Days after the city of Miami Beach filed a similar case, Fort Lauderdale has challenged the legality of directives by the Florida Department of Transportation to remove art and markings on streets.Fort Lauderdale filed its challenge Monday at the state Division of Administrative Hearings, arguing that the department did not go through a legally required rule-making process.
Such directives went to local governments across the state and have drawn heavy attention, in part, because they required removing LGBTQ-themed rainbow crosswalks.
Department’s memorandum sparks controversy
The department issued a memorandum on June 30 about removing markings and followed with letters on Aug. 21 and Aug. 29 to Fort Lauderdale alleging violations at 11 locations, according to documents included in Monday’s filing.
The challenge contends that the memorandum and letters constituted rules under state law and that the department needed to go through a formal process to adopt them. Rulemaking processes, for example, likely would include steps such as opening the issues for public comment…