Shipbaugh v. City of Sarasota

• Citation: 94 So.2d 728
• Parties: K. R. SHIPBAUGH, Appellant, v. CITY OF SARASOTA, a municipal corporation of Florida, et al., Appellees.
• Decision Date: 24 April 1957
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

Page 728

94 So.2d 728

K. R. SHIPBAUGH, Appellant, v. CITY OF SARASOTA, a municipal corporation of Florida, et al., Appellees.

Supreme Court of Florida, Special Division B.

April 24, 1957.

Burket & Burket, Sarasota, for appellant.

Dexter & Conlee, Sarasota, for appellees.

LUCKIE, Associate Justice.

This is an appeal from a final decree in a declaratory judgment action by plaintiff below who claims that under the terms of a City of Sarasota ordinance he is entitled to a whiskey license at a place of business whose main entrance is less than 500 feet from the parsonage of the Bethlehem Baptist Church.

Ordinance No. 729 of the City of Sarasota reads in pertinent part as follows:

'No certificate of occupancy shall be issued to any applicant for consumption or sale of liquor as defined under the Laws of Florida, Section 561.01 [F.S.A.], on the premises or off the premises, in zones 1, 2, 3 and 4, as described in the preceding section, if the place of business of the applicant is situated less than 500 feet from an established school or church. In the instance of an established school or church such 500 feet distance shall be measured and computed by following the shortest route of ordinary pedestrian travel along the public thoroughfare from the main entrance of said place of business to the nearest point of the school or church grounds in use as part of the school or church facilities.' (Emphasis supplied.)

The nearest part of the lot on which the Bethlehem Baptist Church is located is 532.31 feet from the main entrance of appellant's place of business. But, immediately adjacent to the church and nearer to appellant's place of business, is the parsonage of the church. The main entrance of appellant's place of business is located 465.56 feet from the nearest point of the lot on which the parsonage is located and is apparently some 490 feet from the parsonage itself. The lower court held that the parsonage and the lot upon which it stands is a church facility within the meaning of the ordinance and, as the main entrance to appellant's place of business was within 500 feet of the parsonage and the lot upon which it is situated, appellant was not entitled to a whiskey license at the particular place of business.

The sole question here is whether the parsonage or the lot upon which it is located is a church facility. The facts are undisputed: the parsonage is owned by the church and is about four feet from the church, but is not physically connected with the church. The parsonage is used two nights each week for meetings by two church organizations. (Other similar meetings are held in other homes.) At these meetings there is Bible discussion, song service and prayer. These are the only religious meetings held in the parsonage, although various members of the congregation call at the parsonage almost daily to speak to the pastor concerning their spiritual needs and problems....