Key West, FL asked in Land Use & Zoning, Real Estate Law and Gov & Administrative Law for Florida

Q: Opening pedestrian path to motorized traffic/changing dead end street - Neighborhood Property Value Loss

Our street in a protected historic district currently is a dead end with 10 households on it. At the end of the street is a small footpath that allows pedestrians to walk over to another street, so some of those properties currently have zero motor traffic.

A developer has bought a property that BACKS onto said path and has plenty of parking at its actual address. However they feel an additional parking space in the back, through the path, would increase their property value. Due to their connections to the City, it is likely that the City will change the pedestrian historic path just for them so they can drive through here, making it a through street for small vehicles by removing (theoretically protected) historical structures to widen the path. Given that properties on dead end streets, or, for some, on a pedestrian path with no traffic at all, have a 20% higher value (some studies go even higher), how to sue the City for the loss of property value for 10 households?

1 Lawyer Answer
Barry W. Kaufman
Barry W. Kaufman
Answered
  • Jacksonville, FL
  • Licensed in Florida

A: You hire an attorney who does this sort of work, not just real-estate. This is not anywhere close to a DIY project. This is complex litigation with lots of moving parts,.and if you want any chance of succeeding, you will have to hire top talent at a price.

Charles M. Baron and Anthony M. Avery agree with this answer

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