What Is The New Legal Standard Required to Challenge a Zoning Ordinance?
A ruling by the Georgia Supreme Court in DeKalb County v. Dobson, 267 Ga. 624, 482 S.E.2d 239, (1997)(Sear, J.), will substantially raise the burden on landowners and developers who desire to challenge county zoning ordinances. The core of the Dobson case is the new standard imposed on one challenging the validity of a county zoning ordinance, that new standard as stated by the Supreme Court is: The presumption that a governmental zoning decision is valid can be overcome only by a plaintiff landowner’s showing by clear and convincing evidence that the zoning classification is a significant detriment to him, and is insubstantially related to the public health, safety, morality, and welfare.[fn4] Only after both of these showings are made is a governing authority required to come forward with evidence to justify a zoning ordinance as reasonably related to the public interest.[fn5] If a plaintiff landowner fails to make a showing by clear and convincing evidence of a significant detriment
