Sun Harbor Homeowners Ass'n v. Broward County Department of Natural Resource Protection

FARMER, Judge.

For several years, Broward County has regulated by ordinance the maintenance and cutting of mangroves. In March 1995, it served a notice of violation on petitioner for allegedly trimming the tops of 80 mangrove trees and removing 10 others without a permit from its Department of Natural Resource Protection. That agency scheduled a hearing for April 1995 on the alleged violation, but the hearing was postponed while the parties attempted to settle the matter. As they were discussing settlement, the legislature adopted the Mangrove Trimming and Preservation Act of 1995 [the Act],…