DocketNumber: S18A1622; S18X1623
Citation Numbers: 824 S.E.2d 365
Judges: Nahmias
Filed Date: 2/18/2019
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 7/29/2022
*366Morgan County appeals the trial court's order dismissing Christine May's criminal citation for violating the County's amended zoning ordinance by renting out her house near Lake Oconee for a week. The court concluded that the zoning ordinance in effect at the time May began renting her house for short periods was unconstitutionally vague as applied, meaning that her use of the house for such rentals was "grandfathered" and not subject to the amended ordinance's explicit prohibition of short-term rentals for fewer than 30 days. May cross-appeals, but we need not address her claimed errors, because we affirm the trial court's dismissal of her citation.
1. May built a vacation home in Morgan County, and in 2008 she began renting her house to others, typically for periods of about a week.
After her criminal case was revived in 2015, May filed a motion to dismiss her citation, arguing among other things that the County's old zoning ordinance was unconstitutionally vague because it did not specifically prohibit seven-night rentals, that her use of her house for such rentals was therefore lawful under the old ordinance, and that she consequently had a grandfathered right to continue renting the house in that way that precluded her from being prosecuted under the short-term rental prohibition in the amended ordinance.
On May 31, 2018, the trial court granted May's motion to dismiss her criminal citation, ruling that the County's old zoning ordinance was unconstitutionally vague as applied to short-term rentals of the sort at issue; that consequently, there was no zoning ordinance prohibiting such rentals when May began renting her house; and that her use of her house for such rentals was therefore grandfathered so that the explicit prohibition of that use under the amended ordinance does not apply to her property. Morgan County appealed the dismissal order to this Court, and May then filed a cross-appeal. The case was docketed to our August 2018 term and was orally argued on November 5, 2018.
2. To satisfy due process,
a challenged statute or ordinance [must] give a person of ordinary intelligence fair warning that specific conduct is forbidden or mandated and provide sufficient specificity so as not to encourage arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement. Vagueness challenges to statutes [and ordinances] that do not implicate First Amendment freedoms must be examined in the light of the facts of the case to be decided.
Parker v. City of Glennville,
The County's old zoning ordinance listed permitted uses for properties in May's zoning district and banned any uses that were not listed. There was no mention of rentals of any duration. The County contends that because the ordinance did not list rentals, a person of ordinary intelligence would understand that short-term rentals of "single-family detached dwellings" were not allowed. But the old ordinance failed to provide any guidelines whatsoever to enable May to determine that fewer-than-30-day rentals would be prohibited but rentals for 30 days or longer would be allowed, as the County contends and as the County applied the old ordinance in practice.
Unlike the amended zoning ordinance, the old ordinance contained no language regarding the permissible duration for rentals of houses like May's, much less any sort of ban on rentals for fewer than 30 days. As the trial court noted in its order dismissing May's citation, the County's director of planning and development testified that the old ordinance did not address any permissible or prohibited time limit for rentals.
The County argues that even though no language in the old ordinance specifically addressed rentals of houses in May's district, the ordinance's definition of "single-family detached dwellings" was sufficient to put May on notice that week-long rentals of her house were unlawful. The ordinance listed as permitted "single-family detached dwellings" and defined "dwelling" as "a structure ... which is designed or used exclusively for residential purposes ....," but did not define "residential." The Definitions section of the *368old ordinance said that all words not defined in the ordinance "shall have their customary dictionary meaning." Relying on a definition of "residence" in the 1979 edition of Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary - "the place where one actually lives as distinguished from a place of temporary sojourn" - the County asserts that single-family detached dwellings like May's house could be used only as a place where a family "actually lives," rather than as a place where people stay temporarily.
As the trial court recognized but the County's brief to this Court ignores, the old ordinance's use of the word "or" in its definition of "single-family detached dwelling" required only that May's house be "designed" for residential purposes - not that it also be "used" only for residential purposes. See Haugen v. Henry County,
The County's definition of residence in no way suggests that individuals establish a home where they "actually live" only by living there for 30 days or longer. To the contrary, a person may legally establish a residence in only one day. See Dozier v. Baker,
Likewise, people can stay in a place even longer than 30 days without "actually" residing there. See, e.g., Conrad v. Conrad,
Thus, the County's "actually live" versus "temporary sojourn" view of what makes a dwelling "residential" does not make clear that seven-night rentals are prohibited. As the trial court aptly said in its order dismissing May's citation, "The County's definitions within definitions fail to provide any sort of practical guidelines to enable a homeowner to determine at what point a structure ceases to be 'residential.' " (emphasis supplied). We are persuaded by the trial court's reasoning, which the County has failed to address, much less rebut, in its brief on appeal. Accordingly, we agree with the trial court's determination that the County's old zoning ordinance was unconstitutionally vague as applied to seven-night rentals of May's property. As a result, the old ordinance cannot be applied to that use of May's property, meaning that her use of her house for such a rental was grandfathered and not subject to the short-term rental ban in the amended ordinance. May's criminal citation for violating the amended ordinance was properly dismissed.
Judgment affirmed in Case No. S18A1622. Appeal dismissed in Case No. S18X1623.
All the Justices concur.
We view the record in the light most favorable to the trial court's findings and orders. Additional details about this case and its complicated procedural history can be found in May v. Morgan County,
May's September 2012 civil bench trial concluded with a declaratory judgment in her favor. But the Court of Appeals in an unpublished opinion vacated that judgment in September 2013, and on remand the civil trial court ruled for the County on procedural grounds in April 2014. The Court of Appeals denied May's application for discretionary appeal of that decision, and in December 2014 this Court denied her petition for certiorari.
Under the amended ordinance, May's use of her property for rentals of fewer than 30 days would be a "nonconforming" use, which if that use was in fact lawful under the old ordinance would give her a protected or "grandfathered" property right in that use which could not be immediately eliminated by the amended ordinance. See Rockdale County v. Burdette,
We also note on this point that at a meeting on the proposed zoning amendments, another official from the planning and development department explained that County "staff and the County Attorney had concerns regarding the legality of enforcing" the existing ordinance against vacation rentals and "felt as if the County needed something more concrete in the [ordinance] so that the use could be regulated." The County official also showed a visual presentation that said, "Morgan County currently has no language in the Morgan County Zoning Ordinance that regulates Vacation/Short Term Rentals" and that "the legality of enforcement is questionable."
May's motion to dismiss the County's appeal is denied, and her cross-appeal is dismissed as moot.