DR Horton, Inc.-Jacksonville v. Peyton

959 So. 2d 390, 2007 WL 1730106
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedJune 18, 2007
Docket1D05-5585
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 959 So. 2d 390 (DR Horton, Inc.-Jacksonville v. Peyton) 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
DR Horton, Inc.-Jacksonville v. Peyton, 959 So. 2d 390, 2007 WL 1730106 (Fla. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

959 So.2d 390 (2007)

D.R. HORTON, INC.— JACKSONVILLE, Appellant,
v.
John PEYTON, in his official capacity as Mayor of the City of Jacksonville, a Florida municipal corporation; and Michael Saylor, in his official capacity as Director of Planning and Development for the City of Jacksonville, a Florida municipal corporation, Appellees.

No. 1D05-5585.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.

June 18, 2007.

*391 Fred D. Franklin, Jr., William D. Brinton, T.R. Hainline, Jr., Cristine M. Russell, and Christopher J. Hand of Rogers Towers, P.A., Jacksonville, for Appellant.

Cindy A. Laquidara, General Counsel and Tracey I. Arpen, Jr., Deputy General Counsel, Jacksonville, for Appellees.

Deborah J. Andrews, Ponte Vedra Beach, for Amicus Curiae Baymeadows Community Council, Inc.

VAN NORTWICK, J.

D.R. Horton, Inc.—Jacksonville (Horton) appeals an order granting final summary judgment in favor of John Peyton, in his capacity as the mayor of the City of Jacksonville (the City), and Michael Saylor, in his capacity as director of planning and development for the City, appellees. Horton brought an action challenging the mayor's veto of a resolution of the Jacksonville City Council (Council) which had approved a so-called "fair share assessment contract" by which Horton was authorized to undertake a proposed development in the Baymeadows area of the City. Under section 6.05 of the City's Charter, the mayor does not possess the authority to veto, among other actions of the Council, "quasi-judicial decisions made by the council." Thus, the issue before us is whether the Council's decision approving the Horton resolution was quasi-judicial in nature. Because Horton's proposed development necessitated such substantial transportation infrastructure improvements, as provided in Horton's fair share contract with the City, that it would require an amendment to the capital improvement element of the City's comprehensive plan, we conclude that the Council's decision was legislative, not quasi-judicial in nature. Accordingly, we affirm the order upholding the mayor's veto, although for reasons different than those relied upon by the trial court.

Background

In 2004, Horton planned a multi-use development of the golf course within the Baymeadows community in the southeastern area of Jacksonville. The proposed development involved approximately 150 acres of real property and included approximately 1,400 residential dwellings, 150,000 square feet of office space, and 60,000 square feet of retail space. Horton sought a determination from the planning and development department of the City as to whether the proposed development of the subject property met local development requirements. More particularly, Horton sought a "concurrency certificate" showing that his proposed development fell within the development guidelines in the City's comprehensive plan. The City's planning and development department denied Horton's application for a concurrency certificate on the ground that the existing roads in the area of the development would be unable to handle the increased traffic resulting from the development, as determined by a traffic study. Under the authority of the fair share contract provisions of the City's ordinance code, Part 3, Chapter 655, Jacksonville Ordinance Code (Code), the department advised Horton of his available options, one of which was to submit a "fair share assessment" application to enter into a contract with the City by which Horton would pay for the cost of the infrastructure improvements made necessary by the proposed development. Horton submitted a fair share application that provided for a fair share payment of $4,894,875 and a proposed contract. Exhibit B to Horton's fair share application specified in detail the various roads which *392 would be improved pursuant to the funds provided under the fair share contract. Exhibit E to the fair share application provided that these roadway improvements "shall be added to the Capital Improvements Plan of the City, designating the Developer as the source of funding."

The resolution approving the Horton contract was assigned to the Transportation, Environment and Energy Committee of the Council. This committee held a public meeting and thereafter recommended to the Council that Horton's fair share contribution be increased to $7,142,403. The committee's recommendation was submitted to the Council and scheduled on the Council's agenda with other resolutions described in the agenda as "Action on 3rd Reading Resolution(s), Committee Recommendations." The agenda also contained a separate category of "quasi-judicial" actions to be heard by the Council.

In the public hearing before the Council, Horton introduced the results of a traffic study prepared by its consultant which supported the roadway improvements set forth in the proposed fair share contract. Opponents of the project presented testimony by a traffic engineer that Baymeadows Road, the only public road directly accessing the proposed development, is a "constrained facility," meaning it could not be expanded to provide transportation service beyond its current level of service; and that the transportation improvements proposed by Horton's fair share contract were not adequate to support the proposed development. Further, the opponents testified that proposed transportation improvements were not contained in the City's capital improvement program that is a part of the City's comprehensive plan and that most of the improvements which were in the capital improvement program were not within a two-mile radius of Horton's traffic study.

After extensive debate, by a vote of 11 to 8 the Council approved the amended Horton resolution which the mayor timely vetoed. In his veto letter, the mayor set forth the policy reasons supporting his action. He found that the proposed roadway improvements were inadequate to address the traffic impacts that would be created by the proposed development. As the mayor explained:

In this case, the proposed development will generate traffic impacting Baymeadows Road, as well as other roadway links. Specifically, the development is projected to add 1,182 PM Peak Hour trips to the three affected links of Baymeadows Road, as well as adding additional trips to other roadway links.
Baymeadows Road is a constrained facility, as defined by the Florida Department of Transportation, meaning that it cannot be widened further to add traffic capacity. While other constrained roadways exist within the city, few are failing to the same extent as Baymeadows Road, and few have the potential for the type of large-scale development that is proposed for Baymeadows Golf Course. Furthermore, due to the existing roadway configuration from past development, Baymeadows Road is the only public road directly accessing the property and the point of ingress and egress is from the most negatively-impacted links on Baymeadows Road.
Roadway improvements that add capacity to a roadway (other than road widening) are authorized by state and local law. However, those improvements must offset the impacts of the proposed development on the affected roadway links identified in the particular Fair Share Assessment Contract. For this particular project, the developer proposed *393 a list of roadway improvements other than widening Baymeadows Road to offset the impacts on Baymeadows Road and the other affected roadway links.
I have reviewed the evidence in the record regarding the proposed roadway improvements and their suggested impact on the affected roadway links.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY v. CITY OF MIAMI
District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2020
Gretna Racing, LLC v. Department of Business & Professional Regulation
178 So. 3d 15 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2016)
Gretna Racing, LLC. v. Department of Business and Prof. etc.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2015
Department of Revenue v. McLeod
96 So. 3d 443 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2012)
Smith v. New Hampshire Indemnity Co.
60 So. 3d 429 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2011)
Staffmark v. Merrell
43 So. 3d 792 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2010)
Ala v. Chesser
5 So. 3d 715 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2009)
Hall v. Knipp
982 So. 2d 1196 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2008)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
959 So. 2d 390, 2007 WL 1730106, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dr-horton-inc-jacksonville-v-peyton-fladistctapp-2007.