Court Opinion

ID: 9623597
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 06:37:24.584022+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:05:31.642168
License: Public Domain

Hill, Chief Justice,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
I join the first division of the opinion of the court and, as to it, I write separately to state a “rule of thumb” which, although to me very practical in cases such as this, may not be sufficiently legalistic to warrant adoption as a rule of law. In Brand v. Wilson, 252 Ga. 416 (314 SE2d 192) (1984), we adopted a two step test for standing. I respectfully submit that in practice a neighbor who can see, hear or smell the proposed development, if its sight, sound or odor be offensive, has standing under the Brand v. Wilson test. Certainly, an adjacent property owner, whose property touches the property to be developed, has standing to object to its rezoning, or the allowance of a variance. Because this “rule of thumb” is satisfied in this case, I join Division 1 of the majority opinion.
However, I must dissent to Division 2. In that division, the majority rely upon International Funeral Services, Inc. v. DeKalb County, 244 Ga. 707 (261 SE2d 625) (1979). In that case the variance was denied by the county, and the applicant sought to show the court *51that denial of the variance was arbitrary, capricious or an abuse of discretion. Here the variance was granted by the county. Therefore it was not necessary for the applicant to justify or establish in court its right to the variance, as the trial court concluded (with the majority’s approval). Instead, the burden of proof in court was on the opponents, the plaintiffs, to show fraud, corruption or manifest abuse of the power to grant variances to the oppression of the neighbors. See Cross v. Hall County, 238 Ga. 709, 711 (235 SE2d 379) (1977). I therefore dissent.
I am authorized to state that Presiding Justice Marshall and Justice Weltner join in this dissent as to Division 2 of the majority opinion.