Opinion ID: 1697758
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Requirements for rezoning.

Text: ¶ 7. Bridge argues that the trial court erred in finding that rezoning was justifiable on the grounds of mistake and a change in character of the neighborhood. As this Court finds that there was no error in the trial court's determination that the rezoning was justifiable on the issue of mistake, we need not address the issue of change in character of the neighborhood. ¶ 8. Bridge argues that if a mistake was made by the Board, it was either because (1) Board members did not know what they were voting for; or (2) they changed their minds about how they should vote. Bridge claims that neither of these two reasons justifies rezoning. ¶ 9. The City argues that a local zoning authority can amend its zoning ordinance when there is a clerical or administrative mistake, but not a mistake in judgment. The City admits that a color-coding mapping error occurred for twenty lots in the Price Street area and was a clerical or administrative mistake. ¶ 10. This Court has held that a mistake within the meaning of the law is not a mistake of judgment, but, rather, a clerical or administrative mistake. New Albany v. Ray, 417 So.2d 550, 552 (Miss.1982). ¶ 11. The trial court stated: Since the early 1970's, the record indicates that both the north and south sides of Price Street were zoned RB (multi-family residential). When the comprehensive plan was adopted, a majority of the lots in the south side of Price Street were zoned R1A (single[-]family residential) but the north side of Price Street remained RB. The lots on the north and south sides of Price Street are similar, single-family houses on small lots. The record is clear that there were similar mistakes in the comprehensive plan where neighborhoods had been incorrectly zoned and these mistakes were subsequently corrected. It is entirely understandable that in the development of a comprehensive plan of this magnitude mistakes would be made which would require corrections. The Court realizes that in order to reclassify property on the criteria of a mistake in the original zoning that the mistake must not be a mistake of judgment, but rather a clerical or administrative mistake. Town of Florence [v.] Sea Lands, Ltd ., 759 So.2d 1221 (Miss.2000). The Court is of the opinion that the record clearly reflects that the error in failing to rezone the Price Street property as R1A (single[-]family residential) was not a mistake of judgment but one of omission or oversight. The issue of mistake is fairly debatable. ¶ 12. A number of Board members stated at the September 6, 2005, meeting that the zoning was a mistake. [2] Alderman Jon Fisher stated that he did not know why the Board missed the strip of houses in the Price Street neighborhood. He explained that the Board had downgraded a number of areas to protect the single-family character of Oxford and because the homes or structures in the neighborhoods did not comply with the zoning. In addition, Fisher stated that the Board should have done the same thing to Price Street. Alderman Ulysses Howell stated that if I had known that [Price Street] was zoned like this, I would have neverwould have went and I'm willing towhen the time come, I'm willing to make the motion to rezone it. ¶ 13. Alderman Janice Antonow stated: One has to do with this need to show a change in the neighborhood. We made a change in the neighborhood when we adopted the comprehensive plan. We changed the zoning in property adjacent to this property on Price Street. We changed it from RA to RE. That is a change in that neighborhood. We changed the zoning of the property directly across the street. It was RB; and we changed it to RN. So we upgraded the zoning in all the property adjacent to this property that's up for rezoning, and yet we overlooked that strip of houses on Price Street. And I apologize. I feel thatlike some of the rest of us do, that we dropped the ball. If I had seen this, I would never have allowed an RB zoning to be sandwiched between RA and RE. It doesn't even make any sense. The Board voted unanimously to rezone the Price Street property. ¶ 14. We find that the testimony of the Board members shows that the Board made an administrative mistake by not including all of the Price Street neighborhood in the rezoning. The Board had an objective in the comprehensive plan and merely overlooked the portion of Price Street at issue. The testimony of the Board showed that the members were not aware of the fact that the RB zoning remained in effect after the zoning. The trial court did not err by finding that the issue of mistake was fairly debatable.