MELISSA BERLIN v. CITY OF ATLANTA URBAN DESIGN COMMISSION

CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedJuly 2, 2025
DocketA25A0094
StatusPublished

This text of MELISSA BERLIN v. CITY OF ATLANTA URBAN DESIGN COMMISSION (MELISSA BERLIN v. CITY OF ATLANTA URBAN DESIGN COMMISSION) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
MELISSA BERLIN v. CITY OF ATLANTA URBAN DESIGN COMMISSION, (Ga. Ct. App. 2025).

Opinion

FOURTH DIVISION DILLARD, P. J., LAND, and WATKINS, JJ.

NOTICE: Motions for reconsideration must be physically received in our clerk’s office within ten days of the date of decision to be deemed timely filed. https://www.gaappeals.us/rules

July 2, 2025

In the Court of Appeals of Georgia A25A0094. BERLIN et al. v. CITY OF ATLANTA URBAN DESIGN COMMISSION et al.

WATKINS, Judge.

This discretionary appeal is the second appearance of this case before our

Court. The parties’ dispute concerns whether the City of Atlanta’s Urban Design

Commission (the “UDC”) properly approved of two Certificates of Appropriateness

(“COAs”) for the redevelopment of two parcels in the Druid Hills Landmark District

(the “District”). District residents (the “Neighbors”) appealed the UDC’s decision

to the superior court, which granted summary judgment to the City and developers.

We granted the Neighbors’ application for discretionary review, and they now argue,

inter alia, that the trial court erred because the UDC did not strictly or substantially comply with notice requirements and because the proposed redevelopment violated

the District’s COA standards. For the reasons set forth below, we disagree and affirm.

When reviewing a superior court’s order in an administrative proceeding, this

Court reviews the tribunal’s findings of fact to determine whether they are supported

by any evidence but reviews conclusions of law de novo.1

Our prior decision, Berlin v. City of Atlanta (“Berlin I”),2 sets forth the relevant

facts:

Renu and Altaf Lal (“Owners”) own two adjoining parcels within the District that currently contain two homes and two free-standing garage structures. On February 2, 2021, the Owners applied to the UDC for COAs to redevelop the parcels. Specifically, the Owners sought one type of COA [type IV] for the demolition of the existing garage structures on the properties; and a second type of COA [type III] to (1) restore and expand the existing homes; (2) construct two new homes comparably sized to the renovated existing homes; and (3) build a pool house. The UDC set the matter for a public hearing at its February 24, 2021 meeting. Hearing notices were mailed to 29 property owners, but not to Neighbors Melissa or Daniel Berlin. The Owners posted signs on the properties advertising the hearing, and the City published on its

1 See Infinite Energy v. Ga. Pub. Svc. Comm., 257 Ga. App. 757, 758 (1) (572 SE2d 91) (2002). 2 368 Ga. App. 335 (890 SE2d 68) (2023). 2 official website the UDC agenda for the February 24 hearing, which included the Owners’ COA applications. The Neighbors claim that the Owners’ architect told them that the Owners would not be presenting their applications at the February 24 meeting, but, in fact, the Owners did present. Zoom attendance records show that at least two of the Neighbors were present. The Neighbors had submitted a lengthy written opposition to the Owners’ applications beforehand, and one made a verbal presentation at the hearing. The Neighbors opposed the applications on the grounds that they had not received adequate notice as required by the City’s municipal code and that the Owners’ proposed renovations would alter the character of the neighborhood and disturb their quiet enjoyment of their own properties.3 At the end of the February 24 hearing, the UDC voted to defer the applications for further consideration. The UDC re-heard the matter on March 24. Although no new notices were mailed and no additional signs were posted, at least two of the Neighbors attended and spoke at the March 24 meeting. The UDC voted to approve the demolition COA, and the Neighbors do not challenge that decision. The UDC also voted to defer for consideration the second COA that would allow the Owners’ proposed new construction until the UDC’s April 14 meeting. No new notices were provided for the April 14 hearing, but some of the Neighbors and their legal counsel attended and made written and/or oral presentations. At

3 For instance, the Owners’ plans apparently require the removal of a portion of tree canopy, and all four homes would have rooftop decks giving the occupants views into neighboring lots. 3 the end of the April 14 hearing, the UDC voted unanimously to approve the second COA. The Neighbors timely filed a petition for certiorari in the superior court, naming the UDC and its individual members as respondents and the City and the Owners as defendants. The Neighbors asserted three claims for relief: (1) a challenge to the UDC’s substantive decision to approve the second COA; (2) declaratory judgment, seeking a ruling that the approval was void due to improper hearing notice; and (3) an injunction to stop the Owners from proceeding with the project. The Neighbors then filed a motion for partial summary judgment on their claim of inadequate notice. . . . No briefing by any party addressed the UDC’s substantive decision to grant the second COA. Following oral argument, the superior court entered a “Final Order Denying Petitioners’ Motion for Partial Summary Judgment and Granting Summary Judgment to Defendants.” As to the notice argument, the court ruled that the municipal code did not require notice before every hearing, that substantial compliance with the notice requirements was sufficient, that substantial compliance occurred here, and that the Neighbors were not harmed by any deficiency in notice. The court went on to construe the response briefs filed by the City and the Owners as cross-motions for summary judgment, which it then granted.4

In the ensuing appeal, this Court held that the superior court erred by entering

a final order disposing of the entire case when the Neighbors’ substantive challenges

4 Berlin I, 368 Ga. App. at 335-338. 4 remained unaddressed.5 Consequently, we vacated the superior court’s judgment and

remanded the case for further proceedings.6 As a result, this Court declined to reach

the Neighbors’ claims that the superior court erred in: (i) “concluding that the City’s

regulation of ‘design’ was not the exercise of ‘zoning power’”; (ii) “concluding that

‘substantial compliance’ was the correct standard for the applicable notice

procedures”; and (iii) dismissing as moot the Neighbors’ claim for a declaratory

judgment.7

Back in the superior court, on remand, the Neighbors filed an amended

certiorari petition challenging the UDC’s decisions on substantive grounds and

(again) on the ground that the UDC did not comply with the notice requirements. The

superior court thereafter issued an Omnibus Order, in which it again denied the

Neighbors’ motion for partial summary judgment and granted summary judgment to

the City and Owners as to the procedural issues it previously addressed.

5 Berlin I, 368 Ga. App. at 338-339 (1). 6 Id. at 339 (1). 7 Id. at 339 (2). 5 Following additional briefing and a new hearing, the superior court issued a

detailed Final Order in which it denied the Neighbors’ certiorari petition and affirmed

the UDC’s approval of the Owners’ applications. The court found that the UDC did

not commit clear legal error, as it properly considered the relevant regulations and

reviewed the evidence presented when it approved the applications with conditions.

The court further found that sufficient evidence supported the UDC’s decision to

grant the Owners’ applications, specifically rejecting the Neighbors’ claim that the

additions to the existing structures and proposed new buildings would exceed the

allowed square footage in the District. This appeal followed.

1. The Neighbors argue that the trial court erred in ruling that the UDC was not

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MELISSA BERLIN v. CITY OF ATLANTA URBAN DESIGN COMMISSION, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/melissa-berlin-v-city-of-atlanta-urban-design-commission-gactapp-2025.