Fayette County v. Seagraves, 35795
Citation | 245 Ga. 196,264 S.E.2d 13 |
Decision Date | 05 February 1980 |
Docket Number | No. 35795,35795 |
Parties | FAYETTE COUNTY v. SEAGRAVES. |
Court | Supreme Court of Georgia |
Glaze, McNally & Glaze, William R. McNally, Charles B. Graham, Jr., Jonesboro, for appellant.
Robert A. Blackwood, III, Peachtree City, for appellee.
In 1971, the appellant-plaintiff, Fayette County, enacted the Fayette County Zoning Ordinance, placing the property in the county under various zoning restrictions. Property owned by the appellee-defendant, Seagraves, was zoned Agricultural-Residential (A-R). The use of mobile homes is prohibited in such zoning districts. See Matthews v. Fayette County, 233 Ga. 220, 210 S.E.2d 758 (1974). The defendant had used two mobile homes on his property for many years prior to passage of the county zoning ordinance. Therefore, the defendant's mobile homes constituted legal, nonconforming uses. See Code Ann. § 69-1208 (Ga.L.1957, pp. 420, 426); Fayette County Zoning Ordinance, § 8-3. (Sections of the Fayette County Zoning Ordinance will be referred to hereafter by section number only.)
In 1978, one of the defendant's mobile homes was destroyed by fire. Although the Zoning Board of Appeals of Fayette County denied the defendant a permit, he put up another mobile home on his property. The county then brought this suit for an interlocutory and permanent injunction. The superior court denied both, and the county appeals.
Where a structure containing a nonconforming use has been "razed or damaged by fire, flood, wind or Act of God," county zoning ordinances permit such structure to be reconstructed "if the damage totals less than seventy-five percent (75%) of the value of the structure." § 8-5. The term "structure" is defined as, § 2-37. County zoning ordinances also define "mobile home" as, "a detached dwelling unit built upon a chassis and designed for transportation, after fabrication, not otherwise in compliance with the building code of Fayette County, on streets or highways on its own wheels, on a flatbed or other trailer and arriving at the site where it is to be occupied as a dwelling, complete and ready for occupancy except for minor and incidental unpacking operation, location on jacks or other temporary and/or permanent foundations, connection to utilities and the like." § 2-37.1.
At the hearing on the application for interlocutory injunction, the defendant testified that the mobile home had been destroyed by fire and that it had a value of approximately $400; however, a septic tank, well pump, and utility connections some of which were new have a value of approximately $700. These latter items were not destroyed by the fire.
After conducting a hearing on the county's petition for interlocutory injunction, the superior court ruled that the term "structure," as used in the county zoning ordinance, is broad enough to include not only the mobile home, but also the septic tank, well pump, and utility connections attached to the mobile home. Since, under the evidence submitted, the damage to the structure did not exceed 75% of its value, the superior court held that the defendant could continue to use the new mobile home on his property as a legal, nonconforming use. The superior court entered an order finding that the defendant had not violated the county zoning ordinance and denying the county's petition for a permanent injunction. Held :
1. We affirm the superior court's ruling that the language of the...
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