County victorious in No Name power lawsuit
BY TERRY SCHMIDA
The fight over connecting No Name Key homes to the commercial electrical grid has long been over but the shouting. Now that’s over too, as a federal judge recently agreed with the county that it shouldn’t have to pay damages and legal fees to the two families who initiated the lawsuit to power up the remote island, near Big Pine Key.
“It was a frivolous lawsuit, and I’m certainly glad we won it,” said District Three Commissioner Heather Carruthers. “Still, I can’t help thinking, what a waste of taxpayer dollars to have to deal with it at all.”
 In mid-March, lawyers for both the county, and the Reynolds and Newton families of No Name went before Judge James Lawrence King to request a summary judgement, or a verdict without a trial. On Friday, March 20, King ruled that the county had not discriminated against the clans, under the “Equal Protection Clause” of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, by refusing to honor an earlier decision to allow them to connect to the power poles.
The county had claimed that it was merely following the letter of its land-use policies, which rigorously restrict development in low-lying and environmentally sensitive areas, such as the Coastal Barrier Resource Area where the two families live. County officials had, however, continued to grant permits to nearby neighbors not in the sensitive area, to hook up.
“[The county] continued to grant electric permits to residents in already-electrified areas (Big Pine Key) and refused to grant permits to residents in non-electrified areas (No Name Key),” King found. “In other words, it treated dissimilarly situated persons dissimilarly, which does not violate the Equal Protection clause. The undisputed evidence shows that plaintiffs were not treated differently than similarly situated persons.”
The county also claimed to have been bolstered in its position by state development regulators, to whom it had refered the complicated matter for consideration.
King was not swayed by an affidavit asserting that former Monroe County building official Jerry Smith had initially provided the Newton family a building permit to connect, only to see it later rescinded by his overseers.
County lawyer Bob Shillinger on March 20 made public a press release on the case, in which he stated “We are pleased with Judge King’s well-reasoned and thoughtful decision.”
The attorney for the No Name plaintiffs, Bart Smith, has 30 days from the decision to decide whether or not to appeal. The two families were seeking about $10 million.

 

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