Bd. of Commrs. of Henry County v. Welch , 253 Ga. 682 ( 1985 )

Gregory, Justice,

dissenting.

I dissent from the judgment of reversal and the rationale contained in Divisions 1 and 2 of the majority opinion. I believe the trial court was correct in construing the current zoning ordinance as repealing all previous ordinances. I would thus hold that appellee’s land was not zoned. This I believe we are required to do in order to follow the rule that zoning ordinances should be strictly construed in favor of property owners. And, as the majority points out, ambiguities in the language of zoning ordinances should be resolved in favor of the free use of property. Fayette County v. Seagraves, 245 Ga. 196, 197 (264 SE2d 13) (1980); City of Cordele v. Hill, 250 Ga. 628, 629 (300 SE2d 161) (1983).

I am authorized to state that Justice Clarke and Justice Smith join in this dissent.