St. Johns River Water Management District v. Koontz

77 So. 3d 1220, 36 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 623, 2011 Fla. LEXIS 2617, 2011 WL 5218306
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedNovember 3, 2011
DocketNo. SC09-713
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 77 So. 3d 1220 (St. Johns River Water Management District v. Koontz) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
St. Johns River Water Management District v. Koontz, 77 So. 3d 1220, 36 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 623, 2011 Fla. LEXIS 2617, 2011 WL 5218306 (Fla. 2011).

Opinions

LEWIS, J.

This case is before the Court for review of the decision of the Fifth District Court of Appeal in St. Johns River Water Management District v. Koontz, 5 So.3d 8 (Fla. 5th DCA 2009) (Koontz IV). In its decision, the Fifth District construed provisions of the state and federal constitutions. The district court also certified a question to be of great public importance, which we have rephrased as follows:

DO THE FIFTH AMENDMENT TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION AND ARTICLE X, SECTION 6(a) OF THE FLORIDA CONSTITUTION RECOGNIZE AN EXACTIONS TAKING UNDER THE HOLDINGS OF NOLLAN V. CALIFORNIA COASTAL COMMISSION, 483 U.S. 825 [107 S.Ct. 3141, 97 L.Ed.2d 677] (1987), AND DOLAN V. CITY OF TIGARD, 512 U.S. 374 [114 S.Ct. 2309, 129 L.Ed.2d 304] (1994), WHERE THERE IS NO COMPELLED DEDICATION OF ANY INTEREST IN REAL PROPERTY TO PUBLIC USE AND THE ALLEGED EXACTION IS A NON LAND-USE MONETARY CONDITION FOR PERMIT APPROVAL WHICH NEVER OCCURS AND NO PERMIT IS EVER ISSUED? [1]

We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(3)-(4), Fla. Const.

We rephrase the certified question to reflect that the issue presented by this case is controlled by the existing interpretation of the United States Constitution by the United States Supreme Court. This Court has previously interpreted the takings clause of the Fifth Amendment and the takings clause of the Florida Constitution coextensively. See, e.g., Tampa-Hillsborough County Expressway Auth. v. A.G.W.S. Corp., 640 So.2d 54, 58 (Fla.1994) (“We acknowledge that in striking down the offending portion of the statute in Joint Ventures, we referred to the takings clauses of our state and federal constitutions.”); Joint Ventures, Inc. v. Dep’t of Transp., 563 So.2d 622, 623 (Fla.1990) (“We answer the question in the affirmative, finding those subsections invalid as a violation of the fifth amendment to the United States Constitution and article X, section 6(a) of the Florida Constitution.”). We also rephrase the question to address the two actual factors to which the doctrine of exactions was expanded by the Fifth District-application of the doctrine to an alleged exaction that does not involve the dedication of an interest in or over real property; and application of the doctrine where an exaction does not occur and no permit is issued by the regulatory entity.

[1223]*1223For the reasons expressed below, we answer the rephrased question in the negative and quash the decision under review.

BACKGROUND

This case has an extended procedural history. Prior to the issuance of the decision that is currently before the Court, issues related to the regulation of this property were before the Fifth District Court of Appeal on three occasions. During the first appeal, the Fifth District reversed a determination by the trial court that the claim of Coy A. Koontz, Sr. (Mr. Koontz) was not ripe for adjudication and remanded the matter for a trial on whether the actions of the St. Johns River Water Management District (St. Johns) effected a taking of Mr. Koontz’s property. See Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Mgmt. Dist., 720 So.2d 560, 562 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998) (Koontz I), review denied, 729 So.2d 394 (Fla.1999). After the trial court determined that a taking had occurred, St. Johns twice attempted to appeal that determination, but the Fifth District dismissed both appeals, concluding that the orders issued by the trial court did not constitute final orders or appealable non-final orders. See St. Johns River Water Mgmt. Dist. v. Koontz, 861 So.2d 1267, 1268 (Fla. 5th DCA 2003) (Koontz II); St. Johns River Water Mgmt. Dist. v. Koontz, 908 So.2d 518, 518 (Fla. 5th DCA 2005) (Koontz III). After the trial court entered a judgment assessing damages in favor of Coy A. Koontz, Jr., as personal representative of the Estate of Mr. Koontz, St. Johns filed an appeal to review that judgment. See Koontz IV, 5 So.3d at 8.

The decision resulting from that appeal in Koontz TV provides the following background:

This case involves á landowner, Mr. Koontz, who, in 1994, requested permits from [St. Johns] so that he could develop a greater portion of his commercial property than was authorized by existing regulation.... Based on the permit denial, Mr. Koontz brought an inverse condemnation claim asserting an improper “exaction” by [St. Johns].
In the most general sense, an “exaction” is a condition sought by a governmental entity in exchange for its authorization to allow some use of land that the government has otherwise restricted. Even though the government may have the authority to deny a proposed use outright, under the exactions theory of takings jurisprudence, it may not attach arbitrary conditions to issuance of a permit.
In relating the circumstances giving rise to this case, the trial court explained:
The subject property is located south of State Road 50, immediately east of the eastern extension of the East-West Expressway in Orange County. The original plaintiff, Coy Koontz, has owned the subject property since 1972. In 1987, a portion of the original acreage[2] adjacent to Highway 50 was condemned, leaving Mr. Koontz with 14.2 acres. There is a 100-foot wide transmission line easement of Florida Power Corporation running parallel to and about 300 feet south of Highway 50, that is kept cleared and mowed by Florida Power....
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[1224]*1224All but approximately 1.4 acres of the tract lies within a Riparian Habitat Protection Zone (RHPZ) of the Econlockhatchee River Hydrological Basin and is subject to jurisdiction of the St. Johns River Water Management District.
In 1994, Koontz sought approval from [St. Johns] for a 3.7 acre development area adjacent to Highway 50, of which 3.4 acres were wetlands and .3 acres were uplands.

In his concurring opinion in Koontz II, Judge Pleus explained the positions [advanced] by the parties during the permit approval process:

Koontz proposed to develop 3.7 acres closest to Highway 50, back to and including the power line easement. In order to develop his property, he sought a management and storage of surface waters permit to dredge three and one quarter acres of wetlands. A staffer from St. Johns agreed to recommend approval if Koontz would deed the remaining portion of his property into a conservation area and perform offsite mitigation by either replacing culverts four and one-half miles southeast of his property or plug certain drainage canals on other property some seven miles away. Alternatively, St. Johns demanded that Koontz reduce his development to one acre and turn the remaining 14 acres into a deed-restricted conservation area. Koontz agreed to deed his excess property into conservation status but refused St. Johns’ demands for offsite mitigation or reduction of his development from three and seven-tenths acres to one acre. Consequently, St. Johns denied his permit applications.
Id. at 1269 (Pleus, J., concurring specially). In its orders denying the permits, [St. Johns] said that Mr.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
77 So. 3d 1220, 36 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 623, 2011 Fla. LEXIS 2617, 2011 WL 5218306, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/st-johns-river-water-management-district-v-koontz-fla-2011.