Brantley County Development Partners, LLC v. Brantley County, Georgia

Opinion

In the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia Waycross Division

BRANTLEY COUNTY DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS, LLC,

Plaintiff,

v.

BRANTLEY COUNTY, GEORGIA by and No. 5:19-CV-109 through its Chairman and Members of the Brantley County Board of Commissioners; CHRIS “SKIPPER” HARRIS, RANDY DAVIDSON, BRIAN HENDRIX, JESSE MOBLEY, and RAY GRIFFIN, all in their individual and official capacities as Commissioners,

Defendants. _______________________________

ORDER On February 27, 2023, the Office of State Administrative Hearings of the State of Georgia (“OSAH”) rendered a Final Decision, styled Board of Commissioners of Brantley County, Georgia v. Richard E. Dunn, 2228917-OSAH-EPD-SW-13-SCHROER (“Final Decision”), on Defendants’ appeal of a solid waste handling permit issued to Plaintiff on May 9, 2022 (the “Permit”) by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (“EPD”). In the Final Decision, OSAH concluded that the Permit was wrongfully issued because Plaintiff “failed to submit a valid consistency letter for the proposed facility” and reversed the EPD Director’s decision to issue the Permit. Id. at 47. On March 22, 2023, during a telephonic status conference with

the Parties, the Court was made aware that Plaintiff filed an appeal of the Final Decision in the Superior Court of Bibb County on March 6, 2023. Consequently, the Court concludes that, pending the ultimate resolution of Plaintiff’s appeal, a stay of this case is warranted because the outcome of the state proceedings could substantially impact the Court’s decision on the various pending motions. See Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Fla. v. S. Fla. Water Mgmt. Dist., 559 F.3d 1191, 1198 (11th Cir. 2009) (finding a stay is warranted where a pending decision in another court would “have a substantial or controlling effect on the claims and issues in the stayed case”); see also Clinton v. Jones, 520 U.S. 681, 706- 07 (1997) (describing a district court’s “broad discretion to stay

proceedings as an incident to its power to control its own docket”); Quackenbush v. Allstate Ins. Co., 517 U.S. 706, 713 (1996) (noting that principles of abstention may lead a district court to stay a case pending resolution of related proceedings). Therefore, it is hereby ORDERED that this case is STAYED until further Order of this Court. The Parties are ORDERED to file a status report with the Court within ninety (90) days of the date of this Order, or within five (5) days of the resolution of Plaintiff’s state court appeal, whichever is earlier.

SO ORDERED this 23rd day of March, 2023.

_________________________________ HON. LISA GODBEY WOOD, JUDGE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA