Comments on Henry County v. Tim Jones Properties

Abstract

Henry County v. Tim Jones Properties, 539 S.E.2nd 167(Ga. 2000), is a decision by the Georgia Supreme Court in a case that involved a rare combination of claims for a regulatory taking and exclusionary zoning. The case is abstracted in this issue at 53 ZD 84.

While not a landmark case, it is important. As an indicator of its importance, the Amicus Curiae Committee of the American Planning Association filed a brief with the supreme court urging affirmation of the trial court ruling that Henry County engaged in exclusionary zoning—the first time the issue had been raised in the Georgia courts. Accordingly, this issue of Land Use Law and Zoning Digest features five comments on the decision from different viewpoints. Professor Arthur C. Nelson, FAICP, of the Georgia Institute of Technology, who was an expert witness for Tim Jones Properties, provides background on the case and a planning perspective. LUL & ZD Reporters Peter Buchsbaum, Jon Witten, AICP, Dwight Merriam, FAICP, and Wendie Kellington variously debate the decision and whether or not the Georgia Supreme Court ducked the exclusionary zoning claim. The commentators also evaluate how courts in their respective states might have addressed the same questions.