DAVIS, Judge.
William Turkali challenges the final judgment entered in favor of the City of Safety Harbor and Pinellas County by which his claim under the Bert Harris Private Property Protection Act ("The Act")
Mr. Turkali owns waterfront residential property in Safety Harbor. His parcel consists of approximately 0.25 acres (some of which was unusable due to being under water) and includes a 2700-square-foot single-family residence. Representatives of the City approached Mr. Turkali with a request that he agree to have his property included in the Safety Harbor Community Development District. In return, the City promised to designate the property ROS (retail/office/service), which allowed for several diverse uses, imposed no density restrictions, and permitted buildings to be up to three-stories tall. Mr. Turkali accepted the invitation, which meant that the City would not have to initiate an eminent domain proceeding to include his property in the new development plan.
In response, Mr. Turkali filed a notice of intent to file an action against the City and County under the Act. To his notice, Mr. Turkali attached an appraisal as required by the statute. When there was no resolution of his claim, Mr. Turkali filed his complaint, seeking damages for the loss in the value of his property due to the amending of the land use designation by the new development plan. He alleged that the value of his land was significantly diminished because the new single-family residential designation of his property reduced the property's value as compared to the potential values for the many ROS uses.
The City and the County both moved to dismiss Mr. Turkali's claim. The trial court twice granted the motions to dismiss without prejudice to Mr. Turkali's amending his complaint. However, when he filed his third amended complaint, which was substantially identical to the second amended complaint, the trial court dismissed Mr. Turkali's cause of action with prejudice upon motion by the City and County. He now challenges that dismissal with prejudice.
In its final order, the trial court cited two grounds for dismissing the complaint. First, the trial court determined that as a matter of law, Mr. Turkali could not state a cause of action under the Act without first seeking use of his property for purposes other than a single-family residence. The court concluded that because the Act is limited to "as applied" challenges, any claim that Mr. Turkali might have under the Act would not be ripe until he petitioned for a variance through an administrative proceeding and the variance was denied. Second, the trial court determined that the appraisal attached to the notice of claim (which was attached to the third amended complaint) was not a "valid, bona fide appraisal" for the purposes of the Act. Because we agree with the trial court that the appraisal was invalid, we affirm the trial court's dismissal with prejudice without addressing the ripeness of Mr. Turkali's claim.
Pursuant to the Act,
§ 70.001(2), Fla. Stat. (2008). The Act provides that the action must be filed within one year of the application of the ordinance to the subject property. § 70.001(11). Additionally, the owner must file a presuit notice to the political entity at least 180 days prior to filing the action. § 70.001(4)(a).
The appraisal does not provide opinions as to the value of just Mr. Turkali's parcel before and after the enactment of the new use restrictions.
Having determined that the trial court properly dismissed the complaint, we need not reach the issue of whether a variance must be sought and denied as a condition precedent to filing an "as applied" challenge to the ordinance.
Affirmed.
NORTHCUTT and VILLANTI, JJ., Concur.