A circuit court judge has ruled there is "no plausible explanation for the City’s erroneous interpretation" of the Fernandina Beach Land Development Code (LDC) and said a proposed plan for 8 townhouses on the Tringali property on south third street can only be considered by the Board of Adjustment.
Last June, neighbors of the Tringali property surrounded by the Fernandina Beach Historic District filed the petition for the Fourth Judicial Circuit Court to quash a city commission vote that allowed a developer to build townhouses on the property.
The neighbors, Merry Coalson, David Coalson and Taina Christner submitted the petition and formed an advocacy group called Stop the Domino Effect.
Judge Eric Roberson said in his order "The result of the Commission’s vote is that 8 parcels were combined into one lot and approved for building a multi-family structure. That action, per the Land Development Code, must be approved by the Board of Adjustment. Deference is not warranted where there is no plausible explanation for the City’s erroneous interpretation."
The judge ordered that "The Petition for Writ of Certiorari is GRANTED. The vote of the City Commission is quashed and this matter is remanded for a vote by the Board of Adjustment."
Christner hailed the ruling as a win for all citizens of Fernandina Beach.
“In my opinion, the city commission, city attorney, and director of planning and conservation used the full force of the city government to violate city law and to fight for developers against the citizens who stood up to their regretful choices. Citizens are demanding accountability as well as an apology for their wasting countless resources. This never would have happened if the City had followed its own laws from the start," she said.
Last May, after a nearly four-hour quasi-judicial hearing on the matter, Mayor Bradley Bean, Vice Mayor David Sturges and Commissioners Darron Ayscue and James Antun voted to approve the plat/replat application without citing examples of “competent substantial evidence” that it adhered to the city’s Comprehensive Plan and LDC.
City Attorney Tammi Bach Bach maintained during that meeting that the application approval process being used in this case — seeking commission approval rather than approval from the Board of Adjustment (BOA), which is the governing body that decides on applications for variances — did not violate LDC 1.03.05 because the developer was not requesting to restore the property’s 20 underlying lots of record.
LDC 1.03.05 requires that where a single-family detached residential unit exists, it constitutes one building site and must be considered the lot of record and no construction permit can be issued for more than one residential dwelling. Currently, the property has been combined into five lots of record. It also states that a “change from the foregoing provisions for the purpose of establishing building sites, or separation of building sites requires supermajority approval by the Board of Adjustment. …”
In today's ruling Roberson stated "The Court, even with the benefit of Respondents’ briefing and responses to questions at the hearing on this Petition, cannot find any plausible interpretation of the ‘subdivision’ section of the Land Development Code that applies to the actions at issue."
Commissioner Ayscue noted "I respect Judge Roberson’s decision and am appreciative that the judicial system worked as intended. The proposed subdivision was intended to have 12 units as a maximum. However, with the recent passage of “Live Local” and as we have seen a great deal of concern from the citizens of Fernandina Beach recently, the 0.65 acreage zoned mixed use on the property is eligible for 22 units of density as a “back of the envelope” calculation. The potential to greatly increase density in this area must be acknowledged."
During the May city commission meeting, attorney Harrison Poole maintained that LDC 4.04.00, which regulates subdivision or re-subdivision of land, “that’s what you have in this case. This is not restoring an underlying plat of lots, this is a new subdivision. So it is effectively destroying what the original lots were and replacing them,” he said.
But the court rejected that assertion ruling " The section on subdivisions, by its plain terms, cannot apply. Subdivision means the ‘division of a thing into smaller parts.’ Black’s Law Dictionary (11th Ed. 2019). Here, there were 8 separate parcels that were being combined into one building site in order to build a multi-family structure. Nothing was being divided into smaller parts. Even if this section could apply, it is commonly understood that more specific statutory requirements will control over general dictates. Here, the section regarding subdivisions – even if it was applicable – is a general scheme compared to the specific requirements of Section 1.03.05 that address the very situation in dispute."
Judge Roberson also noted that while courts should be reluctant to intercede in government decisions, "When there is a plausible, albeit wrong, interpretation of local codes, the Court must give substantial deference to the government’s interpretation. That does not mean, though, that the Court is a mere “rubber stamp” for any governmental action."
Ron Flick, CEO/Owner of the Compass Group, the developer of the project was not available for comment.
The Observer contacted Vice Mayor Sturges and City Commissioner Antun for comment, but received no response. Mayor Bradley Bean refused to comment.
The order is available to download below:
Commissioner Ayascue's characterization of the potential density increase on the proposed subdivision fails to provide a complete picture. While the Live Local Act indeed allows for increased density in mixed-use zoning districts - when affordable housing is supplied - conveniently omitted from the discussion is the fact that a significant portion of the lot, - more than half - specifically the 4th street side, is zoned R2 and thus not subject to Live Local provisions.
It is crucial to clarify that Live Local Act primarily applies to commercial, industrial, and mixed-use zones. The zoning on the 4th street side of the lot remains unaffected by Live Local.
Moreover, it's disconcerting to observe a recurring pattern of leveraging the Live Local…
Well there's a backhanded slap for attempting to circumvent the system if ever there was one. They will push it though, I suspect by jumping through hoops and applying pressure to the Board of Adjustment. It's a setback and a public embarrassment but sounds to me like that's all. They sure aren't going to let it go after buying up that land and this "insult" smarts too much to forego retaliation by the four who tried to sneak in under the tent flap without the right ticket.
Let it be explicitly stated that Commissioner Chip Ross is the only one that didn’t go along with this end run.
Does anyone else remember Mr Asycue suggesting the Commissioners do away with the Board of Adjustment because those poor folks (mostly contractors btw) have to pay a fee to appear before the BOA? He suggested those folks should just appear before the Commissioners. Tell their story of woe and receive an "Oh sure! Go ahead!" We can NOT let that brainiac suggestion appear again. Ever.