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Metzler v. Rowell

The Anti-SLAPP Act protected defendants from plaintiff's suit for tortious interference because they had a legitimate concern about plaintiff's attempt to rezone his property.

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In this appeal we consider the application of OCGA § 9-11-11.1, the Georgia anti-SLAPP Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation statute, to a dispute between a landowner seeking to rezone a parcel of land in the Morningside community for development, and concerned residents of the affected neighborhood. Because the trial court properly applied the provisions of the statute and did not err in dismissing the complaint as to three of the defendants below, we affirm.1

Daniel A. Metzler brought this action in DeKalb County Superior Court against Atlanta City Council member Cathy Woolard, local residents Helen Loyless, Steven Rowell, and Rochelle Routman, and the Wildwood Urban Forest Group. Most of the relevant facts are not disputed by the parties. Metzler owns approximately 31 acres of land in the Morningside neighborhood, located in the City of Atlanta and Fulton County. He filed a petition seeking to rezone the property to allow the construction of 34 houses on approximately nine acres. This zoning petition was opposed by numerous individuals from the community as well as by Wildwood Urban Forest Group “Wildwood”, which the trial court described as “an unincorporated grass-roots environmental organization.”

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