now Section 316.550, Florida Statutes (1977)) as granting discretion to issue special permits for oversized vehicles on Florida roads. Kuster was found not to have shown its proposed rule is in the best interest of the public at large, since the safety of 14-feet wide vehicles has not yet been established.

In treating prefabricated pools differently from boats or mobile homes of the same width, the Department must show its classification is "based upon some difference in the classes having a substantial relation to the purpose for which the legislation was designed." Hunter v. Flowers, 43 So.3d 435, 437 (Fla.1949); State v. Frick, 150 Fla. 148, 7 So.2d 152 (1942). But here the Department, by its own stipulation, has found no distinction based on highway safety and preservation. From this record...