Kirk v. Gables By Sea, Inc.

251 So. 2d 880, 1971 Fla. App. LEXIS 6218
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedAugust 31, 1971
DocketNo. O-167
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 251 So. 2d 880 (Kirk v. Gables By Sea, 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
Kirk v. Gables By Sea, Inc., 251 So. 2d 880, 1971 Fla. App. LEXIS 6218 (Fla. Ct. App. 1971).

Opinion

JOHNSON, Judge.

This is an appeal by the Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund of a judgment rendered by the Circuit Court of Leon County, Florida, on the 10th day of September, 1970, in a cause brought by the Appellee, Gables By The Sea, Inc., a Florida corporation, against the Trustees. The judgment of the lower court adjudicated that Gables By The Sea was entitled to dredge from a certain designated area in Biscayne Bay to procure material to fill the corporation’s swamp and overflow land it had purchased from the Trustees.

The crux of the complaint filed by the plaintiff-appellee herein, was to obtain quashal of an order or ruling of the Trustees of the Improvement Trust Fund and a declaratory decree.

At the time the corporation entered into negotiations with the Trustees for the purchase of the land in question, it was agreed that the Trustees would agree to sell the fill material required and that the payment would be made for the material on the basis of appraised price of the land to be filled; and that the purchase price of $480.00 per acre (plus the advertising costs) will in addition to paying for the acquisition of the bay bottom land, also include the necessary fill from the bay bottom in front of the property in sufficient quantity to fill the acquired land to grade. Thereafter the corporation paid [881]*881for the land, which included the appraised value of the fill material.

The trial court held an extended hearing and thereafter entered its final judgment, in which the judge cited some ten pages of findings and reasons upon which to premise his judgment. The adjudicative portion of the Order was as follows:

“It is, therefore, ADJUDGED:
“1. The plaintiff has the lawful right to dredge material from the areas indicated on the application for a dredge and fill permit and to use such material to fill its privately owned submerged land indicated on such application for a period of time consisting of 223 days beginning on the day this judgment becomes final by the expiration of the time of appeal, or the filing of the mandate of an Appellate Court affirming this judgment, whichever is the later date.
“2. Plaintiff has not shown a legal right to a permit to dredge from public bottoms in excess of the rights outlined in paragraph 1 supra.
“3. Upon proper application it would be the legal duty of the Trustees to grant plaintiff a permit to fill its privately owned submerged land, purchased from the Trustees, by use of materials from other sources.”

Prior to oral argument of this cause before this Court, the Appellee filed a motion to correct the judgment, as follows:

“Under the terms and provisions of the final judgment rendered by the lower court in this cause the appellee (plaintiff) was adjudged to have ‘the lawful right to dredge material from the areas indicated on the application for a dredge and fill permit and to use such material to fill its privately owned submerged land indicated on such application for a period of time consisting of 223 days beginning on the day this judgment becomes final by the expiration of the time of appeal, or the filing of the mandate of an Appellate Court affirming this judgment, whichever is the later date.’
“Final hearing in the court below occurred on March 3, 1970. At the time of submission of said cause to the lower court, a permit to dredge the area referred to in said judgment was awarded by the United States Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers, as a matter of course upon the receipt of an approval of such dredging by the Trustees of the Internal Improvement Fund. At that time the Corps of Engineers granted such permit to dredge as a mere formality when it appeared that such dredging would not interfere with navigation. As shown by the record in this cause the Corps had determined that the dredging of the area described in the judgment would not interfere with navigation and it had granted a permit to dredge, which permit is dated the 12th day of November, 1965, but which has now expired. (See Exhibit LL).
“After the submission of this cause to the lower court, and on April 3, 1970, the United States Congress passed Public Law 91-224, Section 1171 of which prohibited the United States Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers from granting a permit to dredge unless and until the Department of Air and Water Pollution Control of the State of Florida issued a certificate authorizing said dredging. A true copy of said Act is hereto attached, marked Exhibit A, and made a part hereof. The refusal of the State to issue said certificate requires the United States Department of Army Corps of Engineers to decline the issuance of a dredging permit.
“After the passage of the Public Law 91-224, the State of Florida, Department of Air and Water Pollution Control issued its notice and its certification information, a true copy of which is here[882]*882to attached and marked Exhibit B and made a part hereof which outlines the conditions and the requirements imposed upon the Appellee in order to procure a certification, which is essential before the Corps of Engineers will accept an application for the issuance of a dredging permit.
“The acts and conduct of the State and Federal Governments which occurred subsequent to the submission of this cause on final hearing to the lower court will deprive the Appellee of the benefit of the judgment rendered by the lower court in which it was intended that the Appellee would receive 223 clear days within which to accomplish the dredging authorized by said judgment for the reason that the procedures required of the Appellee in order to procure certification from the State and a Federal permit will consume a major portion, if not all, of said 223 days, if the running of said days commences from the day of the final determination of this cause in the Courts of Florida. The appellee cannot make application for its permit to the Corps of Engineers until a favorable and final determination of this litigation has occurred.
“Thus, subsequent to the rendition of the judgment the procedures adopted both by the Federal and State Governments in connection with the issuance of a permit by the United States Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers, has been radically changed and the time required to acquire a permit has been lengthened to the point where the State and Federal authorities can through the natural delays provided by their present procedure, require of the appellee more than 223 days to acquire the Corps of Engineers’ permit. This would defeat the judgment of the lower court and deny to the appellee the rights assured to it by the said judgment.
“Wherefore, in the event the District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1st District, affirms the judgment of the lower court, the appellee respectfully moves that the mandate issued upon such af-firmance provide that the 223 day period accorded to the appellee as its period to dredge, as set forth in the judgment, shall begin to run on the day of the issuance of the permit by the United States Department of Army, Corps of Engineers and not on the day the judgment becomes final. See § 59.34, F.S.”

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Related

Berkley v. State Department of Environmental Regulation
347 So. 2d 467 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1977)
Askew v. Gables By The Sea, Inc.
258 So. 2d 822 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1972)

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Bluebook (online)
251 So. 2d 880, 1971 Fla. App. LEXIS 6218, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kirk-v-gables-by-sea-inc-fladistctapp-1971.