Court Opinion

ID: 9571016
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 20:28:28.459585+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:26:12.029597
License: Public Domain

*786Ingram, Justice,
concurring.
I concur in the judgment requiring a rehearing in the trial court and agree that an independent determination can be made by a court of equity whether or not a particular zoning (or re-zoning) decision of a county governing authority is illegal and void. See, Hopping v. Cobb County Fair Assn., 222 Ga. 704 (152 SE2d 356). However, I would add that the courts have no right to invade the province of the other departments of the government to review the merits of decisions made by the executive and legislative branches in the proper exercise of their constitutional powers. The Constitution of Georgia places the exclusive zoning power of a county in the governing authority and only the county governing authority can zone or re-zone property. Humthlett v. Reeves, 212 Ga. 8 (90 SE2d 14). Any judicial review of the exercise of this constitutionally delegated power must be limited to questions which reach the level of constitutional protections. It is the conflict between the competing constitutional powers of the county governing authority and the constitutional rights of the citizen that justify interference by the judiciary to achieve a constitutional balance. This objective is illustrated by prior decisions of this court. For example, there must be a notice and an opportunity for interested parties to be heard before a decision is made by the governing authority and there must be a meaningful hearing. Pendley v. Lake Harbin Civic Assn., 230 Ga. 631 (198 SE2d 503). The action taken by the governing authority must not be arbitrary or unreasonable. E.g., see Tuggle v. Manning, 224 Ga. 29 (159 SE2d 703). But, if there is any evidence to sustain the action taken by the governing authority, the courts have no right to overturn that action. Again, the reason is that the power of the governing authority to make a zoning decision is rooted in the Constitution and it ought not to be interfered with when exercised consistently with constitutional safeguards. See, Hunt v. McCollum, 214 Ga. 809 (108 SE2d 275).
We have seen that a meaningful hearing is *787mandated by constitutional due process requirements of fundamental fairness. This would also mean that a member of a county governing authority should not act on a zoning or re-zoning question in which he, or any member of his immediate family, has a financial interest not shared by the public generally. But, beyond the duty of the court to pass upon such questions of self interest, which infect due process fairness, there is a vast area of legislative motivations in which the courts have no right or expertise to explore under our constitutional scheme. Therefore, I do not believe the court properly can explore into the background of zoning decisions and effectively second-guess the judgment of city or county governing authorities. Any tendency toward a broader judicial review of zoning decisions is contrary to Hunt v. McCollum, supra, and I believe tends to erode the zoning power expressly delegated to county and city governing authorities in our state by the Georgia Constitution.