Quarry operator and owner filed action for declaratory judgment that county ordinance requiring any quarry to be located at least 5,000 feet from certain buildings was void, alleging in part that the ordinance was a zoning regulation that did not comply with statutory zoning requirements of the County Zoning Act.
The Chancery Court granted county’s motion for summary judgment. Owner and operator appealed, and the Court of Appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court granted permission to appeal.
The Supreme Court held that:
- Ordinance’s terms and concepts were customarily associated with comprehensive zoning plans, and
- Ordinance substantially affected the use of the quarry property, and thus was a zoning ordinance.
Terms and concepts of county ordinance prohibiting any quarry from operating within 5,000 feet of certain land uses were customarily associated with comprehensive zoning plans, for purposes of whether, under the substantial effects test, the ordinance was a “zoning ordinance” subject to the procedural requirements of the County Zoning Act; ordinance referenced property lines and boundaries in specifying the required distance of a quarry from certain types of establishments, and also included a “grandfather clause” provision.
County ordinance prohibiting any quarry from operating within 5,000 feet of certain land uses substantially affected the use of quarry owner’s property, as it wholly prohibited quarries in specified portions of county, such that, under the substantial effects test, ordinance was a “zoning ordinance” subject to the procedural requirements of the County Zoning Act.