Property Owner Entitled to Business License to Continue Nonconforming Use

In the opinion in Haralson County v. Taylor Junkyard of Bremen, Inc., Appeal No. S12A0200, the Georgia Supreme Court issued a ruling upholding a land owner's rights to continue a nonconforming use of a junkyard in a residential zoning district because the prior owner had started the junkyard before Harlason County adopted the zoning ordinance prohibiting it.  

The Court held that the property owner was entitled to the business license following an appeal of a denial of the license to the Board of Zoning Appeals, that the plaintiff had not abandoned the nonconforming use and possessed "grandfather rights," and that the proper procedure for taking the case to court was in the form of a writ of mandamus, and not an appeal or writ of certiorari.