Land Use
Named the #9 fastest growing education company in the United States. Thank you for your support!Named the #9 fastest growing education company in the United States. Thank you for your support!
The Florida Department of Transportation (DOT) (defendant) filed a petition to acquire a parcel of land belonging to Fortune Federal Savings and Loan Association (Fortune) (plaintiff) by eminent domain for a road-widening project. DOT only needed a portion of the land for the project. By Florida statute, if DOT acquired only a portion of the land, then DOT would be required to compensate Fortune for that portion and for business damages, the total of which would be $2,225,000. However, if DOT took the entire parcel, then DOT would only be required to compensate Fortune for the value of the parcel, which was $480,000. A Florida statute permitted DOT to reduce acquisition costs by taking more property than strictly necessary. Accordingly, DOT sought to acquire the entire parcel. Fortune argued that: (1) it would be improper to require a business to finance the cost of a public project by forgoing business damages, and (2) saving the state money was not a valid public purpose under the state constitutional guidelines for takings of property. The trial court allowed DOT to take only a portion of the parcel. DOT appealed. The Second District Court of Appeal of Florida affirmed, holding that saving the state money was not a valid public purpose for a taking and that it was unconstitutional for DOT to take more property than necessary to complete the road-widening project. DOT appealed again.
The rule of law is the black letter law upon which the court rested its decision.
To access this section, please start your free trial or log in.
The issue section includes the dispositive legal issue in the case phrased as a question.
To access this section, please start your free trial or log in.
The holding and reasoning section includes:
To access this section, please start your free trial or log in.
Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.
You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 97,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools—such as Yale, Vanderbilt, Berkeley, and the University of Illinois—even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students. Read our student testimonials.
Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.
Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students. Read more about Quimbee.