Agenda - Planning Commission - 05/07/1996

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Page 2 ~ April 1996 g.g. Signs -- Department Revokes Sign Permits After Learning of Rezoning Naeg&le Outdoor Advertising Inc. v. Hunt, 465 S¢E. 2d 549 (North Carolina) 1995 Naege. le Outdoor Advertising Inc. applied to the North Carolina Depart- ment of Transportation for permits to erect three billboards within 660 feet of an interstate highway in Davidson County. Federa~ 1 regulations allowed outdoor advertising within 660 feet of the right- of-way in ~areas zoned commercial or industrial under the authority of state law. State law allowed such outdoor advertising if it complied with the department's rules and .regulations and was located in industrial or commercial zones. Before the department acted on Naegele's permit application, the county Board of Commissioners rezoned the property from rural-agricultural to high- way comrfiercial. The do~artment issued permits for the three signs, apparently without know- ing about lhe rezoning. When it later learned of the rezoning, it said the parcel had been '!spot zoned" to permit outdoor advertising structures in violation of federal regulations. The regulations stated any action that was not part of a comprehegsive plan and was created primarily to permit outdoor advertising structures ~was not recognized as zoning for outdoor advertising control pur- poses. ThO department revoked the permits, saying it would not have issued them if it Knew about the rezoning. Naege!e appealed to the state secretary of transportation, who upheld the permit revocations. Naegeie appealed to courtl The co..urt granted Naegele judgment without a trial. The secretary appealed. He argued rezoning the parcel on which Naegele proposed tO erect billboards violated federal regulations because the area was not truly c6mmercial, and the zoning was not part of a comprehensive plan. DECISION: Affirmed. The parcel had been rezoned in accordance with state law, so the depart- ment shoul~d not ha{,e revoked the permits. The coil, nty Board of Commissioners, which had full statutory authority for all zoning ~,ctions, properly rezoned the parcel from agricultural to commercial in accordance with state law. Contrary to the secretai'y's claim, the board had adopted a Comprehensive zoning plan and ordinance, and the.highway com- mercial classification conformed with it. Nelson -v.. City of Burlington, 341 S.E.2d 739 (1986). Allred u. Cify of Raleigh, 178 S.E. 2d 432 (1971). Subdivision ~ Property Owner Says City Singled Him Out in Enforcing Ordinancel Stricklai~d v. Alderman, 74 F. 3d 260 (Georgia) ~995 In 1966,iStrictdand bought part of a preexisting subdivision he named W~yne Terrace, which was later ~nnexed to the city of Jcsup, Ga. Under a city ordinance,