Lost Tree Village Corp. v. United States

92 Fed. Cl. 711, 2010 WL 2197758
United States Court of Federal Claims·Decided May 27, 2010·No. No. 08-117C·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER1

LETTOW, Judge.

This action concerns a 4.99 acre tract of land, most of which is a wetland, known as “Plat 57,” bordering a cove on the Indian River near the Atlantic Ocean in east central Florida. Plaintiff, Lost Tree Village Corporation (“Lost Tree”), sought a wetlands fill permit for Plat 57, which the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) denied on August 9, 2004. Lost Tree claims that the denial of its permit application eliminated all [712] economically viable use of Plat 57 and constituted a taking in contravention of the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment. Early in the parties’ steps to prepare this regulatory takings case for resolution, they recognized that the key issue centers on defining the relevant parcel of property. To address that salient aspect of the case, Lost Tree has filed a motion for partial summary judgment respecting the proper parcel or parcels of land to be considered in the takings analysis, and the government has responded with a cross-motion on that issue.

Acknowledging that the proper-parcel issue is highly fact-dependent, the parties have submitted extensive joint stipulations of fact accompanied by voluminous documentary exhibits.2 Accordingly, the question before the court is whether the detailed factual stipulations provide a sufficient background to decide the proper-parcel issue. A hearing on the cross-motions was held on March 25, 2010, during which the court received a detailed explanation of maps and plats that had been included in the parties’ submissions. At this juncture, the disputed issue has been submitted for decision on a paper record; the court has neither heard testimony nor visited the pertinent lands.

BACKGROUND3

Formed in 1956 as a Florida corporation, Lost Tree was for a considerable period of time a land-development enterprise. Stip. ¶¶ 1-2. During the 1960s, Lost Tree developed Lost Tree Village, a residential community on approximately 450 acres located east of North Palm Beach, Florida. Stip. ¶ 3.

A. Land Acquisition

In 1968, Lost Tree shifted its development northward and entered into an option agreement (the “1968 Option Agreement” or “Option Agreement”) with the descendants of Fred R. Tuerk to purchase approximately 2,750 acres of property on the mid-Atlantic coast of Florida in Indian River County, near Vero Beach. Stip. ¶¶ 7-8, Ex. A (1968 Option Agreement (Oct. 8, 1968)). The lands subject to the 1968 Option Agreement were located in the general area of the Town of Indian River Shores and relatively near the City of Vero Beach, and were comprised of various parcels, many of which were not contiguous to the largest tract. The Option Agreement covered (1) land on an unnamed barrier island (“Barrier Island”) on the Atlantic coast, which island is bisected by U.S. Highway A-l-A, (2) a westerly peninsula of the Barrier Island known as the “Island of John’s Island” bordering the Indian River, (3) various other islands in the Indian River, including Gem Island, and (4) upland tracts bordering and near the Indian River, as well as submerged lands. Stip. ¶ 9.4 The Option Agreement separated the parcels into nine separate conveyances, Conveyances “A” through “I,” allowing for the purchases of the property through the exercise of the various options. Stip. Ex. A at LTVC015324 (1968 Option Agreement).

In February 1969, Lost Tree exercised the first of what would be six options pursuant to the 1968 Option Agreement. Stip. ¶ 12. That option covered conveyances “A” and “B” which were located on both sides of U.S. Highway A-l-A on the Barrier Island immediately adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean. Stip. ¶ 21; Plaintiffs Proposed Findings of Uncon-troverted Fact (“PFUF”) ¶ 21. Between November 1971 and August 1974, Lost Tree exercised options five additional times to acquire the remaining property covered by the 1968 Option Agreement. Stip. ¶ 13. The five additional transactions are reflected in a series of deeds recorded in the Official Books of the office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Indian River County, Florida which bear the following dates: February 5, 1970; November 5, 1971 (corrected December 6, 1971 and January 10, 1972); September 7, 1972; [713] September 7, 1973; and August 12, 1974. Stip. ¶¶ 12-13. The last exercised option related to so-called Conveyance “C” and encompassed a significant portion of the Island of John’s Island, including Plat 57, the tract involved in the permit denial engendering Lost Tree’s takings claim, Stip. ¶ 14, and Conveyance “D” which concerned Gem Island. Stip. ¶ 28.

B. Development of the Community of John’s Island

Although the 1968 Option Agreement mentions a “tentative land development plan depicting the Optionee’s proposed development of all of the land that extends from the Indian River to the Atlantic Ocean plus the lands comprising John’s Island,” Stip. Ex. A at LTVC015300, no overall development plan for the various properties involved with the 1968 Option Agreement has been found. Stip. ¶ 17. Beginning in 1969, and continuing until roughly the mid-1990s, a span of approximately 25 years, roughly half of the 2,750 acres covered by the 1968 Option Agreement was developed on a segmented basis involving many separate plats into what ultimately became a gated residential community known as “John’s Island,” Stip. ¶ 18, although most knowledgeable people in the vicinity would consider that the community of John’s Island includes parcels which were neither covered by the 1968 Option Agreement nor ever owned by Lost Tree. Stip. ¶¶ 19-20.

The first property Lost Tree developed was that covered by Conveyances “A” and “B” on the Barrier Island, purchased in February 1969 in the first of the six options. Stip. ¶21. The initial development on the Barrier Island was platted with the Town of Indian River Shores in March 1969 as “John’s Island Plat 1,” and consisted of the South Golf Course, condominiums, golf cottages, and homes in the vicinity of the South Golf Course. Stip. ¶ 23. Lost Tree also developed the infrastructure for the Barrier Island property, including streets, utilities, sewage systems, and a sewage treatment facility. Stip. ¶ 22. Lost Tree’s development of the Barrier Island continued until the mid-1980s, and eventually included two golf courses located west of Highway A-l-A (Lost Tree built a second golf course in 1970), a beach club on the Atlantic Coast, golf cottages, a private hotel facility, and about 800 individual dwelling units. Stip. ¶ 24. In the course of its development of the Barrier Island, Lost Tree recorded approximately 45 different plats on the Barrier Island. Stip. ¶ 25. The plats covered proposed homesite or condominium “lots” as well as other adjacent property such as wetlands or submerged lands, generally either referred to as “tracts” or as conservation easements. Stip. ¶ 27.

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Lost Tree Village Corp. v. United States, 92 Fed. Cl. 711, 2010 WL 2197758 (uscfc 2010).

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