Shannon R. Turbeville (Petitioner); The Petitioner waived the 90-day deadline provided for in Section 120.565(3), Fla. Stat. and authorized a 90-day extension that the District could consider additional information. The Southwest Florida Water ...

 

WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICTS

Southwest Florida Water Management District

RULE NOS.:RULE TITLES:

40D-9.111Access to and Closures of District Lands

40D-9.191Plant or Animal Removal, Destruction, or Harassment

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Southwest Florida Water Management District has issued an order disposing of the petition for declaratory statement filed by Shannon R. Turbeville (Petitioner) on December 30, 2019. The following is a summary of the agency's disposition of the petition: The Petitioner waived the 90-day deadline provided for in subsection 120.565(3), Fla. Stat. and authorized a 90-day extension that the District could consider additional information. The Southwest Florida Water Management District issued Final Order No. 20-021 (Final Order Denying Petition for Declaratory Statement) on May 19, 2020, at the Governing Board meeting held at the District’s headquarters in Brooksville, Florida. The Petition failed to meet the statutory and rule requirements of Section 120.565, Fla. Stat., and Chapter 28-105, Florida Administrative Code, for a Petition seeking a declaratory statement. Specifically, the Petition was denied for the following reasons: I. The Petitioner lacked standing to obtain a declaratory statement because the harm alleged in the Petition did not constitute an injury in fact of sufficient immediacy to establish the Petitioner as a substantially affected person. II. subsection 120.565(1), Fla. Stat., provides that any substantially affected person may seek a declaratory statement regarding an agency’s opinion as to the applicability of a statutory provision. The Petition relied on non-existent boating restrictions, outside of the District’s jurisdiction and authority, to establish a nexus between the District’s land management abilities and Petitioner’s hypothetical injuries. The Petitioner’s alleged injuries do not exist, nor do they fall within the zone of interest of the applicable statutory provision of which a declaratory statement was sought. (TS2019048).

A copy of the Order Disposing of the Petition for Declaratory Statement may be obtained by contacting: James B. Fussell, Jr., 7601 U.S. Highway 301 North, Tampa, FL 33637-6759, 1(813)985-7481 x. 4665, [e-mail].