Gay v. City of Beaufort, 3980.

• Decision Date: 18 April 2005
• Docket Number: No. 3980.,3980.
• Citation: 612 S.E.2d 467,364 S.C. 252
• Court: South Carolina Supreme Court
• Parties: Walter L. GAY, d/b/a Sandlapper Tours, Appellant, v. The CITY OF BEAUFORT, Respondent.

612 S.E.2d 467

364 S.C. 252

Walter L. GAY, d/b/a Sandlapper Tours, Appellant, v. The CITY OF BEAUFORT, Respondent.

No. 3980.

Court of Appeals of South Carolina.

Submitted March 1, 2005.

Decided April 18, 2005.

Appeal from the Circuit Court, Beaufort County, Curtis L. Coltrane, Special Circuit Court Judge.

Walter L. Gay, of St. Helena, Pro Se, for Appellant.

William B. Harvey, III, of Beaufort, for Respondent.

HEARN, C.J.

This is an appeal from the trial court's decision affirming the Beaufort City Council's revocation of Walter Gay's business license to conduct tours in the historic district of Beaufort. We affirm.¹

FACTS

On August 5, 2002, the City of Beaufort granted Walter Gay, doing business as Sandlapper Trolleys, a business license for the purposes of conducting tours through Beaufort, including the historic district. Within the next few days, the city told Gay the license would be revoked because his tour vehicle was considered a "trolley" under Beaufort City Ordinance section 7-11002 and, therefore, could not be used in the historic district.

Gay wrote a letter to the city manager requesting that the city council reconsider revoking his license. Alternatively, he asked that the city ordinance prohibiting the use of trolleys in the historic district be changed. The city council referred the matter to the city manager and city attorney and further requested Beaufort's Tourist Management Advisory Commission ("Commission") to review the ordinance and give a recommendation.

In 2003, based on the Commission's recommendation that the vehicle was considered a "trolley" for purposes of the ordinance as well as statements by several of the individuals who created the ordinance, the city council voted to revoke Gay's license. Gay appealed to the circuit court, which affirmed the decision of the city council. This appeal followed.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

Where the city council of a municipality has acted after considering all of the facts, the court should not disturb the finding unless such action is arbitrary, unreasonable, or an obvious abuse of its discretion. Bob Jones Univ., Inc. v. City of Greenville, 243 S.C. 351, 360, 133 S.E.2d 843, 847 (1963). This court will not disturb on appeal such findings of the city council, concurred in by a circuit judge, unless they are without evidentiary support or against the clear preponderance of the evidence. Id. at 363, 133 S.E.2d at 848 (referring specifically to the findings of a master-in-equity, which affirmed the actions of a city council).

LAW/ANALYSIS

Gay claims the trial court erred in affirming Beaufort City Council's decision to revoke his license to conduct tours through the historic district because his tour vehicle is not a "theme vehicle," as defined by the city ordinance. We disagree.

The City of Beaufort Ordinance § 7-11003 provides that "[t]heme vehicles other than horse-drawn carriages ... may not be utilized for touring purposes in the historic district." The ordinances further define "theme vehicle" in the following manner:

A vehicle whose design, shape, form, color, signage, or accoutrements is intended to create a particular identity and to call special attention to that vehicle, such as a horse-drawn carriage, trolley, pedicab, snail vehicle, or articulated vehicle. Touring vehicles displaying commercial or institutional identification in a customary fashion shall not be considered theme vehicles.

Ordinance § 7-11002. (Emphasis added.)

Gay considered his tour vehicle a "trolley," as evidenced by his trade name "Sandlapper Trolleys" and the content of his letter to the city manager. In that letter Gay referred to his tour vehicle as a "trolley" numerous times. For example, he stated,...