CITY OF TREASURE ISLAND, a municipality within Pinellas County, Florida, Appellant, v. TAHITIAN TREASURE ISLAND, LLC, a Florida limited liability company; PAGE TERRACE MOTEL, INC., a Florida corporation; CAIDAN ENTERPRISES, LLC, a Florida limited liability company; DAVID KING; ARTHUR CZYSZCZON; and KEVIN McINERNEY, Appellees.
Case No. 2D14-5406
IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF FLORIDA SECOND DISTRICT
October 27, 2017
NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE REHEARING MOTION AND, IF FILED, DETERMINED
Opinion filed October 27, 2017.
Appeal from the Circuit Court for Pinellas County; Pamela A.M. Campbell and Jack Day, Judges.
Kevin S. Hennessey and Jennifer R. Cowan of Lewis, Longman, & Walker, P.A., Bradenton, for Appellant.
Courtney L. Fernald and Leonard S. Englander of Englander Fischer, St. Petersburg, and Martha Collins of Collins Law Group, Tampa, for Appellees.
The City of Treasure Island appeals from a final summary judgment in favor of Tahitian Treasure Island, LLC; Page Terrace Motel, Inc.; Caidan Enterprises, LLC; David King; Arthur Czyszczon; and Kevin McInerney (collectively, the Hoteliers). The dispute centers on claims by the Hoteliers that the City allows and hosts driving and parking on Treasure Island Beach in connection with festivals and public events in violation of
As we explain below, we find no error in the trial court‘s decision that the manner in which the City hosts public parking at the events that are the subject of the Hoteliers’ complaint involves vehicular traffic on a coastal beach and is therefore prohibited by
The Parties, The Dispute, And The Summary Judgment
The City is a beach community located on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. The Hoteliers are the owners of three beachfront hotels in the City. Their properties are located upland of the central beach area of Treasure Island Beach. The area is central because it is located in the middle of Treasure Island and is beach because it fronts the shoreline along the Gulf. The central beach area is uncommonly wide for a Gulf Beach, stretching 800 to 900 feet from the water‘s edge to a City-owned, paved walkway that meanders around dunes at the landward side of the beach.
The City uses a large, sandy expanse in the middle of the central beach area to host several civic events each year, either on its own or by allowing certain organizations to do so. They range from carnivals to music festivals to car and truck shows to fireworks displays. These events often involve the construction of temporary structures—e.g., a tent, a carnival ride, or a stage—that are removed when the event has ended. The events have happened as often as thirty times a year.
To accommodate the attendees, the City makes temporary public parking areas available for the events. These public parking areas are located on a sandy region of the beach. The public can access them by driving along sandy, unpaved access paths that run from a paved lot near the walkway between the dunes, onto the beach, and into the temporary lots. The City collects a fee for the use of the beach parking areas. The number of cars taking advantage of the City-hosted beach parking varies from event to event, but on our record, it appears to have involved as many as 130 cars in the beach parking areas at past events.
In addition to public parking, the City also allows vehicles performing functions related to the events it hosts to drive and park on the beach. A vendor selling food and drink might drive a food truck onto the beach and park it there for that purpose. Similarly, a truck hauling a carnival attraction might drive over the beach and then park there for purposes of placing the attraction for the event and later removing the attraction after the event has ended. This activity is authorized by the City‘s ordinance that prohibits parking and driving on the beach, subject to certain exceptions, which include “participants and support staff for set-up and break-down of special events.” See Treasure Island, Fla., Code of Ordinances of the City of Treasure Island, Fla. ch. 58, art. II, § 58.38(4) (1985).
Believing that driving and parking on the beach in connection with these events violates state law—including
The issues the City raises on appeal were decided on multiple motions for summary judgment filed by both the plaintiffs and the defendant. That led to some convoluted proceedings, but the procedural play-by-play is not relevant to the issues we decide. The bottom line is that the Hoteliers voluntarily dismissed Count III, and the parties proceeded to a decision on Counts I and II based on undisputed facts. The Hoteliers argued that the beach parking and driving involved in the civic events on Treasure Island Beach violate
The trial court denied the City‘s motions for summary judgment and granted the Hoteliers’ motions. It entered a judgment that declared “that the City‘s activities of hosting and allowing vehicular parking and driving on Treasure Island Beach are in violation of Fla. Stat. § 161.58” and that the City Ordinance “is null and void to the extent that it conflicts with Fla. Stat. § 161.58 and purports to allow vehicular parking and driving on Treasure Island Beach.” Based on its summary judgment determination that the City‘s activities violate
The Issues On Appeal
There is one significant argument that the City raised in the trial court that it has not raised on appeal—that the events at issue do not occur on a “coastal beach” within the meaning of
Beach And Shore Regulation And The Activities The City Hosts
Understanding the City‘s arguments requires understanding the statutory context
Coastal construction control line permitting under part I. First adopted in 1965, part I—which, taken together with part II, is called the Dennis L. Jones Beach and Shore Preservation Act—limits construction and physical activity in coastal areas, regulates how that construction and activity can occur, and provides enforcement mechanisms for violations. In the 1970s, the legislature added provisions to part I to regulate construction seaward of a “coastal construction control line” to be established by the Department of Environmental Protection. See generally
In current form, these statutory provisions require the department to establish coastal construction control lines on a county-by-county basis along the coasts of the state.
The department has established a control line for Pinellas County that runs through Treasure Island. The beach events the City hosts occur seaward of that line. Before hosting those events, therefore, the City has applied for and obtained coastal construction control line permits from the department. Prior to January 2014, it received field permits—which are issued for minor structures and activities—for all but two of its events. See Fla. Admin. Code R. 62B-33.008(10) (2014). Those field permits approved the events specified on a site plan submitted by the City and authorized the City to conduct them.
For the two events that did not receive field permits and for every event the City has hosted since January 2014, the department has required that the City obtain individual coastal construction control line permits. The City has filed permit applications on a form provided by the department in accord with regulations promulgated by the department. See generally id. R. 62B-33.008. Those applications describe the event and activities to take place and include a site plan. The department has approved each of the City‘s applications, subject to general conditions included in every permit and sometimes special conditions specific to the event being permitted.
As an example, the City applied for a permit for “The Greatest Show on Surf” to be held in March 2014. The application for the permit described the event as including “carnival rides, food & non-food
Part III and the regulation of vehicular traffic on coastal beaches. In 1985, the legislature added part III to chapter 161, which is known as the Coastal Zone Protection Act of 1985.
Part III serves that objective by establishing minimum standards governing the location of construction in coastal areas and mandating that any such construction produce the “minimum adverse impact” on the “beach” and “dune system.” See
Part III also contains the provision at issue here—section 161.58. That statute provides as follows:
(1) Vehicular traffic, except that which is necessary for cleanup, repair, or public safety, and except for traffic upon authorized local or state dune crossovers, is prohibited on the dunes or native stabilizing vegetation of the dune system of coastal beaches. Except as otherwise provided in this section, any person driving any vehicle on, over, or across any dune or native stabilizing vegetation of the dune system shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.
(2) Vehicular traffic, except that which is necessary for cleanup, repair, or public safety, or for the purpose of maintaining existing licensed and permitted traditional commercial fishing activities or existing authorized public accessways, is prohibited on coastal beaches except where a local government with jurisdiction over a coastal beach or portions of a coastal beach has:
(a) Authorized such traffic, by at least a three-fifths vote of its governing body, on all or portions of the beaches under its jurisdiction prior to the effective date of this act; and
(b) Determined, by October 1, 1989, in accordance with the rules of the department,
that less than 50 percent of the peak user demand for off-beach parking is available. . . . (3) A local government authorizing such vehicular traffic on all or portions of its beaches pursuant to subsection (2) may later prohibit, by a vote of at least three-fifths of its governing body, such vehicular traffic on all or portions of the beaches under its jurisdiction. Any such local government shall be authorized by a three-fifths vote of its governing body to charge a reasonable fee for vehicular traffic access. The revenues from any such fees shall be used only for beach maintenance; beach-related traffic management and parking; beach-related law enforcement and liability insurance; or beach-related sanitation, lifeguard, or other staff purposes. Except where authorized by the local government, any person driving any vehicle on, over, or across the beach shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.
(Emphasis added.) As we describe in greater detail below, the Hoteliers’ assertion that the beach driving and parking taking place in connection with the City-sponsored activities at issue requires that we consider whether activities permitted by the department under part I are restricted by prohibition on vehicular traffic in part III.
The Movement Of Vehicles Incident To Department-Permitted Construction And Activities Does Not Involve Vehicular Traffic; The Movement Of Vehicles Incident To City-Operated Public Parking Areas Does
The final judgment invalidates and prohibits any “vehicular parking and driving” on Treasure Island Beach, except as authorized by
In interpreting a statute, we look first to “the plain meaning of the actual language” contained in the statutory text. Diamond Aircraft Indus., Inc. v. Horowitch, 107 So. 3d 362, 367 (Fla. 2013). If that language is unambiguous, there is no need for further construction; the plain meaning of the statute controls. See Holly v. Auld, 450 So. 2d 217, 219 (Fla. 1984). If the statutory language is ambiguous, however, we turn to rules of statutory construction to determine its meaning. English v. State, 191 So. 3d 448, 450 (Fla. 2016). We regard statutory language as ambiguous when it is reasonably susceptible of more than one interpretation. See License Acquisitions, LLC v. Debary Real Estate Holdings, LLC, 155 So. 3d 1137, 1146 (Fla. 2014).
has in ordinary, everyday discourse. See Donato v. Am. Tel. & Tel. Co., 767 So. 2d 1146, 1154 (Fla. 2000); Am. Heritage Window Fashions, LLC v. Dep‘t of Revenue, 191 So. 3d 516, 520 (Fla. 2d DCA 2016). For our purposes, the word “vehicular” is plain enough: It means involving vehicles. Here we are talking about cars and trucks, and everyone in this case agrees that those are types of vehicles. The interpretive problem we must address hinges on the word “traffic.”
Sources that convey the ordinary meaning of the term “traffic” support both the notion that as used in
In terms of ordinary meaning, then, the term “vehicular traffic” could reasonably be understood to mean any movement of vehicles or the movement of vehicles as along a public thoroughfare. Both meanings are facially consistent with the purpose of
We are confident that vehicular traffic denotes the movement of vehicles as though it were happening along a public street or highway. We reach that conclusion because the alternative—the interpretation that vehicular traffic reaches any movement of vehicles—would put
turn authorized the department to grant. See
Interpreting
This makes perfect sense. The department‘s authority to permit a carnival on the beach seaward of the control line, for example, is meaningless if it does not also include the power to allow vehicles to move onto that area of the beach for purposes of carrying tents and rides, moving equipment, providing concessions, and all other things that go into hosting a carnival. If the term “[v]ehicular traffic” in
Established principles of statutory construction counsel strongly against that result. “[I]t is an accepted maxim of statutory construction that a law should be construed together and in harmony with any other statute relating to the same purpose, even though the statutes were not enacted at the same time.” Wakulla Cty. v. Davis, 395 So. 2d 540, 542 (Fla. 1981); see also McDougall v. Van House, 801 So. 2d 118, 121 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001). For that reason, “[c]ourts should avoid a construction which places in conflict statutes
Relatedly, it is also “presumed that statutes are passed with the knowledge of existing statutes, so courts must favor a construction that gives effect to both statutes rather than construe one statute as being meaningless or repealed by implication.” Butler v. State, 838 So. 2d 554, 556 (Fla. 2003). Thus, “[w]hile it is true that a prior Act may be repealed in part, or in toto by implication through the passage of a subsequent Act, such appeals are not favored and there must be a positive repugnancy between the two or a clear intent to repeal must be apparent.” Wade v. Janney, 7 So. 2d 797, 798 (Fla. 1942) (citation omitted); see also Alvarez v. Bd. of Trs. of City Pension Fund for Firefighters & Police Officers in City of Tampa, 580 So. 2d 151, 153 (Fla. 1991).
Here, we are presented with two enactments related to the same subject matter—the protection of Florida‘s coastal areas. Some conflict between the two may be inevitable because
This interpretation also makes sense of
Applying that understanding, the trial court erred in declaring that any “vehicular parking and driving” on Treasure Island Beach violates
The City‘s operation of public parking areas presents a different matter. We agree with the City that parking a vehicle—leaving it stationary for a period of time—does not alone constitute vehicular traffic because parking in and of itself does not involve the movement of a vehicle. However, access to the parking areas the City operates is along two paths that cross the dunes and beach and that are open to the public for purposes of reaching the beach parking areas and are regulated as though they were public ways. That activity does involve the use of a portion of beach as though it were a public street—members of the public drive across it for purposes of getting from point A to point B on the beach—and thus does involve vehicular traffic.
The City argues that
So. 3d 799, 802 (Fla. 1st DCA 2009))). The statute both prohibits vehicular traffic on coastal beaches and dunes and native stabilizing vegetation and subjects to prosecution for a second-degree misdemeanor “any person driving any vehicle on, over, or across” them.
When vehicular traffic is understood as moving a vehicle on the beach or a portion thereof as though it was a public way, both the general prohibition and criminal provisions easily make sense as a unified whole: The statute generally prohibits using the beach as though it was a public street, and someone driving on the beach in that manner is subject to prosecution. Limiting the term to Daytona Beach-style driving, however, makes a muck of the criminal enforcement provisions. It is nearly impossible to consider Daytona Beach-style driving as an offense that can be committed by an individual driver because Daytona Beach-style driving does not connote individual conduct; it connotes a state of affairs marked by the characteristics of the movement of vehicles along Daytona Beach. And even if the concept could be understood to refer to the conduct of an individual as distinguished from a state of affairs, the offense seems just as impossible to define. Try as we might, for example, we cannot conceive of what a jury would have to find to convict a defendant of Daytona Beach-style driving.
For these reasons, limiting the reach of
The Injunction Is Overbroad In Other Respects
In addition to prohibiting the movement and parking of vehicles that does not constitute vehicular traffic within the meaning of
infringe upon conduct that does not produce the harm sought to be avoided.“); Clark v. Allied Assocs., Inc., 477 So. 2d 656, 657 (Fla. 5th DCA 1985) (“An injunctive order should never be broader than is necessary to secure the injured party . . . relief warranted by the circumstances of the particular case.“).
Conclusion
We find no error in the trial court‘s determination that the City‘s actions in hosting vehicular traffic across the beach for purposes of reaching the parking areas associated with the civic events on the central beach area of Treasure Island Beach violate
Affirmed in part; reversed in part; remanded.
KELLY and WALLACE, JJ., Concur.
