City of Miami v. DuPont

181 So. 2d 599, 1966 A.M.C. 2462
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedDecember 28, 1965
Docket65-391
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 181 So. 2d 599 (City of Miami v. DuPont) 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
City of Miami v. DuPont, 181 So. 2d 599, 1966 A.M.C. 2462 (Fla. Ct. App. 1965).

Opinion

181 So.2d 599 (1965)

CITY OF MIAMI, a municipal corporation of Florida, and Alice C. Wainwright, Appellants,
v.
Willis duPONT and Miren duPont, his wife, Appellees.

No. 65-391.

District Court of Appeal of Florida. Third District.

December 28, 1965.
Rehearing Denied January 26, 1966.

John R. Barrett, City Atty., Edward J. Fitzpatrick, Asst. City Atty., William W. Charles, Horton & Schwartz, Miami, for appellants.

John W. Prunty, Miami, for appellees.

Before CARROLL, BARKDULL and SWANN, JJ.

PER CURIAM.

By this appeal the defendant City of Miami and the intervenor-defendant Alice C. Wainwright seek reversal of a decree invalidating an inflexible zoning provision which restricted boathouses on residential property to twenty feet in width, forty feet in depth and fifteen feet in height. The circumstances of the case, and the legal propositions involved were set out in the comprehensive final decree entered by the chancellor as follows:

"The plaintiffs instituted this action against the defendant, City of Miami, as a suit in equity attacking the validity and constitutionality of certain sections of the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Miami.
"Section 22(1) and Section 22(4) (a) of Article IV of Ordinance 6871 of the City of Miami limit the structure of boathouses to fifteen (15) feet in height, twenty (20) feet in width and forty (40) feet in depth. The plaintiffs maintain by their Complaint that this is an unreasonable, discriminatory and arbitrary limitation on the permissible size of a boathouse. The plaintiffs challenge the constitutionality and validity of these sections per se and, in the alternative, they challenge the validity of the application of these sections to their property and the contemplated development of same. The plaintiffs contend that these sections offend the equal protection and due process clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States and Sections 1 and 12 of the Declaration of Rights of the Constitution of the State of Florida, F.S.A. Finally, the plaintiffs allege that they applied for and were denied a variance by the City of Miami Planning and Zoning Board and the City Commission of the City of Miami and that this action was arbitrary and improper.
"The essential allegations of the Complaint are denied by the defendant, City of Miami. The Court subsequently permitted Alice Wainwright as a neighboring property owner, to intervene as a party defendant. This intervening party defendant likewise filed an answer denying *600 the essential allegations of the Complaint.
"After the issues were joined, the Court heard the evidence presented by the parties consisting principally of expert testimony and numerous exhibits. The issues of law were orally argued by counsel for the various parties and memoranda of law were filed. The Court has considered all the pleadings filed and the evidence introduced, together with the argument and memoranda of counsel.
"The evidence disclosed that the plaintiffs are developing certain property which they own as a very large, single family estate-type complex. The property being utilized consists of approximately five (5) acres and is located in the City of Miami in the Coconut Grove Section on Biscayne Bay and St. Gaudens Road. The property has a waterfrontage of approximately two hundred twenty-five (225) feet and extends from the Bay westward approximately eleven hundred feet (1100). The estate will contain structures having a total of approximately thirty thousand (30,000) square feet of area and the development will provide a full range of activities within the estate area, all oriented toward the waterfront. The plaintiffs propose to erect a boathouse on their property, thirty-eight (38) feet in width, ninety-six (96) feet in depth and twenty-four (24) feet in height.
"Plaintiffs' property is presently zoned R 1B by the City of Miami which provides certain minimum requirements for a residence such as a lot size not less than one hundred (100) feet by one hundred (100) feet and a building not less than six hundred fifty (650) square feet in area.
"It was admitted by all parties that the comprehensive zoning ordinance of the City of Miami makes no specific provision for residential estates and has no section dealing entirely with an estate-type development, waterfront or otherwise. Nevertheless, the plaintiffs have been confronted with restrictions which could never have been intended for such estate-size residences.
"The challenged sections of the City of Miami Zoning Ordinance provide arbitrary size limitations for boathouse structures as set forth in plaintiffs' Complaint, to-wit: twenty (20) feet in width, forty (40) feet in depth and fifteen (15) feet in height. These limitations apply to all residential classifications and are imposed without any consideration or relationship to the size, location or use of the property involved or to the size and type of dwelling and other structures placed thereon.
"While the boathouse structure is considered an accessory building by the defendant, City of Miami, no other type of accessory building structure is so arbitrarily restricted by the Zoning Ordinances of the City of Miami. In fact, the evidence showed that accessory structures for various uses, other than for boathouses, could have been erected on the same site location as that of the plaintiffs' proposed boathouse, and that such accessory structures could have been of the same size and design as the proposed boathouse structure.
"It should further be noted that the zoning ordinances of the City of Miami place no limitation or restriction on the size of a private boat which may be docked adjacent to private property, but when the boat is attempted to be placed in a covering or structure, the inflexible restrictions set forth in Sections 22(1) and 22(4) (a), Article IV of Ordinance 6871 of the City of Miami forbids such use.
"The defendants have failed to produce any substantial evidence indicating that any special problems exist with reference to boathouses which would require their strict limitation as to size. Moreover, the defendants have failed to show wherein boathouses possess some special characteristic *601 or effect, directly related to the public health, morals, safety and general welfare of the public, which would require the inflexible special treatment accorded to boathouses by the sections referred to of Ordinance 6871.
"The Coconut Grove area where plaintiffs' property is located and upon which they are erecting one of the largest estate type developments within the last twenty (20) years, is a unique and interesting community. This area is among the oldest sections of the City of Miami, being one of the first locations founded and established by the pioneer settlers of Dade County. It has always enjoyed a uniqueness and a comfortable background of culture and natural beauty. The citizens who have made their homes in this area have, for many years, zealously safeguarded the natural and aesthetic values abounding in this neighborhood. It is evident that these factors led the plaintiffs to select their property and erect their large estate in this particular locale. It is further apparent that the plaintiffs are as anxious as the defendants to preserve the area as a fine home community.

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181 So. 2d 599, 1966 A.M.C. 2462, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-miami-v-dupont-fladistctapp-1965.