MIAMI — The Third District Court of Appeal of the State of Florida partially reversed an order denying injunctive relief to ASA College.
The appeal is from a non-final order from Miami-Dade County Circuit Court. It was heard by Judges Kevin Emas, Edwin A. Scales III and Robert J. Luck.
ASA College was denied temporary injunctive relief and Dezer Intracoastal Mall was granted the relief by the trial court. ASA appealed the order, according to the June 20 opinion authored by Emas
The appeals court reversed the denial of the motion pertaining to ASA and affirmed the order granting Dezer's motion.
Dezer purchased property in the Intercoastal Mall in North Miami Beach in 2013 and ASA purchased a separate property in the mall. Both properties were subject to an easement.
When ASA began operating a college in its property, Dezer allegedly attempted to limit the number of parking spaces in the common parking areas used by ASA, and erected fences and implemented a window sticker system to continue to limit ASA patrons from parking in the common parking areas.
ASA then sued Dezer, seeking injunctive relief. Dezer filed a counterclaim, also seeking injunctive relief.
The court denied ASA's motion for a temporary injunction on the parking lot issue and granted Dezer's motion, which temporarily enjoined ASA from operating its college in the mall property. ASA appealed.
The appeals court ruled that the trial court erred in its "construction of the [Reciprocal Easement Agreement (REA)] and that" ASA satisfied the likelihood on the merits prong.
"We find no abuse of discretion in the trial court’s decision to temporarily enjoin ASA from operating a college on the Office Parcel, pending a final decision on the merits," Emas wrote.
The trial court's order was affirmed in part and reversed in part.