Appellant East Georgia Land and Development Company, LLC EGL purchased 427 acres of land in Newton County, Georgia, for the purpose of constructing a landfill. As part of its application for a landfill permit from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, EGL requested a letter of zoning compliance from the Newton County Board of Commissioners Board as required by OCGA § 12-8-24 g. On August 25, 1997, the Board declined to issue the letter based on its interpretation that a landfill was not a permitted use under the Newton County zoning ordinance enacted on May 21, 1985. EGL appealed that decision to the Newton County Board of Zoning Appeals BZA, which upheld the decision and denied the appeal. On December 19, 1997, EGL commenced a multi-count suit which included a request for review of the decision of the BZA as well as a request for a writ of mandamus requiring issuance of the zoning compliance letter. EGL contended that it was entitled to the issuance of a letter as a matter of law because the zoning ordinance was not validly enacted. In an April 13, 2000 order that was issued in response to cross-motions for summary judgment, the trial court stated that the threshold issue was whether the zoning ordinance was valid and thus whether mandamus should be granted, and it held that all other claims would be deferred until the determination of the threshold issue. EGL attacked the validity of the zoning ordinance in two ways. First, it argued that the zoning ordinance was effectively lost and unprovable by the fact that it was neither clearly identified in nor attached to the minutes of the May 21, 1985 meeting during which the ordinance was adopted. After the trial court ruled that the County could not rely on parol evidence to prove the contents of the ordinance, a County probate judge filed a petition pursuant to OCGA § 24-8-1 et seq. seeking to establish a copy of the zoning ordinance. The trial court established the copy as an original, and this Court affirmed in East Ga. Land and Development Co. v. Baker , 286 Ga. 551 690 SE2d 145 2010. Subsequently, in an order filed on December 20, 2010, the trial court found that the judgment as affirmed in that case rendered moot the argument made by EGL that the zoning ordinance was not attached to the minutes and granted summary judgment in favor of the County on this issue. EGL attacked the validity of the zoning ordinance a second way, by arguing that it is unenforceable because zoning maps had not been properly adopted by the County, thereby making the ordinance void due to indefiniteness or vagueness. In the same December 20, 2010 order, the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the County on this issue as well, holding that the zoning ordinance was not indefinite. The trial court also stated that “as a result, the zoning administrator of Newton County had no authority to issue the compliance letter to EGL as a matter of law.” EGL appeals from this order.
1. EGL contends that the trial court erred in holding that Baker mooted any issue regarding whether the original zoning ordinance was invalid for not being attached to the minutes of the May 21, 1985 meeting.
