Nassau County v. Willis
District Court of Appeal of Florida
41 So.3d 270 (2010)
Nassau County, Florida's (defendant) comprehensive plan capped development density on designated wetlands but allowed land the county determined, with advice from the St. Johns River Water Management District, was not actually wetlands to be developed at the least intense adjacent land-use density; after the Water Management District determined 71.58 acres of Crane Island were uplands rather than wetlands, Nassau reclassified that acreage as low-density residential and approved development at two dwelling units per acre. Adjoining landowners Lynwood Willis and others (plaintiffs) challenged the reclassification as leading to an absurd result under the plain language of the comprehensive plan, and the trial court agreed and quashed the approving ordinance; Nassau appealed.
Whether, under land-use law, a local government may change wetlands designations in accordance with the government's comprehensive plan.