ORFINGER, C.J.
Alisha Tucker appeals from a temporary injunction prohibiting her from relocating her minor child from the residence they share, without the consent of the child's father, Wayne Liebknecht, or a prior court order. This Court has jurisdiction. Fla. R.App. P. 9.130(a)(3)(B); see Chi. Title Ins. Agency of Lee Cnty., Inc. v. Chi. Title Ins. Co., 560 So.2d 296 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990) (reiterating that order granting injunction
Ms. Tucker and Mr. Liebknecht were never married but conceived a child together. After the child's birth, the parties entered into a Mediated Paternity Agreement ("MPA"), which resolved various matters between them with respect to the minor child, including timesharing. In the MPA, Ms. Tucker was designated the "majority" timesharing parent. With regard to relocation, the parties agreed:
The court subsequently entered a final judgment, ratifying and incorporating the MPA.
Several years later, Mr. Liebknecht filed a verified emergency motion for injunction, claiming that Ms. Tucker was planning to move with the child to a new home more than fifty miles from her current residence without his consent, in violation of the final judgment. Without notice to Ms. Tucker, the trial court entered a temporary injunction, enjoining her from "relocating the minor child ... from her current residence... until further order of this Court."
(Emphasis added). This appeal follows.
Ms. Tucker argues that we should dissolve the temporary injunction because the MPA permits her to relocate with the child anywhere within fifty miles of her existing residence without the consent of Mr. Liebknecht or the trial court. She contends that the trial court erroneously used the driving distance standard instead of the straight line standard to determine that her proposed new home was more than the permitted fifty-mile distance from her existing home. We agree.
We interpret the MPA like any other contract. Its terms should be given plain meaning unless found to be ambiguous. See Levitt v. Levitt, 699 So.2d 755, 756 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997); see also Andersen Windows, Inc. v. Hochberg, 997 So.2d 1212, 1214 (Fla. 3d DCA 2008) (reiterating that "courts ... are not authorized to rewrite clear and unambiguous contracts ... [a]nd where a contract is clear and unambiguous,
In the absence of any statutory or contractual provision governing the manner of measurement of distances, the general rule is that distance should be measured along the shortest straight line, on a horizontal plane and not along the course of a highway or along the usual traveled way. 79 Am.Jur.2d Weights and Measures § 46 (2012). Florida has adopted this general rule. For example, in State v. Burch, 545 So.2d 279, 281 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989), in commenting on how to measure one thousand feet for the purpose of determining whether a drug transaction occurred within that distance of a school, the court said:
See also State ex rel. Fronton Exhibition Co. v. Stein, 144 Fla. 387, 198 So. 82, 85 (1940) (holding that in absence of any contrary statutory provision, distance of one thousand feet meant feet measured in straight line). Accord Commonwealth v. Spano, 414 Mass. 178, 605 N.E.2d 1241, 1244 (1993) (holding absent express statutory provision specifying method of determining extent of school safety zone, measurement should be in straight line); Palazzo ex rel. Delmage v. Corio, 204 F.R.D. 639 (E.D.N.Y.1998) (holding proper measure of distance between two points is "as the crow flies," i.e., a straight line measurement); Harris v. Univ. Hosps. of Cleveland, Nos. 76724, 76785 (Ohio Ct.App. Mar. 7, 2002) (holding when agreement did not specify method of computing distance, correct way to measure distance was "as the crow flies," or straight-line approach, not actual driving distance).
We conclude that consistent with the general rule, in the absence of a statutory or contractual provision to the contrary, the simplest and most objective method to measure the distance between two points is the straight-line or "as the crow flies" measure. This uniform standard offers more certainty than a measure based on road miles, which may fluctuate as new and different routes are constructed. Sprow v. Hartford Ins. Co., 594 F.2d 412, 417 (5th Cir.1979). For these reasons, we conclude that the trial court erred in determining the distance between Ms. Tucker's current home and her anticipated address of relocation. On remand, the court shall measure the distance using the straight-line method.
REVERSED and REMANDED.
MONACO and COHEN, JJ., concur.