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ARTICLE · 16 JANUARY 2025

Recent Court Decisions Highlight Zoning Enforcement Challenges

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The Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court, sitting in its appellate capacity, recently found in two similar cases that Miami-Dade County violated property owners' due process rights...

United StatesReal Estate and Construction
Joseph Kovecses
Joseph Kovecses
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The Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court, sitting in its appellate capacity, recently found in two similar cases that Miami-Dade County violated property owners' due process rights by citing them for code violations using incorrect zoning regulations.

Case Summaries

In RR 1 Developer, LLC v. Miami-Dade County Dept. of Regulatory and Economic Resources, Case No. 2023-60-AP-01, 32 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 195a (Fla. 11th Cir. June 25, 2024), the County cited a property owner for 47 code violations based on the property's agricultural future land use designation in the County's Comprehensive Plan. However, the property was fully compliant under its assigned industrial zoning district. The County argued that the Comprehensive Plan agricultural designation superseded the industrial zoning designation for code enforcement purposes. The Court disagreed, ruling that the zoning district, not the Comprehensive Plan, controls current property regulation and use. The Court clarified

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