An opinion worth reading. In Galleon Bay Corp. v. Bd. of County Commissioners, No. 3D11-1296 (Dec. 5, 2012), the Florida District Court of Appeal (Third District), held that the trial court improperly applied the "investment-backed expectations" prong of the Penn Central factors, by not treating the parcels at issue separately from the plaintiff's other parcel which it had developed "decades earlier." The appeals court reversed the judgment for the County, and remanded the case, instructing the trial court to enter judgment in favor of the property owner and hold a trial on compensation. It's a long fact pattern with a relatively short opinion. Check it out.
Pay particular attention to note 9 on page 16, for a flavor of what just might have added to the court of appeals' determination that the law was on the property owner's side. The trial court initially ruled in favor of the property owners, but after that judge retired and was replaced by a different judge, things were "different" --
The motion to disqualify included the affidavits of both Galleon's principal, Ms. Vivienne Schleu, and its counsel, attorney James Mattson. Ms. Schleu’s affidavit stated in pertinent part:On January 30, 2006, during a hearing on the governments' motions for summary judgment ... before Chief Judge Richard Payne, I overheard an Assistant Monroe County Attorney make a statement to his defense colleagues, to the effect that the defendants could expect a different outcome from Judge Audlin ... that "things would be different" after Judge Payne retired. I believe he made the statements after Judge Payne made his oral rulings.In his affidavit, Mr. Mattson stated that he had overheard the same statements. Mr. Mattson also asserted that at a case management conference, Judge Audlin "intimated that he was prepared to reconsider all non-final orders rendered by Judge Payne." The State and the County filed motions for reconsideration of Judge Payne's prior order granting summary judgment on liability. Judge Audlin granted the motions for reconsideration and ultimately vacated the order granting summary judgment.
Slip op. at 16 n.9.
One final note: we appreciate the court incorporating three maps (see pages 3, 6, and 8) in the opinion. They help visualize the issues, and we wish more courts would do this.
Galleon Bay Corp. v. Bd. of County Commissioners of Monroe County, No. 3D11-1296 (Dec. 5, 2012)