Court slaps down Palmetto Bay's zoning appeal -- more units for Old Cutler Road

DENIED.  The Third District Court of Appeals ruled against the Village of Palmetto Bay.  Having lost - badly - in the efforts on appeal (review via Petitions for Cert for those who want to be sticklers for technicalities) - does the Village have any bargaining power left to negotiate?  

Read the Order released Wednesday, December 13, 2023.

What Could Have Been

The PBVC issue predates the incorporation of Palmetto Bay.  I was in negotiation prior to December 5, 2018.  At that time, the owners of Palmetto Bay Village Center had agreed to preserve the environmentally sensitive land at the front of the property and construct a number that would have been not "the 485,"but rather, a representative for the PBVC offered a compromise number of 450 - 470. I contend that this was their starting point in these negotiations and the unit numbers would have dropped lower.  The representative for the PBVC also mentioned in 2018 that negotiations had been ongoing for 200 -- half of the units -- to be Senior housing units. That's a HUGE offer in regard to traffic reduction.

See: Tuesday, October 16, 2018, About last night (Mon. 10/15/2018) - I continue to work for you to reduce development. The council votes best tell the story.

What Is Now?

Now, after years of expensive litigation, the Palmetto Bay Village Center has won the right to construct a much larger project -- with commercial units in addition to a larger number of residential units. The Village's refusal to negotiate (because, presumably, they wanted to be seen as taking a tough stance against development) has led to massive increases in development. 

What was being contested (a lengthy tortured history):

Palmetto Bay held three different hearings to get to an inartfully crafted resolution denying the zoning application of the Palmetto Bay Village Center. These hearings were held October 18, 2021, November 15, 2021 and January 24, 2022.  The Village spent months preparing the final order (it was not rushed).  The order denying the zoning application was not signed until March 2, 2022.

The applicants (the owners of the Palmetto Bay Village Center - referred to in the litigation as 17777 Old Cutler Road, LLC.  Filed two actions on April 1, 2022 to contest the denial. :

17777 OLD CUTLER ROAD, LLC, VS VILLAGE OF PALMETTO BAY
Case number: 2022-006141-CA-01
and
17777 OLD CUTLER ROAD, LLC VS VILLAGE OF PALMETTO BAY, FLORIDA ET AL
Case number: 2022-000012-AP-01  (the case discussed in this post)

See PRIOR RELATED POSTS

Things did not go well for the Village of Palmetto Bay before the Appellate Division of the 11th Circuit Court.

The Appellate Division ruled against Palmetto Bay in a strongly worded 31 page opinion that reversed the denial of the PBVC zoning decision.

Palmetto Bay officials sought a rehearing of the opinion, but fared no better in a revised, but just as lengthy 31 page opinion released July 5, 2023.

Feel free to download and review these two opinions.  The opinions in these appeals should be required reading to learn how to follow the law versus denial for the sake of political gain.

The Palmetto Bay Village Center won rounds 2 A & B [the first level "appeal, original opinion (2 A) and rehearing (2 B)].

Palmetto Bay now was tasked with appealing. Its Petition for Writ of Certiorari was filed before the 3rd DCA contesting the Opinion of the Appellate Division of July 5, 2023, which reversed the Village Resolution 2022-05 denying the application. 

The legal grandstanding has floundered. The legal efforts have served only as an expensive waste of tax payer dollars meant more for political grandstanding than actually impacting the Palmetto Bay Village Center application.  It is time to get back to negotiation.

Why did this current mayor - and the current council - refuse to negotiate? Are they scared or simply unskilled?

The representative for the PBVC also mentioned in 2018 that negotiations had been ongoing for 200 half of the units -- to be Senior housing units. That's a HUGE offer in regard to traffic reduction.

See: Tuesday, October 16, 2018, About last night (Mon. 10/15/2018) - I continue to work for you to reduce development. The council votes best tell the story.

More ready about the facts, accurate history and exposing the outright lies relating the the current fix that the current mayor and counsel find themselves in (to be rescued by taxpayer dollars) -See January 27, 2020, Fact Checking the Palmetto Bay Village Center issue. Facts, not conjured up rumors and outright lies. The facts about the Palmetto Bay Village Center. Its not 485, its never been 485.

Final thoughts (a bit silly, but it makes the point):   My advice to the current Mayor, Council Members and Staff: ‘when in a hole (and mayor, you are deep in this hole) STOP DIGGING!’ See the Law of Holes.

From Wikipedia:

When it is said, "if you find yourself in a hole, stop digging," it is because digging a hole makes it deeper and therefore harder to get out of. More generally, the adage advises how one should solve problems of their own making.

The second law of holes is commonly known as: "when you stop digging, you are still in a hole."

I am here to help.