A Miami homeowner is alleging that the city is using an abusive permitting process to force residents to give up private property, a practice that a lawsuit claims could impact more than 1,000 homes across Miami.
Charles “Chad” Trausch submitted an amended lawsuit against the city on Wednesday. He originally filed the suit eight months earlier, after the city demanded he transfer part of his front yard for public right-of-way access as a condition for permitting. Trausch, who initially represented himself, filed the case in April.
In 2021, Trausch and his wife Stephanie purchased their home in the Buena Vista neighborhood, just north of the Design District, for $710,000.
While preparing for the arrival of their baby, the Trausches applied for a permit to add a two-bedroom, two-bathroom extension to their home. According to the complaint, the city’s zoning department refused to issue the permit unless Trausch granted the city a permanent deed to a portion of his front yard.
The lawsuit claims, “For twenty months, the city withheld [Trausch’s] permit because he refused to give up half his front yard.” Trausch’s attorneys allege that after legal counsel became involved, the city abruptly approved his waiver request with no explanation.
Since submitting the permit application in the spring of 2024, the cost of construction materials and labor has surged, and Trausch’s attorneys estimate it will now cost him over $200,000 to finish the addition.
Represented by Ari Bargil and Suranjan Sen of the Institute for Justice, Trausch alleges that the city has been “systematically extorting hundreds of Miami residents.” The Institute for Justice has identified 66 streets with more than 1,000 homes “at threat to this scheme.”
A spokesperson for the city indicated they would respond to The Real Deal’s request for comment, but no response had been provided at the time of this report.
Trausch’s attorneys argue that the city cannot expand a right-of-way without compensating the property owner. The lawsuit alleges that Miami’s process “subjects people to a shakedown.” The complaint accuses the city of violating the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, which safeguard against uncompensated takings of private property and protect due process rights.
Typically, when a homeowner seeks a land-use permit—such as for a home addition—the city requires an expanded right-of-way matching the property’s base building line. These base building lines are setback areas where owners cannot build, but they still retain ownership. Trausch and his legal team claim the city has instead been requiring homeowners to transfer the land by deed.
The Institute for Justice says Miami has pressured homeowners for years to deed land to the city for right-of-way purposes. In a federal case involving Trausch’s neighbor, a city employee reportedly testified that there have been “hundreds” of such demands. The city, according to the complaint, is accumulating property to eventually widen roads along the affected streets.
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