Vested Rights & Temp Injunctions

The 2d DCA just released an opinion in a case involving whether rights could be vested in land use designations, site plan reviews and related approvals.



Charlotte County applied an "airport overlay" in its comp plan after it decided that it didn't like the way that a developer was planning to develop a long-standing industrial area around its private airport. Preliminary re-platting had been approved and a site plan meeting the then-current standards had been delayed from approval while the County worked to change the legislative/plan policies that applied.



The lower court entered a temporary injunction, then went on to grant permanent relief based on the hearing for the prelimary injuction. The 2d DCA upheld the preliminary injunction, but then held that the circuit court needed to hold a full trial on before making ultimate findings and entering a final judgment. As in the PM Reality v Tampa case (another entry), the core issue there is that findings sufficient to support (or reject) a temporary injunction are NOT ultimate findings on the merits: they don't bind the court in making or changing its findings based on a full trial, and can't be the basis of entering final judgment.



charlotte_v_Vetter.doc



On a side note, this case is also notable for the appearance of my friend Dave Smolker and his firm, who traditionally have defended private property owners in these kinds of cases, on behalf of the County.