Legacy Investment Group, LLC “Legacy” sought approval from the DeKalb County Planning Commission to develop a subdivision of 124 townhomes. The Monterey Community Council, Johnnie Fogle, and Jamie White collectively, “property owners” opposed the development, asserting that it violated several DeKalb County ordinances. Nonetheless, the Planning Commission approved the plan in February 2005.1 The property owners filed an action for declaratory judgment and injunctive relief in DeKalb County, seeking to clarify the validity of the plat approved by the Planning Commission. Specifically, the property owners contend that because the Planning Commission did not comply with relevant DeKalb County Ordinances “DCOs” regarding the plat-approval process, its approval of the plat was void and ultra vires. In the alternative, the property owners filed a petition for certiorari, challenging the Planning Commission’s approval of the plat. The crux of the property owners’ complaint was that the Planning Commission’s approval did not comport with applicable ordinances. The property owners filed an amended complaint thereafter, raising a constitutional challenge to the DCO that governs appeals from the Commission’s decisions.
Legacy and DeKalb County moved to dismiss the property owners’ claims in their entirety. The trial court granted the motions to dismiss, concluding that 1 the property owners’ claim for declaratory judgment/injunctive relief should be dismissed because a writ of certiorari was the proper mechanism for relief pursuant to DCO § 14-95 e; 2 the petition for a writ of certiorari should be dismissed because the property owners failed to file a properly executed certificate of payment of costs, as required by Georgia’s certiorari statute2; 3 the property owners waived their constitutional challenge to the DCO by failing to raise it to the Commission; and 4 the constitutional challenge lacked substantive merit. Thereafter, the property owners filed an application for discretionary appeal, which we granted, and this appeal followed. For the reasons that follow, we reverse.
