Opinion
A24A0355
10-10-2023
LARAY J. BENTON et al. v. CITY OF PORT WENTWORTH et al.
The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:
The appellants filed a lawsuit in superior court to challenge zoning decisions by the City of Port Wentworth. After the superior court issued an order dismissing the lawsuit, the appellants filed this direct appeal. We lack jurisdiction.
A zoning decision made by a local government constitutes the action of a local administrative agency within the meaning of OCGA § 5-6-35 (a) (1), and an appeal from a superior court decision reviewing the local administrative agency's decision must come by way of an application for discretionary appeal. Fulton County v. Congregation of Anshei Chesed, 275 Ga. 856, 857 (1) (572 S.E.2d 530) (2002); Trend Development Corp. v. Douglas County, 259 Ga. 425, 425-426 (1) (383 S.E.2d 123) (1989). "Compliance with the discretionary appeals procedure is jurisdictional." Smoak v. Dept. of Human Resources, 221 Ga.App. 257, 257 (471 S.E.2d 60) (1996).
Thus, pretermitting the timeliness of this appeal, the appellants' failure to follow the required appellate procedure deprives us of jurisdiction over the appeal, which is hereby DISMISSED.
The superior court issued its order dismissing the lawsuit on August 8, 2022, but the appellants did not file their notice of appeal until October 3, 2022. See OCGA § 5-6-38 (a) (a notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days of the order complained of). On July 9, 2023, the appellants amended their notice of appeal to include the trial court's June 22, 2023 order dismissing their appeal based on an unreasonable and inexcusable delay in transmitting the record.