Ybor Properties, LLC v. City of Tampa and Joseph Caldwell
On second-tier certiorari the Second District quashed the circuit court's order, holding the circuit court applied the wrong law by reweighing the evidence and combing the record for its own factual findings, and by improperly shifting the burden to Ybor Properties rather than the petitioner Caldwell. The court further held the circuit court committed a miscarriage of justice by failing to address Ybor's due process argument that the City Council ruled on an issue never raised in the petition and on which argument was precluded.
Key facts
- In 2000 the City of Tampa rezoned parcels later owned by Ybor Properties from YC-6 (allowing a parking lot as a nonconforming use) to YC-7; a 2000 opt-out letter purportedly submitted on the owner's behalf was never placed in the public record.
- In 2021 the City cited Ybor Properties for using the parcels as parking lots; the zoning administrator first denied the opt-out, then rescinded that decision and issued a second decision granting the opt-out based on the 2000 letter.
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Holdings
- On first-tier certiorari review of a quasi-judicial decision, the circuit court may not reweigh the evidence or substitute its judgment for the agency's; applying an independent standard of…
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Why it matters
A practical guide to the limits of first-tier certiorari review of local quasi-judicial (zoning) decisions: the reviewing circuit court must apply the deferential competent-substantial-evidence standard, may not reweigh… — full analysis with a trial
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