DONOVAN v. CITY OF DESTIN (2021)

District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.

John S. DONOVAN, David H. Sherry, Rebecca R. Sherry, and Thomas Wilson, Appellants, v. CITY OF DESTIN, Florida, and Department of Environmental Protection, Appellees.
Thomas Wilson, John S. Donovan, David H. Sherry, and Rebecca R. Sherry, Appellants, v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fla. Department of Environmental Protection, City of Destin, and Okaloosa County, Florida, Appellees.

No. 1D19-4101, No. 1D20-1434

Decided: July 16, 2021

D. Kent Safriet, Joseph A. Brown, and Kristen C. Diot of Hopping Green & Sams, Tallahassee, for Appellants. Justin G. Wolfe, General Counsel, and Paul J. Polito and Jeffrey Brown, Office of General Counsel, Tallahassee, for Appellee Department of Environmental Protection. Kenneth G. Oertel of Oertel, Fernandez, Bryant & Atkinson, P.A., Tallahassee for Appellee City of Destin.

These consolidated appeals are dismissed for lack of standing given Appellants' failure to demonstrate through competent, substantial evidence in the record that they were adversely affected by the final orders entered by the Department of Environmental Protection. See Martin Cnty. Conservation All. v. Martin Cnty., 73 So. 3d 856, 862–64 (Fla. 1st DCA 2011) (explaining that to have standing on appeal, a party must demonstrate that it is adversely affected by the decision at issue and that mere speculation regarding future adverse impacts is insufficient); see also Fla. Indus. Power Users Grp. v. Graham, 126 So. 3d 1056, 1056 (Fla. 2013) (citing Martin and dismissing the case before it for lack of standing because the appellant “did not demonstrate that it is adversely affected by the [a]ppellee's decision and does not cite to competent, substantial evidence in the record supporting this position”).

Dismissed.

Per Curiam.

Lewis, Osterhaus, and M.K. Thomas, JJ., concur.

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