And the Walls Came Tumbling Down

Abstract

Karen Shidel believed that the Martin County Commission had it wrong when it approved an apartment development on property adjacent to her single-family neighborhood. The county comprehensive plan requires that new residential development have “comparable density and compatible dwelling unit types” to its neighbors. After a long fight through the courts, Shidel won her case, and in a startling decision, the courts required the developer to demolish the apartments he built during the litigation. The decision, Pinecrest Lakes, Inc. v. Shidel, 795 So. 2d 191 (Fla. Ct. App. 2001)(54 ZD 60), sent a shock wave across Florida. Although not unprecedented, it reaffirms the power of the comprehensive plan and citizen advocacy, and creates land-use lessons for attorneys and planners representing developers, local governments, and homeowners.