Court Opinion

ID: 9598708
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 01:10:54.017478+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:36:50.169947
License: Public Domain

Hunstein, Justice,
dissenting.
In March 1987, Banks County enacted an ordinance to allow R & B Wastes, Inc. to operate a 20-acre landfill on a 64-acre tract. Banks County had no zoning ordinance in effect at the time of this ordinance. In July 1990, the county enacted an interim zoning ordinance, to expire in December 1990, which provided that landfills were “conditional” uses and required rezoning and/or conditional use approval from the county for the expansion or extension of landfills. Before the expiration of the interim zoning ordinance, the county enacted an amendment to the R & B landfill ordinance authorizing R & B to expand its operation onto the entire 64-acre original tract and an adjacent 77-acre tract. Thereafter, in April 1991, the county enacted a comprehensive zoning ordinance, which contained the same provision as to the conditional use of landfills as did the interim zoning ordinance. Both the interim zoning ordinance and the April 9, 1991 zoning ordinance have been held void for procedural irregularities, primarily, the county’s failure to first enact a land use policies and procedure ordinance before enacting the zoning ordinance.
In July 1991, members of the Daniel family, who own the 64-acre tract where the R & B landfill is operated as well as the approximately 423 acres surrounding the landfill tract, entered into a series of sales agreements consolidating ownership of their 487 acres in certain family members who, in turn, entered into sales and/or option contracts with Chambers of Georgia, Inc., all sales (though not all options) contingent upon the entire 487 acres being permitted for landfill use. On August 13, 1991, Banks County published proper notice of a hearing to be held on September 3 to enact a land use policies and *425procedure ordinance. Appellees’ application for a written verification letter was made one week later, on August 20, 1991. The land use policies and procedure ordinance was enacted, notice of the hearing on the zoning ordinance was published, and a second Banks County zoning ordinance (with terms identical to the April 9, 1991 ordinance) was enacted September 26, 1991.
From these facts it is apparent (1) that the county had been trying for over a year to enact a valid, comprehensive zoning ordinance; (2) that appellees were well aware1 of the county’s activities in this regard and its effect on their properties; (3) that the county was willing for appellees to expand their landfill to include not only the remaining acreage of the 64-acre tract but also the adjacent 77-acre tract (a total of 141 acres), as evidenced by the amended R & B landfill ordinance; (4) and that appellees’ application for the verification letter for the 487 acres was not filed until after the county initiated the steps to enact a valid zoning ordinance. A review of the record also reveals that although appellees claim to have expended substantial sums in the development of the 141 acres encompassed in the amended R & B landfill ordinance, as to the remaining 346 acres included in the August 20, 1991 application there is no evidence whatsoever that appellees have “ ‘made a substantial change of position in relation to the land, made substantial expenditures, or [have] incurred substantial obligations.’ [Cits.]” Barker v. Forsyth County, 248 Ga. 73, 76 (281 SE2d 549) (1981). This language from Barker states “the majority rule for vested rights.” Corey Outdoor Advertising v. Bd. of Zoning, 254 Ga. 221, 225 (4) (327 SE2d 178) (1985).
Rather than applying this rule, the majority opinion follows the minority rule, see 4 Rathkopf, The Law of Zoning & Planning (4th ed.), § 50.03 [1], that the act of applying for a building permit or a prerequisite to such a permit, such as a certificate of zoning compliance, see Clairmont Dev. Co. v. Morgan, 222 Ga. 255 (2) (149 SE2d 489) (1966), is sufficient without more to vest in the landowner the right to use the property under the zoning regulations in effect at the time of the filing of the application for the permit.2 This rule is set forth in WMM Properties v. Cobb County, 255 Ga. 436 (339 SE2d 252) (1986), rendered 11 months after this Court in Corey Outdoor Advertising, supra, quoted at length from the majority rule, as set forth in Barker, supra.
*426Georgia courts have cited with approval and applied both the majority and the minority rule in this area of the law. The majority rule, which balances the landowner’s need for stability with the local government’s need for flexibility in rezoning property by elevating stability over flexibility in those instances where the landowner has reasonably relied and expended sums on a pre-existing land use, has obvious advantages over the minority rule, which allows landowners to accomplish precisely what Banks County, as noted in its interim zoning ordinance, sought to avoid: the “manipulation of land uses in contemplation of a final zoning resolution.” As Banks County acknowledged in its interim ordinance:
The details of a land use plan and a comprehensive zoning scheme take considerable time to work out. It would be destructive to the plan and permanent zoning resolution if, during the period of incubation and consideration of the land use plan and zoning resolution, persons seeking to evade its operation should be permitted to enter upon a course of construction that would progress so far as to defeat, in whole or in part, the ultimate execution of the land use plan and zoning resolution.
The majority opinion, by applying the minority rule to the facts of the instant case, allows appellees to evade the operation of the Banks County zoning ordinance by the mere filing of an application and allows appellees, who acted with knowledge of the impending zoning ordinance, to defeat that ordinance. Even under the minority rule applied by the majority, exceptions have been recognized to preclude the vesting of rights from the mere making of an application for a permit prior to a zoning change. Rathkopf, supra at § 50.03 [1] [a]. “Probably the most significant limitation on the [minority] rule is where a zoning change is pending at the time of an application.” (Emphasis supplied.) Id. This is especially true where the evidence establishes that the landowner knew of the pending change and entered into a “ ‘race of diligence’ to see if he could secure his permit before the [local government] could complete the legislative process.” (Footnote omitted.) Id. Given the facts of this case, which clearly show appellees were not only aware of the “legislative process” but indeed actively participated in it, a reversal of the trial court’s order should be forthcoming even under the authority relied upon by the majority.
However, I dissent because I consider the instant case to present an excellent opportunity to clarify our law in this area and to adopt the majority rule:
*427Decided July 5, 1994 —
Reconsideration denied July 21, 1994.
Stewart, Melvin & Hoüse, Frank W. Armstrong, for appellants.
Peterson Dillard Young Self & Asselin, Dick Wilson, Jr., Larry M. Dingle, J. Stuart Teague, Jr., Joel L. Larkin, for appellees.
A landowner will be held to have acquired a vested right to continue and complete construction of a building or structure, and to initiate and continue a use, despite a restriction contained in an ordinance . . . where, prior to the effective date of the legislation and in reliance upon a permit validly issued, he has, in good faith, (1) made a substantial change of position in relation to the land, (2) made substantial expenditures, or (3) incurred substantial obligations.
(Footnote omitted.) Rathkopf, supra at § 50.03 [3]. See also Barker, supra. Accord Clairmont Dev. Co., supra; Cobb County v. Peavy, 248 Ga. 870 (286 SE2d 732) (1982).3 Because the trial court, by finding appellees to have a “vested right” as to the entire 487 acres set forth in the application, did not reach the issue whether appellees might have a vested right in any lesser acreage amount, specifically, the 141 acres on which appellees have asserted that they have expended “substantial sums,” I would reverse the trial court and remand the case for further hearings in this regard.
I am authorized to state that Justice Sears-Collins joins in this dissent.

 Testimony at an administrative hearing established that Don Daniel, owner of several of the parcels in issue here, was a member of the Banks County Land Use Advisory Committee which was involved in the promulgation of the April 1991 zoning ordinance.

 Although the majority uses the “vested right” language only as to the obtaining of the letter itself, the authorities relied upon hold that the right vested is to use the land consistent with the permit and/or certification of zoning compliance notwithstanding subsequent zoning and land use changes.

 Adopting the majority rule would not require disturbing the holdings in WMM, supra; Barker, supra; or Cohn Communities v. Clayton County, 257 Ga. 357 (359 SE2d 887) (1987), since those cases arose under “pre-permit issuance” instances and involved analyzing the facts to determine whether a vested right was created due to sufficient and reasonable assurances given landowners by local government officials that permits would be forthcoming and substantial expenditures were thereafter made on the basis of those assurances.