The Florida Supreme Court has agreed to weigh in after Jacksonville property owners sued the city for building a fire station next door.
The case will settle the question of how much local governments should held responsible when property values plummet.
Jacksonville property owners, R. Lee and Christy Smith, sued the city after it built a fire station on a riverfront lot on Hecksher Drive across from Mayport — and right next to the Smiths’ undeveloped lot.
The News Service of Florida reports, the couple won their original suit on the basis that their property lost nearly $500,000 in value when the lot next door was rezoned to build the fire station.
Or, in legalese, the city had “inordinately burdened” the use of their land.
But when an appeals court overturned that ruling in February, the question became ripe for Supreme Court review.
