Summary
The Supreme Court of Georgia held that a county's pre-amendment zoning ordinance was unconstitutionally vague as applied to short-term rentals (seven-night stays) because it failed to provide fair notice of what rental durations were prohibited, rendering the use "grandfathered" and not subject to the amended ordinance's explicit ban on rentals under 30 days. The court affirmed dismissal of a criminal citation for violating the amended ordinance, reasoning that the old ordinance's silence on rental duration and reliance on undefined "residential" terms did not give a person of ordinary intelligence fair warning that week-long rentals were unlawful. Key topics: vagueness (as-applied), due process, nonconforming/grandfathered use, short-term rental regulation, and zoning ordinance interpretation.
Holdings
- The old zoning ordinance was unconstitutionally vague as applied because it failed to provide fair warning that fewer-than-30-day rentals were prohibited and encouraged arbitrary enforcement.
Questions Presented
- Whether the old zoning ordinance was unconstitutionally vague as applied to seven-night rentals of May's property, so that her use was grandfathered and not subject to the amended ordinance's prohibition.
Disposition
affirmed
Cases Cited (7)
- Parker v. City of Glennville, 288 Ga. 34, 35, 701 S.E.2d 182 (2010)(cited)
- Haugen v. Henry County, 277 Ga. 743, 744-745, 594 S.E.2d 324 (2004)(cited)
- Dozier v. Baker, 283 Ga. 543, 545, 661 S.E.2d 543 (2008)(cited)
- Conrad v. Conrad, 278 Ga. 107, 108, 597 S.E.2d 369 (2004)(cited)
- Rockdale County v. Burdette, 278 Ga. 755, 756, 604 S.E.2d 820 (2004)(cited)
- BBC Land & Dev., Inc. v. Butts County, 281 Ga. 472, 473, 640 S.E.2d 33 (2007)(cited)
- May v. Morgan County, 343 Ga.App. 255, 260-262, 807 S.E.2d 28 (2017)(cited)
Cited In (0)
No citing cases on record yet.