City of Roswell v. Outdoor Sys. Inc.

City's 1-month moratorium on applications for billboard signs was a reasonable interim action to preserve the status quo after the city's sign ordinance was struck down as unconstitutional.

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The City of Roswell enacted a temporary moratorium on applications for billboard signs after its sign ordinance was struck down as unconstitutional. During the month that the moratorium was in effect, Outdoor Systems filed four applications to construct billboard signs within the city. When the city failed to approve the applications, the billboard company filed a petition for mandamus, which the trial court granted. We granted the city’s discretionary application to consider the trial court’s ruling that the moratorium was void because the city failed to comply with the notice provisions of OCGA § 36-66-4 a of the Zoning Procedures Law. Because the city’s temporary moratorium was not a “final legislative action,” it was not a “zoning decision” as defined in the Zoning Procedures Law and the city did not have to comply with the statute’s notice and hearing requirements. Therefore, we reverse.

The trial court in a different case involving another outdoor advertising company struck down the City of Roswell’s sign ordinance as unconstitutional in November 1999.1 In response, the Roswell city council passed a resolution that imposed a moratorium on the acceptance of applications for signs exceeding 128 square feet in size or 12 feet in height. The purpose of the moratorium was to give the city time to draft and enact new sign regulations. The resolution provided that the moratorium would expire on January 1, 2000, or the date that the city council repealed the prohibition, whichever occurred first. After the moratorium went into effect, Outdoor Systems filed building permit applications seeking to construct outdoor advertising signs at four locations in the city. When the city did not grant the requested permits, the company sought mandamus, claiming a vested right in the issuance of the sign permits.

City of Roswell v. Outdoor Sys. Inc.

City's 1-month moratorium on applications for billboard signs was a reasonable interim action to preserve the status quo after the city's sign ordinance was struck down as unconstitutional.

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