Tyrone resident Dick Shelley has filed suit against the Town of Tyrone, town administrative staff, the mayor and council and planning commission over what he maintains was unfair and illegal treatment in zoning and other issues relating to his rental property located at 117-119 Palmetto-Tyrone Road.
Shelley is seeking more than $2.3 million in damages and the invalidation of zoning conditions that are resulting in a loss of business and amounts to abuse of discretion and unreasonable government interference, the suit said.
Town attorney Brad Sears said he could not comment on the suit. A copy of the suit was forwarded to the town’s insurer, Georgia Government Risk Management Association, Sears said.
The 12-count suit alleges that the town violated Shelley’s rights and those of two relatives when a 2004 text amendment to the zoning ordinance deleted all allowable uses in the C-2 (Commercial) zoning district that were previously applicable to his 20,200 square-foot business rental property. The suit states that the 2004 amendment also grants specific legislative power to the town’s zoning administrator to decide what uses applied to the land.
Now faced with non-conforming uses for the eight rented units, Shelley essentially maintains that the property will become useless in the next two years for all but one of the current businesses because the retail businesses now deemed applicable with the 2004 zoning changes are not appropriate for the three metal buildings currently on the site. The cost of removing the buildings and replacing them would be $1.87 million along with $98,000 in lost rent, Shelley said.
The suit maintains that the 2004 council zoning decision is unlawful as was the town’s more recent refusal to re-issue a business license to a 18-year tenant on Shelley’s property. Also at issue is Shelley’s claim that the town should be enjoined from refusing to issue legal business licenses and that the mayor, town council, planning commission, town administrator and town clerk have, in various ways, caused economic harm, engaged in negligent behavior and violated Shelley’s property rights through misrepresentation and deceit. Additionally, the suit claims civil conspiracy intended to eliminate all lawful businesses and property uses in the downtown area through re-development efforts.
The suit was filed July 20 in Fayette Superior Court.