Opinion ID: 1728529
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Florida Keys Area of Critical State Concern. [9]

Text: On March 3, 1975, the Division of State Planning issued its report to the Administration Commission recommending that a substantial portion of the Florida Keys be declared an area of critical state concern. The Administration Commission held a public meeting in Key West on March 28, 1975, to receive comment on the recommendation of the Division of State Planning. The meeting was conducted in accordance with Section 120.54, Florida Statutes (1975), related to rulemaking procedures, and revisions in the recommendation of the Division of State Planning were proposed. Subsequently, issue papers were prepared and submitted by the Division of State Planning in response to questions raised at the March 28, 1975, meeting. After an oral request that the proceedings held on March 28, 1975, be conducted in accordance with the provisions of Section 120.57, Florida Statutes (1975), on April 14, 1975, appellees filed a written petition requesting that further proceedings scheduled for the following day be conducted in the formal manner prescribed by Section 120.57. Appellees asserted that their substantial interests would be affected and that a rulemaking proceeding pursuant to Section 120.54 did not provide adequate opportunity to protect those interests. At the proceedings conducted on April 15, 1975, the petition for a Section 120.57 hearing was denied due to the purported failure of appellees to establish that proceedings pursuant to Section 120.54 were inadequate to protect their interests. At the close of this meeting, the Administration Commission approved the proposed rule designating virtually all of the Keys [10] as an area of critical state concern. On April 25, 1975, the rule designating the area of critical state concern together with accompanying principles for guiding development were filed with the Secretary of State and ultimately published as Chapter 22F-8, Florida Administrative Code. Timely petitions for review of this agency action were lodged with the District Court of Appeal, First District, by appellees. In ruling upon a motion to dismiss, the district court confirmed the standing of appellees to seek review of the agency action. As mentioned above the district court held that the Section 380.05(2)(a) and (b) standards for exercise of the Section 380.05(1) power to designate areas of critical state concern are inadequate and that the delegation consequently offends Article II, Section 3, Florida Constitution. Accordingly, the court quashed Rule 22F-8. However, the district court expressly resolved all other issues raised, including the form of the proceedings, adversely to appellees.