CopyCited 14 times | Published | Florida 4th District Court of Appeal | 2011 Fla. App. LEXIS 10188, 2011 WL 2555637
...each (‘Vero Beach”) and the Indian River County Board of County Commissioners (“Indian River”), alleging that they breached their duty to warn the public of dangerous conditions in the ocean. Because the trial court correctly determined that section 380.276, Florida Statutes (2005), precludes the plaintiffs’ cause of action against the defendants, we affirm the trial court’s dismissal of their complaint with prejudice....
...; and (4) that as a result of Vero Beach’s and Indian River’s negligence, the survivors suffered losses. Vero Beach and Indian River filed motions to dismiss the amended complaint. They argued that the plaintiffs’ cause of action was barred by section 380.276(6), Florida Statutes, which exempted local government entities from liability for any injury or loss of life caused by changing surf and other naturally occurring conditions along coastal areas....
...4th DCA 2005) (citing Bell v. Indian River Mem’l Hosp.,
778 So.2d 1030, 1032 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001)). Further, where the question involves interpretation of a statute, it is subject to de novo review. Tasker v. State,
48 So.3d 798, 804 (Fla.2010). This appeal concerns whether section
380.276(6), Florida Statutes (2007), creates a limitation on the liability of local governments for death and injuries resulting from rip currents....
...ious implications. To do so would be an abrogation of legislative power.’ ” Holly v. Auld,
450 So.2d 217, 219 (Fla.1984) (quoting Am. Bankers Life Assurance Co. of Fla. v. Williams,
212 So.2d 777, 778 (Fla. 1st DCA 1968)) (emphasis in original). Section
380.276 was created in 2002 and amended in 2005 to add subsection (6), with a July 1, 2005 effective date. Section
380.276(6), Florida Statutes (2005), provides as follows: *175 Due to the inherent danger of constantly changing surf and other naturally occurring conditions along Florida’s coast, the state, state agencies, local and regional government e...
...pressed it the statute’s title, “Beaches and coastal areas; display of uniform warning and safety flags at public beaches; placement of uniform notification signs; beach safety education.” The plaintiffs contend that the legislative history of section 380.276 shows a desire to have all of Florida’s beaches and coastal areas adopt a uniform notification system for warning and safety flags. They point out that nowhere in the chapter title is there a reference to governmental immunity, and that the first five sections of 380.276 address only the development of a program for uniform warning and safety flags at public beaches....
...in injury or loss of life caused by changing surf or other naturally conditions along the coast, so long as the claim is not predicated on the failure to use state-approved warning flags or signs. However, as discussed above, because the language of section 380.276(6) is clear and unambiguous, its plain and ordinary meaning controls; we cannot resort to legislative history or other rules of statutory construction to discern its meaning....
...nd that “[t]he City therefore had an operational-level duty of care ‘to warn the public of any dangerous conditions of which it knew or should have known.’ ” Id. at 1065 (citing Garcia,
753 So.2d at 75 ). Breaux was issued on March 24, 2005. Section
380.276(6), however, became effective on July 1, 2005, after Breaux . The enactment of this subsection overrides the analysis in Bream. Additionally, the underlying events from Bream occurred in 1997, long before the original 2002 enactment of section
380.276 and the 2005 amendment adding subsection (6). Thus, the government entities involved in Bream did not have the benefit of subsection (6), and as such could not claim immunity for the occurrences in 1997. The plaintiffs’ argument that section
380.276(6) abrogated a long-standing common law right to bring a negligence claim against the City of Vero Beach and Indian River County is without merit....
...It is within the legislature’s “discretion to place limits and conditions upon the scope of the sovereign immunity waiver.” Campbell v. City of Coral Springs,
538 So.2d 1373, 1375 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989). Such discretion was exercised by the legislature in enacting section
380.276(6)....
...STEVENSON and GERBER, JJ., concur. . The defendants also argued that the complaint did not specifically allege where the drowning occurred or that it occurred within the park; they alleged only that the decedent entered through South Beach Park. . Section 380.276 Beaches and coastal areas; display of uniform warning and safety flags at public beaches; placement of uniform notification signs; beach safety education.- (1) It is the intent of the Legislature that a cooperative effort among state...
