# C o u rt o f

A p p ea ls

o f t h e S t a te o f

G eo rg ia

ATLANTA,_

_ _ __ _ _ __ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ __ _
Th e Co u rt

o f Ap p ea l s h er eb y p a s s es t h e f

o ll owi n g o r der :

A2 2 D0 4 0 8

. BULLDOG FLI P FLOP HOUSE, LLC v . THE UNI FI ED GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS-CLARKE COUNTY.

Seek i n g t o m ak e ch an g es t o a h o u s e it o wn s in a h i s t o ri c d i s tri ct , Bu l l d o g Fl ip

F l o p Ho u s e, L LC (“ Bu l l d o g ”), ap p l ied t o th e A t h en s-Cl ark e Co u n t y Hi s t o ri c Pres e r v at i o n Co m

m i s s i o n (“ HPC”) fo r a cert ifi cat e o f ap p ro p ri at en es s

. Th e HPC

co n du ct ed a p u bl i c h eari ng t o co n s i d er Bu l l d o g’ s ap p l i cat i o n , a t w h i ch Bu l l d o g
p res en t ed it s p ro p o s ed d es i g n an d al s o rai s ed o b j ect i o n s to t h e c o n s t i t u ti o n al i t y o f

t h e At h en s -Cl ark e Co u n t y o rd i n an ces g ov ern i ng h i st o ri c p res erv at io n an d

a p p l i cat i o n s fo r cert i fi cat es o f ap p ro p ri at en es s

. 1 Aft er t h e h eari n g, t h e HPC d e n i e d

t h e ap p l i cat i o n

. Bu l l d o g ap p eal ed t he deci s i o n t o t h e M ay o r an d Co m m i s s i o n o f
At h en s -Cl ark e Co u n ty , wh i ch u p h el d t he d eci s i o n

. Bu l l d og t h en fi l ed a p et i t i o n fo r wri t o f cert i o rari
, wri t o f m an d am u s an d d ecl arat o ry j u d gm en t i n s u peri o r co u rt ,

co n ten d in g i n t er al i a th at At h en s -Cl ark e Co u nt y Ord i n an ces § § 8 -5 -5 (d ) (1 ) an d (2 ),
ad o pt ed p u rs u an t t o t h e Geo rg i a Hi s t o ri c Pres erv at i o n Act (OCGA § 4 4

- 1 0

- 2 0 et

s eq .), are u n co n s t i t u t i o n al

. Th e s u peri o r co u rt d en i ed t h e w ri t o f cert i o rari
, ex p res s l y reject i n g Bu l l d o g ’ s ch al l en ge t o t h e co n s t i t u t i o n al i t y o f t h e o rd i n an ces , fi n d i n g t h at

t h e o rd i n an ces are co n s ti t ut i o n al an d were ap p l ied ap p ro p ri at el y . Bu l l do g fi l ed t h i s
ap p l i cat i o n fo r d is cret i o n ary ap p eal fro m th at ru l i ng , s eek i ng t o ap peal t h e co urt ’ s

1 See At h en s -Cl ark e Co u n t y Ord i n an ces Sec. 8 -5 -1 et s eq

. (“ Hi s t o ri c Pres erv at i o n ”). June 23, 2022fi nd i ng t h at t h e o rd i n an ces are co n s t i tu t io n al

. 2

T h e Su prem e Co u rt o f Geo rg ia “ has ex cl u s i v e ju ri s d i ct i o n o v er al l ca s e s i n v o l v i n g co n s t ru ct i o n o f t h e Co n s t i t u t i on o f t h e St at e of Geo rg i a an d o f t h e Un i t ed
St at es an d al l cas es i n w h ich t he co n s t i t u t i o n al i t y o f a l aw, o rd i nan ce, o r

co n st i t u t io n al pro vi s io n h as b een cal l ed in t o q u es t i o n

. ” At la n t a In d ep en d en t S ch o ol
S ys t em v. La ne , 2 6 6 Ga. 6 57
, 6 5 7 (1 ) (4 6 9 SE2 d 2 2 ) (1 99 6 ) (ci ti n g G a

. C o n s t

. o f
1 9 8 3
, Art

. VI, Sec. VI, Par. II (1 )). Becau s e t he s u pe ri o r co u rt reject ed Bu l l d o g ’ s ch al l en g e t o t h e co n s ti t u t i o n al i t y of t h e o rd i n an ces , i t ap p ears t h at ju ri sd i ct i o n o v er
t h i s ap pl i cat i o n m ay li e i n t h e Su p rem e Co u rt

. A s t h e Su p rem e Co u rt h as t h e u l t i m at e

res p o n s i b i l i t y

fo r d et erm i n in g ap pel l at e ju ri s d i ct i o n, see S a xt o n v. Co as t a l Di a l

ys i s & Med

. Cl i n i c , 2 6 7 Ga. 1 77 , 1 7 8 (4 7 6 SE2 d 5 8 7 ) (1 99 6 ), t h i s ap pl i cat io n i s h ereb y TRANSFERRED t o t h e Su prem e Co u rt fo r d i sp o si t io n

. See In t h e In t er es t o f T. B
., Cas e No

. S2 1 A1 1 2 0 ( N o v

. 1
, 2 0 2 1 ) (n o t i n g th at t h e Co u rt o f A p p eal s l ack ed ju ri s d i ct i o n to d eci d e ap p l i cat i o n b ecau s e t h e Su p rem e Co urt h as ex cl u s i v e ap p el l at e ju ri s d i ct i o n o v er n o v el co n s t it u t i o n al q u es t i o n s).

C o u r t o f A p p e a l s o f t h e S t a t e o

f G e o r g ia C le r k ’ s O f f i c e , A t la n t a ,

_

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ I c e r ti fy t h a t t h e a b o v e i s a t r u e e x t r a c t f r o m
t h e m i n u t e s o

f t h e C o u r t o

f A p p e a l s o f G e o r g i a

. W i tn e s s m y s i g n a t u r e a n d th e s e a l o

f s a i d c o u r t h e r e t o a f f i x e d t h e d a y a n d y e a r l a s t a b o v e w r i t t e n

.

, C l e r k

.

2 T h e s u p eri or co urt fo u n d t h e p et i t i o n fo r m an d am u s rel i ef an d d ecl arat o r y ju d g m en t i n ap pro pri at e i n t h i s cas e, an d th u s co ns i d ered o n l y t h e p et i ti o n fo r wri t o f
cert io rari

. 06/23/2022