Repko v. Cnty. of Georgetown

818 S.E.2d 743, 424 S.C. 494
CourtSupreme Court of South Carolina
DecidedAugust 29, 2018
DocketAppellate Case No. 2016-001300; Opinion No. 27837
StatusPublished
Cited by33 cases

This text of 818 S.E.2d 743 (Repko v. Cnty. of Georgetown) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of South Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Repko v. Cnty. of Georgetown, 818 S.E.2d 743, 424 S.C. 494 (S.C. 2018).

Opinion

JUSTICE JAMES :

*745**497We granted Georgetown County's petition for a writ of certiorari to review the court of appeals' decision in Repko v. County of Georgetown , 416 S.C. 22, 785 S.E.2d 376 (Ct. App. 2016). Georgetown County argues the court of appeals erred in (1) construing the County Development Regulations as creating a private duty of care to Respondent David Repko; (2) holding the South Carolina Tort Claims Act1 (TCA) preempted certain language contained in the Regulations; (3) applying the "special duty" test; (4) finding Brady Development Co., Inc. v. Town of Hilton Head Island , 312 S.C. 73, 439 S.E.2d 266 (1993), distinguishable from the instant case; (5) reversing the trial court's ruling that the County is entitled to sovereign immunity under the TCA; and (6) rejecting the County's additional sustaining ground that Repko's claim is barred by the statute of limitations. We address only issue (5) and hold the court of appeals erred in reversing the trial court's determination that the County was immune from liability under subsection 15-78-60(4) of the TCA (2005); we therefore reverse the court of appeals and reinstate the directed verdict granted to the County by the trial court. We vacate the court of appeals' opinion.

I.

In the early 2000s, Harmony Holdings, LLC (the Developer) began developing Harmony Township (Harmony), a residential subdivision in the County. In South Carolina, most localities will not allow a developer to sell lots in a residential development without the required infrastructure-roads, water, drainage, and sewer-being completed. The County adopted regulations addressing the completion of infrastructure in major residential subdivisions. The record on appeal contains only Article V of the Regulations (Article V). Article V, Section 3-1 (Section 3-1) provides:

**498Financial guarantees may be posted in lieu of completing improvements required by [the Regulations] to allow for the recording of a final plat or to obtain building permits for properties for which ownership will be transferred. ...
Acceptance of financial guarantees is discretionary and [the] County reserves the right to refuse a financial guarantee for any remaining improvements and require that such improvements be completed before the recording of a final plat or issuance of building permits. Acceptance of a financial guarantee by [the] County shall not be construed as an obligation to any other agency, utility or property owner within affected developments.

Therefore, in the discretion of the County, a developer could post cash, bonds, letters of credit, or other financial guarantees instead of completing the infrastructure before selling lots. When the Developer began developing Harmony Phase 2-D-1 in 2006, the County determined it would allow the requirement of a financial guarantee to be satisfied by the Developer's posting of a letter of credit (LOC) to cover the remaining cost of completion of infrastructure. An LOC is a letter issued by a bank that entitles the person named in the letter to draw up to a specified sum from the bank. The County had policies and procedures in place that governed its oversight of the completion of infrastructure and reductions in the LOC. One such policy was the requirement that the LOC be at least equal to 125% of the cost of completing *746the remaining infrastructure. If the County handled LOC procedures properly, as the Developer completed certain stages of infrastructure, the County would take steps to verify the completion of the work, and the County would notify the issuing bank that the LOC could be reduced accordingly. If handled properly, this arrangement would allow the County to draw on the LOC if the Developer failed to complete or properly complete the required infrastructure.

In 2006, the Developer submitted an LOC from Wells Fargo in the amount of $1,301,705.63-representing 125% of the projected cost of completing the infrastructure-to the County planning department for Harmony Phase 2-D-1. By April 2007, the County had approved the Developer's requests to reduce the LOC four times; after the fourth reduction, the LOC totaled $156,704.03. However, the cost of completing the **499remaining infrastructure was over one million dollars. In August 2007, the cost of unbuilt infrastructure remained over one million dollars, and the Developer informed the County it no longer had the financial means to complete any additional infrastructure. At that point, the LOC was approaching its expiration date. Shortly thereafter, the Developer declared bankruptcy. A new developer took over the project and requested the County to authorize the release of LOC funds to help complete the infrastructure; however, the County deemed this new developer to be untrustworthy and refused to allow the release of the LOC funds. The new developer withdrew from the project. Those who purchased lots in Harmony Phase 2-D-1 are unable to build on their lots because the infrastructure has not been completed.

II.

Respondent David Repko, the owner of two lots in Harmony Phase 2-D-1, commenced this action against the County alleging that the County negligently and grossly negligently failed to comply with or enforce its rules, regulations, and written policies governing its handling of the LOC. The County answered, alleging it did not owe a private duty of care to Repko and alleging that even if it did, the TCA barred Repko's claims. Specifically, the County pled it was immune from liability pursuant to subsections 15-78-60(1), (2), (4), (5), (12), and (13) of the TCA. Only subsections (4) and (12) are pertinent to this appeal. The County also alleged Repko's claims were barred by the two-year statute of limitations in section 15-78-110 of the TCA.

The case went to trial, and at the close of Repko's case, the trial court granted the County's directed verdict motion, finding (1) the Regulations did not create a private duty of care owed by the County to Repko and (2) the County was immune from liability under subsections 15-78-60(4), (5), and (13) of the TCA. The trial court ruled the County was not entitled to a directed verdict pursuant to the TCA's two-year statute of limitations. The trial court agreed with Repko's argument that subsection 15-78-60(12) did not apply to this case and ruled the County was not entitled to immunity under subsection (12). The court of appeals reversed the directed verdict and remanded **500for a new trial. Repko v. Cty. of Georgetown

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818 S.E.2d 743, 424 S.C. 494, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/repko-v-cnty-of-georgetown-sc-2018.