Palm Partners, LLC v. City of Oakland Park

102 F. Supp. 3d 1334, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 56928, 2015 WL 1968799
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Florida
DecidedApril 30, 2015
DocketCase No. 1:14-cv-21242-KMM
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 102 F. Supp. 3d 1334 (Palm Partners, LLC v. City of Oakland Park) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Palm Partners, LLC v. City of Oakland Park, 102 F. Supp. 3d 1334, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 56928, 2015 WL 1968799 (S.D. Fla. 2015).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

K. MICHAEL MOORE, Chief Judge.

THIS CAUSE came before the Court upon Defendant City of Oakland Park’s Motion for Summary Judgment (the “Motion”) (ECF No. 73). Plaintiff Palm Partners, LLC filed a Response in Opposition to City of Oakland Park’s Motion for Summary Judgment (the “Response”) (ECF No. 81), and Defendant City of Oakland Park filed a Reply in Support of Motion for Summary Judgment (the “Reply”) (ECF No. 102). The Motion is now ripe for review.

For the reasons set forth below, Defendant City of Oakland Park’s Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED.

I. BACKGROUND

Palm Partners, LLC (“Palm Partners”) provides behavioral and mental health treatment services to people with disabilities. Compl. ¶ 6 (ECF No. 1). Together with its affiliates, Palm Partners owns and operates three treatment facilities in the State of Florida. Id. The City of Oakland Park (the • “City”) is located in Broward County, Florida.

A. The Property

On May 3, 2013, Palm Partners entered into a contract to purchase a combined 12.85 acres in the City (the “Property”). Def.’s Statement of Undisputed Material Facts in Support of Summ. J. (“Déf.’s SOF”) ¶ 1 (ECF No. 74); P1.’S Resp. to Def.’s Statement of Undisputed Material Facts in Support of Summ. J. (“PL’s SOF”) ¶ 1 (ECF No. 82). The Property is surrounded by a vacant lot and land zoned for single-family residential use to the north, medical offices to the south, land zoned for single-family residential (future commercial) use to the west, and a railway and an industrial warehouse to the east. See App. of PL’s Resp. in Opp’n to Def.’s Mot. for Summary J. (“Pl.App.”) Ex. 0101 (ECF No. 96). Up and until 2008, the Property was developed as the North Ridge Medical Center, a 396-bed acute care general hospital. Def.’s SOF ¶ 2. The Property, located in an area zoned for “Community Facilities” use, bears a Community Facilities zoning designation, Def.’s SOF .¶ 3, which applies to areas “which are in the. best interests of the public to be utilized for community facilities,” PLApp. Ex. 0138.

A property located in a Community Facilities zone does not have residential density to support residential use. See Def.’s SOF ¶ 15. Under the City’s comprehensive land use plan (the “Comprehensive Plan”),1 a property requires a certain amount of residential density before it can [1338]*1338be developed for residential purposes. See Motion at 4. Residential density may be allocated to a property in one of two ways: either through a-residential zoning designation, or through an alternate process that allows for the assignment of-residential reserve or flexibility units to the property at a density sufficient to support the proposed residential use. See Def.’s SOF ¶ 14. The City’s Unified Flex Zone Map identifies specific properties that are eligible to receive residential reserve or flexibility units (i.e., “receiving sites”) and 'specific properties that are not eligible, to receive such units (i.e., “non-receiving sites”). Id. ¶ 16. If a property is ineligible to receive residential density through either means, the City’s Comprehensive Plan or Unified Flex Zone Map must be amended to change the property’s zoning designation or demarcate it as a receiving site. See id. ¶¶ 14-17.

Because the Property is a non-receiving site zoned for Community Facilities use, the Property cannot receive residential density without amendment to the City’s Comprehensive Plan or Unified Flex Zone Map. See id.

B.Palm Partners Applies for Conditional Use of the Property

On November 21, 2013, Palm Partners submitted a conditional use application to develop the Property as a hospital. Pl.’s Statement of Additional Material Facts (‘-‘PL’s SOAF”) ¶1 (ECF No. 82); Def.’s SOF ¶ 4. The proposed facility, called the Northridge Behavioral Health Center, would offer behavioral and mental health services like substance abuse treatment, detoxification, and trauma resolution. Compl. ¶¶ 12-15. The application sought approval for up to 300 beds, with patients residing at the facility for thirty to ninety days, although a few residential-style apartments would be available for patients interested in staying longer. Id. ¶¶ 14, 34. On the application, Palm Partners stated that it intended to use the Property as a “hospital.” See Def.’s App. in Support of Mot. for Summ. J. (“Defi’s App.”) 2 (ECF No. 75).

C. City Staff Recommends Approval of Palm Partners’ Conditional Use Application

Palm Partners’ conditional use application was subject to a two-step review process. Initially, City staff, comprising representatives from various City departments and agencies, reviewed the application to facilitate consideration by the City Planning and Zoning Board and City Commission (the “City Commission” or “Commission”). Defi’s SOF ¶5. Based on Palm Partners’ representations; City staff analyzed the application for use of the Property as a hospital only, concluding that Palm Partners’ proposed use satisfied the requirements for conditional use as a hospital. Defi’s SOF ¶6. City staff prepared an agenda item report for the City Commission recommending approval of the application. See PL’s SOF ¶ 6; Def.’s SOF ¶ 6.

D. The City Commission Holds Public Hearings on Palm Partners’ Conditional Use Application

The City Commission held two public hearings on Palm Partners’ conditional use application, the first on February 19, 2014, and the second on March 5, 2014. PL’s SOF ¶ 7; Def.’s SOF ¶ 7. The Commission, made up of five city commissioners elected to four-year terms, is responsible for, among other things, reviewing and acting on zoning applications, including those for conditional use approval. Defi’s SOF ¶ 19.

The Commission was aware that the application specified that Palm Partners intended to use the Property as a hospital. See Def.’s App. 5 ¶ 6; -App. 6 ¶ 6; App.- 7 ¶ 6; App. 8 ¶ 6; App: 9 ¶ 6; see also Def.’s [1339]*1339App. 12 at 44:3-18. During the hearings, however, it became apparent to each commissioner that Palm Partners did not intend to develop the Property as a hospital; but rather as a residential treatment facility. See Def.’s App. 5 ¶ 6; App. 6 ¶ 6; App. 7 ¶ 6; App. 8 ¶ 6; App. 9 ¶ 6; see also App. 12 at 44:9-24. The hearings also revealed that none of Palm Partners’ other facilities in Florida are licensed as hospitals. See Def.’s App. 12 at 55:10-56:19.

The discrepancy between Palm Partners’ applied-for use of the Property as a hospital and its actual intended use as a residential treatment center became an area of concern for the Commission. See Def.’s App. 5 ¶ 6; App. 6 ¶¶ 6-7; App. 7 ¶¶ 6-7; App. 8 ¶¶ 6-7; App. 9 ¶¶ 6-7. The Commission pressed Palm Partners on the licenses it intended to apply for, see Def.’s App. 5 ¶ 6; App. 7 ¶ 7; App. 8 ¶ 7; App. 9 ¶ 7, with Palm Partners conceding that the facility would not be licensed as a hospital, see Def.’s App. 12 at 44:3-45:18.' When asked if it would agree'to obtain hospital licensure as a condition for approval of its application, Palm Partners agreed only to apply for one. See Def.’s App. 12 at 54:11-14.

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102 F. Supp. 3d 1334, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 56928, 2015 WL 1968799, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/palm-partners-llc-v-city-of-oakland-park-flsd-2015.