Coweta County v. City of Senoia, 275 Ga. 707

Summary

The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed a trial court judgment concerning an agreement between Coweta County and the City of Senoia regarding conditions imposed on annexation. The court held that the parties formed an agreement, that the agreed 1.6-acre requirement did not apply where a permanently undevelopable buffer—not developed lots—occupied the common boundary, and that the County failed to preserve its challenges to the legality of the annexation for appeal.

Holdings

1. The trial court correctly found that the County and City entered into an agreement concerning the annexation conditions; a written response to the County planning director was not a required term of the agreement because the county commission did not impose that requirement.
2. The plat complied with the mitigative measure because it contained no developed lots on the City-County boundary, and the measure applied only to lots developed on that boundary.
3. The trial court correctly found that the County did not follow the non-agreement procedures in the Memorandum of Agreement.
4. The issue was not properly before the Supreme Court because the County did not raise the claims in its pleadings or pretrial order and the trial court did not consider them.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the County and City formed an agreement concerning the conditions of annexation despite the City's failure to respond in writing to a planning director's request.
2. Whether the City's plat complied with the mitigative measure requiring all lots developed along the common boundary to have a minimum size of 1.6 acres.
3. Whether the County followed the non-agreement procedures in the parties' Memorandum of Agreement.
4. Whether the City's annexation was illegal because the City allegedly failed to comply with its own ordinances and the Georgia Zoning Procedures Law when those claims were not raised in the trial court.

Disposition

affirmed