City of Panama City, Florida v. Bambi's Doll House, Inc.
The First DCA reversed the trial court's ruling that Panama City's Ordinance No. 3058 — which defined "change of ownership" to include any stock transfer in a corporation owning a sexually oriented business — was void for failure to use the heightened notice procedures of section 166.041(3)(c), Florida Statutes. The court held that the Legislature's 1995 amendment replaced the old "substantially affects land use" test with a bright-line standard limited to ordinances changing the "actual list" of permitted/conditional/prohibited uses or the "actual zoning map designation," and an ordinance merely clarifying when a nonconforming use loses its privilege does not meet that threshold. The court affirmed, however, that a 100% stock sale of the corporate owner of the business was not a "change of ownership" of the business under the plain pre-Ordinance code language, and remanded for the trial court to adjudicate Appellee's remaining challenges to Ordinance No. 3058.
Key facts
- Since 1997, Panama City's municipal code prohibited new sexually oriented businesses within designated Tourism Corridors but allowed pre-existing businesses like Bambi's Doll House to continue operating as nonconforming land uses, subject to loss of that status upon any 'change of ownership.'
- In August 2022, the City enacted Ordinance No. 3058, adding a definition of 'change of ownership' that encompassed any transfer of stock in a corporation owning such a business, even when the entity name remains the same.
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Holdings
- Section 166.041(3)(c), Fla. Stat., is triggered only by ordinances changing the 'actual list' of permitted, conditional, or prohibited uses within a zoning category or the 'actual zoning…
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