Head v. DeKalb County

The Druid Hills Civic Association, Inc. and three individual homeowners sued DeKalb County, the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners, and Dr. John Rock, seeking a declaration as to the zoning status of certain property owned by Dr. Rock. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of Dr. Rock, holding that the lawsuit was untimely and that the plaintiffs lacked standing to bring it. We granted the plaintiffs’ application for discretionary appeal. Because the trial court erroneously treated this case as an appeal of a zoning decision, we reverse the trial court’s ruling.

The ultimate issue in this case revolves around the meaning of Section 9 a 10 of the DeKalb County Organizational Act, which states that “no planning or zoning ordinance shall become law unless approved by the member of the Commission representing the district in which the subject property is located, or by one of the members of the Commission elected from the county at large.”1 When this provision was originally enacted, the county commission consisted of five district members and two members elected from the county at large.2 Subsequently, however, the act was amended to eliminate the two at-large seats, replacing them with “superdistrict” commissioners.3 These superdistrict commissioners were not elected from the entire county; rather, the county was divided into two superdistricts, with one commissioner elected from each.4 While the legislature eliminated the two at-large seats, however, it did not amend Section 9 a 10, which requires that any zoning ordinance be approved by the appropriate district commissioner or a commissioner “elected from the county at large.”