CENT. & S. FLA. FL. CON. DIST. v. Wye River Farms, Inc.

297 So. 2d 323
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedJune 7, 1974
Docket72-1065
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 297 So. 2d 323 (CENT. & S. FLA. FL. CON. DIST. v. Wye River Farms, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
CENT. & S. FLA. FL. CON. DIST. v. Wye River Farms, Inc., 297 So. 2d 323 (Fla. Ct. App. 1974).

Opinion

297 So.2d 323 (1974)

CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA FLOOD CONTROL DISTRICT, Appellant,
v.
WYE RIVER FARMS, INC., et al., Appellees.

No. 72-1065.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.

June 7, 1974.
Rehearings Denied July 31, 1974.

*325 Thomas J. Schwartz, West Palm Beach, for appellant.

S. Lindsey Holland, Jr. of Crofton Holland & Starling, Melbourne, for appellee Wye River Farms, Inc.

Edward M. Jackson, Cocoa, for appellees Gilbert A. Tucker and Ruth M. Tucker.

SHOLTS, T.E., Associate Judge.

This is an appeal from an Order of the Circuit Court of Brevard County, dismissing a Petition for Condemnation with prejudice.

Appellant, Central and Southern Florida Flood Control District sought to acquire a portion of lands from each of the Appellees, Wye River Farms, Inc., Gilbert A. Tucker, and Ruth M. Tucker, for use as a water storage area as part of a federally authorized project for flood control and water conservation in the Upper St. Johns River Basin.

After impanelment of a jury, the case was dismissed with prejudice immediately following testimony of Appellant's first witness, its chief engineer, William V. Storch.

Factually, Appellant's Governing Board had passed Resolution No. 942 authorizing the filing of eminent domain proceedings. Thereafter, on December 30, 1970, the Petition was filed. After a hearing on the necessity for taking, an Order of Taking was entered by the trial court on February 1, 1971, granting fee title to Appellant to each parcel. Several Motions to Dismiss subsequently filed by Appellees had been previously disposed of by the court but, immediately prior to trial, additional Motions were filed alleging that Appellant's project plans were insufficiently precise to support the taking of the land. These Motions remained pending at the impanelling of the jury on September 25, 1972. Nevertheless, a jury was sworn and taken to view the subject property, and the court heard testimony from Appellant's engineer as noted above.

Both parties have quoted liberally from the testimony concerning construction and engineering details of the project. At the conclusion of Mr. Storch's testimony, Appellees renewed their Motions, and the trial court thereupon dismissed the suit with prejudice. The Order of Dismissal was formally entered on October 13, 1972, and was based upon the following:

A. The (Appellant's) project was in a state of uncertainty as to its construction.
B. The project lacked definiteness and finality upon which severance damages might be predicated.
C. The Resolution of Appellant dated September 8, 1972, which delegated authority to William V. Storch, the chief engineer of the Appellant, to make commitments at trial binding upon Appellant was a questionable delegation of authority and further demonstrated that the project was lacking a definite plan.
D. The engineer's testimony indicated that insufficient information was available to prove the necessity of the taking.

The issues involved are:

1. Whether or not it is necessary for a condemning authority to have plans and specifications fully prepared in order to support an eminent domain action.
2. If so, whether or not testimony from Appellant's engineer and exhibits received *326 in evidence comprise sufficient plans, specifications and construction details.
3. Whether Appellant's Resolution No. 1019 was proper standing alone or as a delegation of authority to legally bind Appellant, in court, for the construction of a bridge for each Appellee for the purpose of restoring access to the remainder of their lands.
4. Whether or not the United States is a necessary party to this and similar actions inasmuch as the project is federally authorized and undertaken in conjunction with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

As to the first issue, Appellant argues:

a. That there is no legal requirement for a condemnor to offer in evidence any plans and specifications pertaining to construction of a public project, or
b. That if such a legal requirement were found to exist, the testimony of Appellant's engineer together with the General Design Memorandum and Detailed Design Memorandum presented complete and detailed information as to the plans and specifications of the project.

We believe there is no legal requirement for a condemnor to offer any evidence of plans and specifications but, if offered by any party, such evidence is admissible. We also believe that the testimony of Appellant's engineer as well as the General and Detailed Design Memorandums received in evidence (Petitioner's Exhibits 3 and 4) were complete and detailed enough to pass judicial scrutiny. It has been well established that it is not necessary that a condemnor, representing the state or a political subdivision of the state, have funds on hand, plans and specifications prepared and all other preparations necessary for immediate construction before it can determine the necessity for taking private property for a public use. In point of fact, it is the duty of public officials to look to the future and plan for the future. Carlor Co. Inc. v. City of Miami, Sup.Ct.Fla. 1953, 62 So.2d 897; State Road Department of Florida v. Southland, Inc., 1st D.C.A. 1960, 117 So.2d 512; Wright v. Dade County, 3rd D.C.A. 1968, 216 So.2d 494.

Resolution No. 942 of Appellant's Governing Board constituted an administrative determination as to the necessity of acquiring Appellees' land for the stated purposes of water storage under the power of eminent domain. Such determination, though presumptively valid, is properly subject to judicial inquiry when objection to the "necessity" of taking is properly pled. This rule is necessary to protect landowners from abuses of misguided power. The presumption created by such administrative determination should not be overcome unless it can be shown that the determination was motivated by bad faith, fraud or constitutes a gross abuse of discretion. Sibley v. Volusia County, 1941, 147 Fla. 256, 2 So.2d 578; Staplin v. The Canal Authority, 1st D.C.A. 1968, 208 So.2d 853.

Insufficiency of construction plans and specifications is not and has never been included among the grounds for overturning the necessity of a taking, otherwise properly prosecuted, and we now so hold.

Although Appellees rely heavily on the Southland case, supra, we note that 117 So.2d page 517 of that opinion recites:

"We find nothing in the statutory law of this state which requires that the Road Department have money on hand, plans and specifications prepared and all other preparations necessary for immediate construction before it is lawfully authorized to determine the necessity for taking by eminent domain private property for a public purpose." (Emphasis supplied)

*327 Appellees additionally argue that without complete plans, specifications and construction details in evidence, they will be unjustly prejudiced in proving damages to the remainder. This argument is not well founded because the engineer testified in rather minute detail as to the manner of construction of the particular project and that the documents entitled General and Detailed Design Memorandums (admitted into evidence as Petitioner's Exhibits 3 and 4) constituted the plans for the project.

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