City of Tampa v. Liberty Hospitality Management, LLC

── City of Tampa v. Liberty Hospitality Management, LLC ── Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida Date: May 22, 2026 Category: General DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF FLORIDA SECOND DISTRICT CITY OF TAMPA, Appellant, v. LIBERTY HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT, LLC, Appellee. No. 2D2025-0069 May 22, 2026 Appeal from the Circuit Court for Hillsborough County; Anne-Leigh Gaylord Moe, Judge. Chance Lyman and Hala Sandridge of Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney, PC, Tampa; and Ursula D. Richardson and Toyin K. Aina-Hargrett of the City Attorney's Office, Tampa, for Appellant. Eleanor H. Sills of Banker Lopez Gassler P.A., Tallahassee; and Chris W. Altenbernd of Banker Lopez Gassler P.A., Tampa, for Appellee. SILBERMAN, Judge. The City of Tampa (the City) appeals a partial final judgment entered in favor of Liberty Hospitality Management, LLC, on Count III of Liberty's amended complaint. We dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction because Count III is legally and factually interrelated with Counts I and II, which remain pending.  In 2016, Liberty purchased property on Harbour Island after the Tampa City Council approved a rezoning request allowing it to use the property as a bank and as office space. Liberty later filed a second rezoning request proposing to build a hotel on the property and requesting modification of the Harbour Island Development of Regional Impact. The City Council denied the applications after holding a public, quasi-judicial hearing on the requests. The denials led to two separate proceedings in the circuit court. In case #22-CA-005055 (the 2022 case), Liberty petitioned the circuit court for a writ of certiorari seeking review of the City Council's denials of its rezoning requests. In case #23-CA-001082 (the 2023 case), Liberty filed a complaint against the City seeking damages under section 70.001, Florida Statutes (2020), and asserting a claim for declaratory judgment based on reverse spot zoning. The circuit court ultimately entered an order in the 2022 case dismissing Liberty's petition for writ of certiorari. The court determined that it lacked "subject matter jurisdiction to issue a writ of certiorari to the Tampa City Council." The City then filed with our court a petition for writ of mandamus seeking review of that dismissal order (the Mandamus Proceeding). See City of Tampa v. Liberty Hosp. Mgmt., LLC, 51 Fla. L. Weekly D419 (Fla. 2d DCA Mar. 6, 2026). In the Mandamus Proceeding, the City argued that the circuit court erroneously determined that the court lacked subject matter jurisdiction to review the actions of the City Council. Id. at D420. This court agreed and concluded that the Tampa City Charter and section 166.041, Florida Statutes (2020), "both expressly provide that the City Council, as a legislative body, has the power to pass an ordinance on rezoning" and "expressly allow the City Council to conduct hearings as part of its 2 process in passing an ordinance." Id. at D421. We also determined that the circuit court's flawed reasoning led to the court's "misapplication of articles V and VIII" of the Florida Constitution. Id. at D420. As a result, we held that the circuit court improperly found that the City's quasi- judicial actions were ultra vires and granted a writ of mandamus. Id. at D421. We directed the circuit court to exercise its certiorari jurisdiction to review the City Council's rezoning decisions. Id. After the circuit court dismissed Liberty's petition for writ of certiorari for lack of subject matter jurisdiction but prior to the initiation of the Mandamus Proceeding with our court, Liberty filed an amended complaint in the 2023 case adding another claim for declaratory relief. In this new claim (Count III), Liberty requested that the court find all actions of the City Council relating to the rezoning of the propert