Conlon v. City: Appeals Court delays decision

Submitted by Adam Kaufman
Legal Analyst
July 7, 2014 1:34 p.m.

By Order of the First District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee, a decision as to validity of the certification by Judge Brian Davis of the class action law suit brought against the City by Joanne Conlon with regard to the imposition of water utility impact fees has been deferred until after July 18, 2014. The Order was in response to a joint request by all the parties to the law suit.

It is presumed that the parties are engaged in settlement discussions. The attorneys for the City and Conlon have been “instructed” to file a report with the Court on the status of their discussions on or before July 18, 2014. The Order was issued by the Court on June 25, 2014.

The arguments before the court concern Conlon’s standing to sue as an individual plaintiff and whether she is an appropriate representative of the class upon whom allegedly unlawful impact fees were imposed. Questions were raised, among others, as to whether Conlon, who initiated the law suit in 2011, should have sued at an earlier date and was barred from litigating by the “statute of limitations” and whether developers and corporate home builders were or are in a different position than individuals who were assessed impact fees.

In the related “bond validation” law suit in which Judge Davis found that the water utility impact fees did not comply with Florida law an appeal to the Florida Supreme Court is scheduled to heard in September.

Adam Kaufman is a semi-retired mediator and attorney.  A graduate of Northwestern University School of Law, he was born and raised in the Bronx, NY. and attended NYC public schools, including Stuyvesant High School. He still serves on the American Arbitration Association Labor Panel.  From 1994 – 2005, he was Regional Director for the New York State Public Employment Relations Board