Petition
for Writ of Certiorari to Review Quasi-Judicial Action: Agencies, Boards, and
Commissions of Local Government: ZONING
– Site Plan Application – testimony of neighbors – as site plan
application met all Code criteria, burden shifted to the City to demonstrate
that the application did not meet Code standards and was adverse to the public
interest – City departed from essential requirements of law in denying
application solely upon neighbors’ concerns about dust, noise, and the
possibility of business creating carcinogenic material – no competent
substantial evidence in the record to support these concerns – Petition
granted. SAC Chic, LLC v. City of
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE SIXTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT
IN AND
APPELLATE DIVISION
SAC CHIC, LLC,
Petitioner,
vs. Appeal No.06-0059AP-88A
UCN522006AP000059XXXXCV
CITY OF
corporation,
Respondent.
__________________________________________/
THIS CAUSE came before the Court on the Petition for Writ of Certiorari, the Response and the Reply. Upon consideration of the same and being otherwise fully advised, the Court finds that the Petition must be granted as set forth below.
The Petitioner, SAC Chic, LLC (SAC),
seeks review of the decision of the City Council, City of
The record shows that SAC owns real property located at
On May 31, 2006, SAC filed its
Application on behalf of its tenant, Surface Technology Corporation (STC), a
company that fabricates countertop products,[3]
requesting a major amendment to the Pinebrook Industrial Complex Master Plan,
IPUD, and Preliminary Site Plan approval.
SAC sought to change the use of the property from wholesale/warehouse to
light manufacturing to allow outdoor storage for granite, the installation
of a 12’ x 14’ door on the east side of the building, and the installation of mechanical equipment on
the north side of the building. Pursuant
to the City’s Code, Section 18-1506.23, subsection C., Preliminary Site Plan
approval by the City Council was required since SAC’s commercial property is
located in an M-1 zoning district and is abutted by residential property.
After conducting an in-depth staff analysis,
the City’s Zoning Division found that the Application met and conformed to all
the City’s Code requirements. The staff
analysis provides, under II.D., that the Zoning Division requested input from
twelve of the City’s departments. The
Assistant City Manager requested that the dust collector system be moved
indoors to eliminate noise and the Community Planning Department had no
objection provided that there would be appropriate buffering and all
manufacturing impacts would be contained in the building. The remaining departments either did not
object or had no comment. In response to
the two suggestions, SAC agreed to move all mechanical equipment inside,
including the dust collection system,[4] and
committed to install an 8-foot masonry solid wall along the north side of the
property in addition to the existing 50-foot wide buffer, retention pond, and
shrubbery. The record shows that the
building that would house the dust collector system was constructed with
10-foot block walls, that the ceilings were insulated, and that the fabrication
area inside the building was either 80 or 120 feet from the nearest door, on
the east side of the building, where sand or dust could emanate.
The
City’s Zoning Director, in the Agenda Memorandum, dated August 24, 2006,
recommended approval of the Application, citing the approval of the Application
by the City’s Planning and Zoning Commission on August 3, 2006.[5] After a hearing on the matter in which the
City Council considered evidence presented by the parties and the testimony of
numerous individuals, the City Council voted to deny the Application. In a letter, dated August 25, 2006, the
Zoning Director informed SAC that it’s Application had been denied without
setting for specific reasons for the denial.[6] SAC filed its Petition for Writ of Certiorari
before this Court seeking review of the City Council’s decision.
SAC
argues that the City’s actions failed to satisfy procedural due process and that
the City’s decision to deny SAC’s site plan Application departs from the
essential requirements of law and is not supported by competent substantial
evidence. Initially, the Court
reiterates that the standard of review requires this Court to establish
whether SAC was afforded procedural due process, whether the essential
requirements of law were observed and whether the City’s decision is supported
by competent substantial evidence. See
Haines City Community Development v. Heggs, 658 So.2d 523, 530 (
In determining whether the City
observed the essential requirements of law, the Court must consider whether an
error occurred and, if so, whether such error resulted in a gross miscarriage
of justice. See Haines,
658 So.2d at 527; see also Housing Authority of the City of Tampa v.
Burton, 874 So.2d 6, 8 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004)(explaining that in determining
whether there has been a departure from the essential requirements of law, the
appellate court “should not be as concerned with the mere existence of legal
error as much as with the seriousness of the error”). In evaluating the last prong of review,
competent substantial evidence has been described as evidence that is
“sufficiently relevant and material that a reasonable mind would accept it as
adequate to support the conclusion reached.”
See Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles v. Trimble,
821 So.2d 1084, 1087 (
Accordingly, the Court finds that there is nothing in the record to support SAC’s general allegation that it was denied procedural due process. The record shows that SAC was afforded notice and a meaningful opportunity to be heard. Rather, SAC’s arguments focus on whether the City Council departed from the essential requirements of law in failing to adhere to its Code and whether there is competent substantial evidence in the record to support the City Council’s decision to deny its Application.
The
City’s Code sets forth several criteria which must be met before a Preliminary
Site Plan can be approved. See
Code Sec. 18-1506.23(C)-(I). As provided
in Code Section 18-1506(I)6, the City Council may approve, approve with
conditions, or deny a Preliminary Site Plan application based on the standards
set forth in the Section. The City
Council must adhere to the requirements of its Code, which is subject to the
same rules of construction as statutes. See
Rinker Materials Corp. v. City of
In this case, the Court finds that SAC’s
proposed use of the property to make countertops is a permitted use within the
M-1 zoning classification, an area of the City that is designated
Industrial. The staff analysis states
that the proposed use is “Manufacturing and Outdoor Storage” and evaluates
SAC’s Application based on the criteria specified in Code Section 18-1506. As provided in Section 18-1506(C)1.(b), a
permitted use includes: “Light
Manufacturing, including Fabrication and Assembly, Production, Processing,
Cleansing, Testing, Manufacturing, or Repair, such as:…” While the list of possible permitted uses
under this category did not specifically state fabricating countertops, it is
clear that this industrial activity is fabrication and production as
contemplated under Light Manufacturing, particularly when the following
enumerated list includes such activities as woodworking, electrical manufacture
and assembly, machine shops for tool making, metal finishing, making products
from finished material such as plastic, and soldering and welding. The Court finds that the plain words of the
City’s Code provide that fabricating countertops is a permitted use within the
M-1 zoning district. See Gallagher,
supra.
The Court next finds that the City’s Code anticipates that, as an industrial area, there may be issues with air, water quality and noise. Section 18-1506(H), Performance Standards, states:
All uses shall be controlled to prevent the emission of smoke, particulate matter, odor, gasses, radiation, noise, vibration, or pollution of any kind. Industries shall comply with all applicable standards for air and water quality and noise regulations; in such cases where agency standards conflict, the most stringent standards apply.
The staff
analysis, as well as the City Attorney and the City’s Zoning and Planning
Commission, all found that the Application met Code Criteria and recommended
approval, indicating that there were no concerns that the business would
violate applicable standards. The record
supports that conclusion. Since SAC met
its initial burden of showing that the Preliminary Site Plan met all Code
criteria, the burden then shifted to the City to demonstrate, by competent
substantial evidence, that the application did not meet Code standards and was
adverse to the public interest.
In applying this burden-shifting analysis,[7] the Court finds that the only evidence in the Petitioner’s Appendix that may support the City’s decision to deny the Application is the transcript of the hearing.[8] In reviewing the transcript, there was no objection to the storage of the granite outside, no objection to the installation of a 12’ x 14’ door on the east side of the building, two of the three requests made by SAC in its Application. The third request, the exterior placement of a vacuum/dust collector system was modified by SAC in agreeing to move the machinery inside of the building.
The transcript reflects that the City Council denied the Application based on neighbors’ concerns about dust, noise, and the possibility that Corian may contain carcinogenic material. However, there is not competent substantial evidence in the record to support these concerns. It was undisputed that operations would occur exclusively inside the building and that the emission of dust or noise levels would not exceed those permitted by the City’s Code or State-mandated standards. Most of the neighbors’ testimony was along the line of “not in my back yard.” However, the fact remains that the City’s Code specifically designates this area as M-1 and Industrial.
Hence, while the City Council could
consider the lay opinions of the neighbors, the City Council could not rely
solely on their testimony without any supporting evidence. See Jesus Fellowship, Inc. v.
Lastly, the Court finds that the facts of this case are unlike like those in Board of County Commissioners of Pinellas County v. City of Clearwater, 440 So.2d 497 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983), in which the Second District concluded that lay testimony, by itself, can support the denial of a site application. In Board of County Commissioners, the applicable rules and regulations specifically provided that the governing authority had the right to deny a construction permit if it determined that such construction would “adversely affect the natural beauty and recreational advantages of the county.” There are no comparable rules and regulations, or code criteria, applicable in the case at bar, nor does this case involve ethereal factual matters.
The Court concludes that the City Council departed from the essential requirements of law and that its decision is not supported by competent substantial evidence. See Haines, 658 So.2d at 527. The City Council failed to demonstrate that the Application did not meet its Code requirements and that it was adverse to the public interest. See G.B.V. International, LTD, supra.
Therefore, it is,
ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that the Petition for Writ of Certiorari is granted and the City Council’s decision is quashed.
DONE AND ORDERED in Chambers, at
________________________________
R. TIMOTHY PETERS
Circuit Judge, Appellate Division
______________________________ ______________________________
GEORGE M. JIROTKA CYNTHIA J.
Circuit Judge, Appellate Division Circuit Judge, Appellate Division
Copies furnished to:
Aubrey O. Dicus, Jr., Esquire
Brian P. Battaglia, Esquire
Post Office Box 41100
James William Denhardt, Esquire
2700
[1] The City’s Code, Section 18-1508(A), explains that a Planned Unit Development District, or PUD, “serves as an overlay to existing zoning classifications” and, among other goals, is to provide a creative approach to the development of land located in the City. Section 18-1508(O), provides that the Industrial PUD, or IPUD, is a specific classification within the PUD and is only permitted in areas zoned either “M-1” or “IH.”
[2] The City’s Code, Section 18-1506.23(A), Statement of Intent, provides: “The ‘M-1’ Light Industrial District is established in order to identify and provide those geographic areas within the City of Pinellas Park that are appropriate for the development and maintenance of a light industrial environment, which does not create hazardous or other serious detrimental effects upon the public health in the surrounding areas. This district is intended primarily for a wide variety of industrial uses and compatible retail, whole, distributing operations, and in limited situations as provided in (B) below, single and multi-family dwellings, together with accessory uses and public facilities customary to or required for such environment.”
[3] The
record shows that STC has been a manufacturer of granite and Corian countertops
for over twenty years, with over 700 employees and 8 facilities in the
[4] The undisputed testimony provided that the dust collector system used to cut Corain, described as “fancy plastic,” would collect 99.99 % of the dust emanating from the machines. A wet machine is used to cut the granite, so that there is no emanation of dust.
[5] The City’s Attorney, who is representing the City before this Court, also recommended approval of the Application finding it to be legal sufficient.
[6] While written findings of fact and an order are preferred,
they are not required for certiorari review.
See Board of
[7] The City does not dispute that the burden-shifting analysis applies in this case.
[8] The City
did not file a supporting appendix, choosing instead to rely on the Appendix
filed by SAC. The record does not
contain pictures apparently submitted by one neighbor showing dust on a vehicle
at the SAC’s