The University Cities Committee will meet in a roundtable setting at the IMLA Mid-Year Meeting in Washington, D.C. on Sunday, April 19, 2009 at 10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.  Please plan to join us and share your thoughts and concerns.  If you can attend please reply so that we can determine the number of participants.  If you have already replied, please disregard this reminder.

I am pleased to announce that on February 24, 2009, the First District Court of Appeal for the State of Florida affirmed the decision of the Circuit Court upholding the constitutionality and validity of the City's landlord permit ordinance (copies attached). With regard to the City's noise, off-street parking, and landlord permit ordinances, the Circuit Court previously held that the City "clearly demonstrated that the subject ordinances are those which the City of Gainesville is empowered to enact and that these ordinances are clearly consistent with any arguably applicable constitutional provisions." The constitutionality and validity of the landlord permit ordinance came before the Court in October of 2007 when Kevin and Carol Daly filed suit against the City in the Circuit Court of the Eighth Judicial Circuit in Alachua County, Florida. In their lawsuit, the Daly's contended that the City's landlord permit ordinance provided inadequate due process and was preempted by the Florida Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. In their lawsuit, the Dalys also challenged the constitutionality and validity of the City's noise and off-street parking ordinances. After considering the arguments of counsel and the parties' respective motions for summary judgment and memoranda of law, the Circuit Court ruled in favor of the City on all counts on June 2, 2008. The Dalys appealed the Circuit Court's ruling in favor of the City only as to the City's landlord permit ordinance. On appeal, the Dalys continued to claim that the landlord permit ordinance provided inadequate due process and was preempted by the Florida Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. With regard to their due process argument, the Dalys specifically claimed that the landlord permit point system contained an unlawful irrebutable presumption of landlord liability since landlords had no point of entry to challenge the points and unlawfully held landlords liable for their tenants' violations when landlords did not have knowledge of their tenants' violations or did not participate in creating the violations. After considering the oral arguments and written briefs submitted by the parties, the First District Court of Appeal affirmed the constitutionality and validity of the City's landlord permit ordinance. Attached please find the briefs in the Daly case (they are not available online through the DCA website). > > <<Appellant's Initial Brief.pdf¤>> > > <<City's Answer Brief.pdf¤>> > > <<Appellant's Reply Brief.pdf¤>> > The link for the Oral Arguments is http://www.1dca.org/video/2009video.htm. The viewer should scroll down to case #08-2923, case date 2-19-09, Kevin Daly and Carol Daly v. City of Gainesville. Then, click on "play audio" or "play video" as desired. > REMINDER NOTICE The University Cities Committee will meet in a roundtable setting at the IMLA Mid-Year Meeting in Washington, D.C. on Sunday, April 19, 2009 at 10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Please plan to join us and share your thoughts and concerns. If you can attend please reply so that we can determine the number of participants. If you have already replied, please disregard this reminder. Marion J. Radson City Attorney City of Gainesville (352) 334-5011 Fax (352) 334-2229 Under Florida Law, e-mail addresses are public records. If you do not want your e-mail address released to a public records request, do not send electronic mail to this entity. Instead, contact this office by phone or in writing. NOTICE: This message is intended only for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this transmission in error, please immediately reply to the sender that you have received this communication in error, then delete it. Thank you.