Let Miami Beach Decide v. City of Miami Beach

120 So. 3d 1282, 2013 WL 5289012, 2013 Fla. App. LEXIS 14971
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedSeptember 20, 2013
DocketNo. 3D13-2243
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 120 So. 3d 1282 (Let Miami Beach Decide v. City of Miami Beach) 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
Let Miami Beach Decide v. City of Miami Beach, 120 So. 3d 1282, 2013 WL 5289012, 2013 Fla. App. LEXIS 14971 (Fla. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

LOGUE, J.

Let Miami Beach Decide, a Florida Political Committee (“the Political Committee”), appeals a declaratory judgment entered in favor of the City of Miami Beach and SBACE, LLC. The dispute concerns two ballot questions relating to section 1.03(b)(2) of the Miami Beach Charter (“the Charter Provision”).

The Charter Provision provides that the lease of certain properties in the vicinity of the Miami Beach Convention Center for ten years or longer must be approved by a majority vote of the voters in a City-wide referendum. The first ballot question at issue (“the charter amendment question”) is the result of a citizen’s initiative. It proposes an amendment to the Charter Provision to increase the required voter approval from fifty to sixty percent. The second ballot question at issue (“the lease approval question”) is a referendum placed on the ballot by the City. It asks the voters to approve, pursuant to the Charter Provision, a lease of certain properties to SBACE for ninety-nine years. However, the final terms of the SBACE lease have not been negotiated and the lease approval question as written does not allow the voters to learn, much less approve, material terms necessary to form a lease of real estate, such as amount of rent and an adequate description of the property being leased.

The focus of this case is whether the City framed the ballot questions in a manner that accurately communicates their true effect as required by section 101.161, Florida Statutes (2013). The apparent purpose of the lease approval question is to obtain voter approval of the lease as required by the Charter Provision. The lease approval question as written, however, does not fulfill this function. To approve a lease under the Charter Provision, the voters must be given notice of the material terms of the lease they are being asked to approve. Because the lease approval question fails to give voters this necessary information, by including such information or referring voters to records providing such information, it does not qualify as a proper ballot question to obtain voter approval of a lease. Because its true effect is different from its apparent effect, the lease approval question is confusing and violates the requirement of ballot clarity and accuracy established by section 101.161. For this reason, the lease approval question must be removed from the ballot.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In March 2011, the City Commission adopted a resolution that endorsed the [1285]*1285concept of renovating and expanding the Miami Beach Convention Center, including the development of an adjacent hotel (“the convention center project”). The City Commission subsequently authorized the City Administration to issue a request for qualifications from developers. The request for qualifications was structured as a two-phased process, with phase one designated as the evaluation and selection process, and phase two designated as the negotiations process.

In April 2013, the Political Committee was formed. On July 2, 2013, the Miami-Dade County Elections Department issued a certificate finding that the Political Committee had obtained the requisite number of signatures to place the following charter amendment on a City ballot:

Sec. 1.03. — Powers of city.
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(b) Alienability of property.
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2. The sale, exchange, conveyance or lease of ten years or longer of the following properties shall also require approval by a majority vote of the voters in a City-wide referendum: (1) Lots West of the North Shore Open Space Park: All City-owned property bounded by 87th Street on the North, Collins Avenue on the East, 79th Street on the South, and Collins Court on the West; (2) Cultural Campus: All City-owned property bounded by 22nd Street on the North, Park Avenue on the West, 21st Street on the South, and Miami Beach Drive on the East; (3) 72nd Street Parking Lot: The City-owned surface parking lot bounded by 73rd Street on the North, Collins Avenue on the East, 72nd Street on the South, and Harding Avenue on the West; (4) Convention Center Parking Lots: All City owned surface parking lots-located-in-the Civic and' Convention Center District, generally bounded by -Lincoln Lane on the South, Washington Avenue-on the East, Meridian Avenue-on-the West and Dado Boulevard on the North; and (⅞4) Lincoln Road Parking Lots: All City-owned surface parking lots in the vicinity of Lincoln Road located within the area bounded by 17th Street on the North, Euclid Avenue on the East, 16th Street on the South, and West Avenue on the West.
3. The sale, exchange, conveyance or lease often years or longer of the following properties shall require approval by vote of at least sixty (60) percent of the City’s voters voting thereon in a Citywide referendum: (1) Convention Center Parking Lots: All City-owned surface parking lots located in the Civic and Convention Center District, generally bounded by Lincoln Lane on the South, Washington Avenue on the East, Meridian Avenue on the West and Dade Boulevard on the North; (2) Convention Center Campus: All City-oumed property, except for the Convention Center and Carl Fisher Club House, located within the Civic and Convention Center District (includes City Hall, 1701 Meridian Street, 555 17th Street, 21st Street Community Center, The Fillmore Miami Beach/Jackie Gleason Theater, and the 17th Street Parking Garage). All local laws, charter provisions and ordinances of the City in conflict with this provision are hereby repealed. This provision shall become effective immediately upon acceptance of the certification of election results by the City Commission.

In sum, the Political Committee’s charter amendment would require the lease for over ten years of certain property in the vicinity of the convention center be approved by sixty percent of the voters — as opposed to fifty percent of the voters. It also increased the properties subject to the [1286]*1286referendum process. The acknowledged goal of the Political Committee was to have the charter amendment apply to the approval of the convention center project before any long-term lease was signed.

On July 17, 2013, after numerous public hearings and extensive public debate, the City Commission approved the selection of SBACE as the master developer for the convention center project. As part of the same resolution, the Commission directed the City Manager to negotiate a term sheet, development agreement, and ground leases for the project and submit them for approval by the Commission at a future date. The basis for the negotiations was a detailed letter of intent submitted by SBACE, consisting of over one hundred and fifty pages, which incorporated a proposed master plan for the project. By its terms, however, the letter of intent is “not intended to limit, and does not limit, any and all terms and conditions that may be incorporated into the final documents.” Among the issues to be negotiated are the amount of rent to be paid, the exact dimension of the property to be leased, the height of the air rights to be conveyed, and the nature of other consideration to be provided by the parties.

Two days later, the City Commission scheduled a November 5, 2013, special election for the purpose of presenting to the City’s electorate the two ballot measures.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
120 So. 3d 1282, 2013 WL 5289012, 2013 Fla. App. LEXIS 14971, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/let-miami-beach-decide-v-city-of-miami-beach-fladistctapp-2013.