LAW OFFICE OF ROBERT K. LINCOLN, P.A.

Land Use and Local Government Law and Litigation

The Law Office of Robert K. Lincoln, P.A.  provides legal services to private and public entities involved in complex land use disputes.  Hiring an attorney is an important decision that should not be based solely upon advertisements.  Before you decide, ask and I will provide free information about my experience and qualifications. 

*Attorneys Robert Lincoln and Stacy Dillard-Spahn also serve clients as Of Counsel to Shubin Law Group, P.A., with offices in Miami, West Palm Beach, and Tampa, Florida, specializing in land use, development, and related litigation. Law Office of Robert K. Lincoln, P.A. is an independent law firm from Shubin Law Group, P.A.

Open Space Requirements in a PUD are not a Taking, Even When the Plan is Amended to Designate the Property "Preservation"

In Palm Beach Polo v. Village of Wellington, here's the link, the Village had filed a dec action seeking to enforce the terms of a PUD ordinance (originally adopted by the County, pre-incorporation) and the developer counterclaimed under a takings and Bert Harris theory for placing a portion of the property designated for conservation in the PUD as "Preservation" in the FLUM.

Upshot: Village 2, Polo 0. The trial court found, and the 4th DCA affirmed, that the density (and therefore value) of the 120 acre "Big Blue" portion of the property had been transferred to the rest of the development in the PUD ordinance, and that the terms of the PUD were still valid and enforceable. It held that there was ample evidence that development of this area was not an "existing right" for Bert Harris purposes, that the PUD provisions were not unconstitutionally vague, and that because the property overall had been given use - including development rights from the preservation parcel, the fact that the preservation parcel was now "undevelopable" did not create a taking.

For takings types - the "parcel as a whole" looks backward to prior regulatory actions, like the PUD ordinance here. An unsurprising result, but I'm not sure of another Florida precedent on this point.

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Hiring an attorney is an important decision that should not be based solely upon advertisements. Before you decide, ask and I will send you free written information about my qualifications and experience. Additionally, the comments, statements and articles contained herein are general in nature and should not be relied upon as a basis for any legal opinion, action or conclusion on the part of the reader with respect to any particular set of facts or circumstances, or to establish an attorney-client relationship between us.