In his latest column for Daily Journal, Manatt Appellate Senior Counsel Michael Berger discussed the legal disputes between Fane Lozman and the City of Riviera Beach related to Lozman’s home on the water moored in the city’s harbor.
After the city’s unsuccessful attempt to evict Lozman, the first dispute—which traveled to the Supreme Court—surrounded the city invoking the admiralty jurisdiction and towing his home away, making the defendant the “vessel” rather than the person. In the second dispute a few years later, Lozman was forcibly removed from a city council meeting for continuing to discuss his admiralty case despite instructions to stop and sued the city for violating his civil rights, describing their previous actions as retaliatory and unconstitutional. Ultimately in both of these cases, the Supreme Court sided with Lozman and reversed the lower courts’ rulings in favor of the city.
In the most recent dispute, the city’s plan would not allow for Lozman to build developments on his submerged property, even though he was allowed to develop single-family homes at the time of purchase. After he sued the city for a “regulatory taking,” the lower courts decided that the case was not ready litigation based on its “ripeness,” a tool often used to rid regulatory taking cases. “In Lozman 3, the city (never a fan of Lozman to begin with) was clear. As the complaint alleged, Lozman was told directly that he ‘would never receive permits for his parcel.’ Keep your eyes on this one. Lozman evidently has a knack for attracting the Supreme Court's attention. Let's see if his karma keeps working,” wrote Berger.
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