Little Munyon Island, Inc. v. Dept. of Environmental Regulation, BG-171
| Decision Date | 25 July 1986 |
| Docket Number | No. BG-171,BG-171 |
| Citation | 11 Fla. L. Weekly 1616,492 So.2d 735 |
| Parties | 11 Fla. L. Weekly 1616 LITTLE MUNYON ISLAND, INC., Appellant, v. DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Ross A. McVoy of Madigan, Parker, Gatlin, Swedmark & Skelding, Tallahassee, for appellant.
Julia D. Cobb, Asst. Gen. Counsel, Tallahassee, for appellee.
Little Munyon Island, Inc. (LMI) appeals from a declaratory statement issued by the Department of Environmental Regulation (DER) pursuant to Section 120.565, Florida Statutes (1983), declaring that LMI would be required to seek a fill permit before placing concrete anchors in Lake Worth.
In August 1983, LMI, owners of a 15-acre tract of submerged land off Little Munyon Island in Lake Worth, filed a permit application with DER for "yacht anchorages within the tract." The application made no mention that submerged concrete anchors would be used. After DER notified LMI of its intent to deny the application, LMI replied by letter that it was "only asking permission to anchor private marine vessels within the private boundaries of its bottomland." Again, no concrete anchors were mentioned. LMI followed this letter with a request for an administrative hearing on its permit application.
Negotiations between LMI and DER ensued and resulted in a letter from DER, describing LMI's project as "a proposed anchorage within privately owned deeded bottomland ... contain[ing] no structural work, dredging, filling or permanent bouyed [sic] mooring facilities" (emphasis supplied), and stating that "[a]t this time, no permit is required for your project by this Department and there are no objections to your proposal." Based on this letter, LMI withdrew its hearing request, but not its application. It informed DER by letter that "[d]uring this Initial Interim Anchorage Start-up we anticipate using Marine Anchors as carried on-board cruising Yachts" (emphasis supplied). LMI did not state that concrete anchors would be used, but only that they had been considered.
DER proceeded to deny the permit application, based on its letter to LMI that "no permit is required for your project." The order went on to say that "[p]etitioner may anchor yachts adjacent to Little Munyon Island pursuant to the Department notice (Exhibit C)." Exhibit C was LMI's letter referring to its anticipated use of "anchors as carried on-board cruising yachts." LMI then sought this declaratory statement as to whether a DER permit would be required for concrete anchors, described in the petition as "heavy anchors which are serviced every six (6) months but which otherwise sit on the bottom of the lake." The petition also sought a declaration that the final order allowed LMI to use the anchors without a permit.
DER issued its declaratory statement finding that use of the type of anchors described in the petition would require a permit. This finding was based upon Florida Statute Section 403.087(1), which requires that a permit be obtained for "any stationary installation which will reasonably be expected to be a source of pollution." "Stationary" is undefined by rule or statute. However, DER determined that, given the design and intended function of the anchors, the fact that they would be removed and inspected every six months did not preclude classifying them as stationary. This declaration further held that the earlier final order did not obviate the permit requirement since, when DER stated previously that no permit would be required, the project had been described to it as one wherein yachts would be moored via on-board killicks.
LMI anchors its appeal with the contention that, since "stationary" is undefined by rule or statute, the ordinary definition applies, which is "fixed in a station, course or mode; standing still: immobile ... not portable." It urges that, since these anchors can be raised for maintenance purposes, they do not fall within this definition. DER, as iterated above, concluded that this limited...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Taylor v. Village of North Palm Beach
...to develop the property as a marina with over one hundred slips and a clubhouse. In Little Munyon Island, Inc. v. Department of Environmental Regulation, 492 So.2d 735 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986), the first district held that although the predecessor in title of Little Munyon Island had established......
-
Scholastic Book Fairs, Inc. Great American Div. v. Unemployment Appeals Com'n
...1018 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993); Couch v. Comm. on Ethics, 617 So.2d 1119 (Fla. 5th DCA 1993); Little Munyon Island, Inc. v. Department of Environmental Regulation, 492 So.2d 735, 737 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986). ...
-
Skiff's Workingman's Nursery v. Department of Transp., 89-0676
...conflicts with legislative intent, a court can decline to follow the agency's interpretation. Little Munyon Island v. Department of Environmental Regulations, 492 So.2d 735 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986). We note that this case does not concern an agency's interpretation of its governing statute, but ......
-
Waldron, Matter of, 88-0333
...387 So.2d 454 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980). In the recommended order, the hearing officer cited Little Munyon Island, Inc. v. Department of Environmental Regulation, 492 So.2d 735, 737 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986) ("Agency determinations with regard to a statute's interpretation and applicability will receiv......