Café Risque/We Bare All Exit 10, Inc. v. Camden County, 273 Ga. 451

Summary

The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed dismissal of a mandamus petition seeking an occupational license and reinstatement of a special use permit. The court held that the permit for a warehouse in an Interchange Commercial zoning district was void from inception because the county zoning ordinance did not authorize warehouses there, and therefore the permit could not be transferred or support estoppel. The county properly denied the occupational license because the proposed use was unlawful under the zoning code.

Holdings

1. A special use permit issued for a warehouse in a zoning district where warehouses were not authorized by the county zoning ordinance was an ultra vires act and was void from its inception.
2. The County properly revoked the void permit, and the purported transfer of special-use rights to Café Risque conveyed no enforceable rights.
3. Café Risque was not entitled to mandamus relief compelling reinstatement of the special use permit or issuance of an occupational license.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the County's special use permit for a warehouse in an Interchange Commercial zoning district was void because the zoning ordinance did not authorize that use.
2. Whether the permit could be transferred to Café Risque or support an occupational license.
3. Whether Café Risque was entitled to mandamus relief compelling reinstatement of the permit and issuance of an occupational license.

Disposition

affirmed