MONROE COUNTY PREVAILS IN APPEAL OF TRIAL COURT RULING REGARDING GROWTH MANAGEMENT LAWS

​KEY LARGO, FL – In a major opinion, the Third District Court of Appeal rejected and reversed a trial court ruling that interpreted various state agriculture laws affecting development regulation in the Florida Keys. The appellate court unanimously held that the claims against Monroe County environmental and land use protections were too abstract to justify Circuit Court Judge Timothy J. Koenig’s declaratory judgment invalidating all such laws regulating development in the Florida Keys. The appeals court’s decision puts to rest a potentially destabilizing legal challenge and ruling that could have paved the way for unregulated development in the Keys.
 
The case stemmed from a lawsuit against the county by Sunset Garden Estate Land Trust and two other artificial entities controlled by Jonathan Simpson, which alleged that a hodgepodge of laws dealing with agriculture preempted all growth management laws regulating development in the Florida Keys. Simpson has also sued and remains in separate litigation with the Monroe County Property Appraiser’s Office regarding the same property at 93930 Overseas Highway in Tavernier/Key Largo.
 
“This decision preserves Monroe County’s ability to continue its legislatively enacted regulations of development that safeguard the Florida Keys’ delicate and vulnerable environmental resources of statewide importance,” said Assistant County Attorney Peter Morris.
 
The Florida Keys are the State of Florida’s only countywide Area of Critical State Concern, a special legal designation for an area that contains environmental or natural resources of statewide importance. The circuit court’s judgment raised concerns about undermining critical laws that were carefully considered and passed by the Monroe County Board of County Commissioners at noticed public hearings and then approved by the State of Florida to protect the fragile ecosystem and distinct community character of the Florida Keys.
 
“The appellate court’s pivotal ruling ensures that Monroe County’s growth management laws remain fully enforceable,” said Morris. “The Monroe County Board of County Commissioners has worked tirelessly to ensure responsible growth management that legislatively reflects the community’s values.”

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