Hopping v. Cobb County Fair Ass'n, Inc.
| Decision Date | 10 November 1966 |
| Docket Number | No. 23742,23742 |
| Citation | 222 Ga. 704,152 S.E.2d 356 |
| Parties | H. P. HOPPING et al. v. COBB COUNTY FAIR ASSOCIATION, INC., et al. |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
Lawrence B. Custer, Marietta, for appellants.
Edwards, Bentley, Awtrey & Parker, A. Sidney Parker, J. M. Grubbs, Jr., Marietta, for appellees.
Syllabus Opinion by the Court
This is an equitable suit brought by adjoining landowners of certain described property which had been rezoned by the Cobb County Board of Commissioners to enjoin the Cobb County Fair Association, Inc., from developing the property for fairground and recreation purposes. The petition alleges that the action of the Board of Commissioners in rezoning the property so that the Fair Association could conduct a county fair thereon was illegal and void for stated reasons. Hence, the plaintiffs were entitled to a decree declaring the action of the board null and void and an injunction restraining the association from proceeding with development of the land. The trial judge sustained the defendants' renewed general demurrers to the petition as amended and the plaintiffs appeal to this court.
In their petition the plaintiffs attack the validity of the board's action in rezoning the property in question based on two principal grounds, a determination as to the legal effect of which we deem to be dispositive of the case. Held:
1. The plaintiffs contend that the rezoning of the property is in violation of the Cobb County Zoning Regulations since under those regulations a county fair does not come within the contemplation of the class of property to which the instant property was rezoned, that is, 'R Single Family Dwelling District.'
The Cobb County Zoning Regulations, relating to 'R,' provide: 'On approval of the Planning Commission, after review of the application and public hearing thereon, the following uses may be permitted-(among which are) (f) Athletic fields, race tracks and speedways and recreation areas or structures for public or private uses.' We recognize the rule: 'Zoning ordinances not only must be non-discriminatory and reasonable, but must be applied in a non-discriminatory and reasonable manner and are to be strictly construed in favor of the landowner.' City of Rome v. Shadyside, etc. Gardens, 93 Ga.App. 759, 763, 92 S.E.2d 734, 736. Duncan v. Entrekin, 211 Ga. 311, 85 S.E.2d 771. However, even strictly construing the zoning regulation, a county fair or fairground would clearly come within the meaning of a recreational facility as countenanced by the regulation. There is no merit to this contention of the plaintiffs.
2. The plaintiffs urge that, since the board of...
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...to permit such use, see: Schumm v. Board of Supervisors (1956) 140 Cal.App.2d 874, 295 P.2d 934; Hopping v. Cobb County Fair Association, Inc. (1966) 222 Ga. 704, 152 S.E.2d 356; Hood v. Winding-Vista Recreation, Inc. (1966) 222 Ga. 345, 149 S.E.2d 784; Berberich v. Concordia Gymnastic Soci......
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