McGaw v. Metropolitan Dade County

529 So. 2d 1190, 13 Fla. L. Weekly 1704, 1988 Fla. App. LEXIS 3104, 1988 WL 73589

• Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida
• Decided: July 19, 1988
• Docket: No. 88-649
• Status: Published

Opinion

BASKIN, Judge.

Petitioner Michael McGaw urges this court to issue its writ of certiorari directing the circuit court to reverse the decision of the Dade County Commission [Commission]. In contravention of the Planning Director’s recommendation, the Commission rezoned¹ to commercial office use a 4.825 acre parcel designated in the master plan as residential.

Whether a proposed development project is consistent with a local comprehensive land use plan and all of its elements is tested on review by a standard of strict scrutiny; the burden is on the applicant for rezoning to show by competent and substantial evidence that the requested rezoning conforms to the legislative plan.

Machado v. Musgrove, 519 So.2d 629, 635 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987). We grant the petition for certiorari because the respondents have failed to carry this burden. “A neighborhood area study is a critical element of Dade County’s land use plan_” Machado, 519 So.2d at 635. Without it there are no legislative standards indicating the type and number of nonresidential uses allowed in a residential zone. Machado, 519 So.2d at 635. Here, the absence of such a neighborhood study mandates the granting of the petition.

Decision quashed; certiorari granted.

1 . Resolution no. 7-88-87.