
Steven Herzberg
The Miami Lakes Town Council has unanimously agreed to challenge a Florida law that shields the rock mining industry from civil lawsuits brought by those who suffer property damage as a result of such mining operations.
Council members voted June 17 on a memorandum authored by Councilman Steven Herzberg that authorizes the town to move forward on filing a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a Florida statute, Section 552.36. That measure stripped property owners of their power to use traditional courts and jury trials to resolve disputes involving damage from rock lime mining, including those operations in South Florida, according to Herzberg.
Under the statute, property damage from rock mining must be judged through claims filed only with the state Division of Administrative Hearings. The result has been unreasonable time limitations and evidentiary burdens, according to critics of the law.
Herzberg, who is an attorney, told the Florida Record in an email that the statute may pose multiple state and federal constitutional violations and that city officials are evaluating which venue is best for filing the case.
“Assuming we file in state court, my understanding is filing must occur in Leon County, and I believe that is the most likely route, but options are open for discussion right now,” he said. “Those things and many other matters will be discussed in detail between myself and our town attorney. Thereafter, the town attorney, after meeting with other members, can make his determination on the proper course of action.”
The city’s legal complaint could be ready to file by September, according to Herzberg.
“I discussed at the meeting last week that I would want to have a filing done in around 90 days,” he said. “Obviously there is no hard set date, but I believe that is a realistic timeline as we are now coordinating with legal counsel and reaching out to other jurisdictions that may wish to join or support the effort.”
The town’s representative in the state’s House of Representatives, Republican Tom Fabricio, has filed bills to address the town’s rock mining concerns and the industry’s impact on property and infrastructure, but no bill has received a full hearing, according to Herzberg’s memorandum seeking legal action.
“... The collective failure of the Legislature to correct it over time has left communities like ours without recourse,” the memorandum says. “Therefore, Miami Lakes is left without a path forward under current law.”
Herzberg said blasting impacts caused by the rock lime mining operations in South Florida include damage to sidewalks, buildings, canal banks and underground infrastructure. The current shield the industry has against complaints filed in the traditional court system may unconstitutionally deprive parties of their right to judicial redress in Article 1 of the Florida Constitution, according to the memorandum, and it may infringe on due-process rights under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
“It sets a dangerous precedent: If left unchallenged, it sends a clear message that any politically connected industry can seek insulation from judicial oversight by legislating its way out of accountability,” Herzberg said in his memo. “This is not regulation, it is an exclusion.”
He stressed that the city would not be seeking to shut down the industry, just to hold it accountability for its actions.
The Miami Dade Limestone Products Association did not respond to a request for comment about the lawsuit. But the association’s website points out that Florida ranks No. 2 behind Texas as one of the top producers of crushed stone in 2022. Quarries in Miami-Dade supply more than 50% of the construction aggregates used throughout Florida, and the industry has an economic multiplier effect by creating jobs in other sectors, including trucking and construction, the association reports.