The Georgia Court of Appeals recently addressed the requisite notice of zoning proceedings that ultimately requested in a zoning decision. The key question was whether, after a properly noticed planning meeting, additional notice was required before the board’s formal vote that occurred three months later.
The planning commission properly noticed a hearing on a conditional-use application. After the commission recommended granting the permit, the board considered the request at its next working meeting, but it did not vote on it until three months later. The petitioners argued that the additional meetings required notice under the zoning law, and that the three-month period did not comply with the law.
The Court concluded that additional notice was not required because the additional hearings constituted a “continuous course of a zoning matter.” Accordingly, “notice was not required at every stage of the process.”
The case is Hoechstetter v. Pickens County, — Ga. App. –, Case No. A17A0565 (Apr. 5, 2017).