CITY OF BROOKHAVEN Et Al. v. CITY OF CHAMBLEE, 329 Ga. App. 346

Background

In 2013 the Georgia General Assembly enacted Local Act 205 designating a defined territory (including the commercial "Century Center" owned by Highwoods) for annexation into the City of Chamblee and directing a November 5, 2013 referendum; if approved the Act provided the annexation would become effective December 30, 2013.
On July 1, 2013 Highwoods applied to the City of Brookhaven to annex Century Center under the OCGA § 36-36-21 "100% method;" Brookhaven’s council voted to annex before the Chamblee referendum occurred.
Chamblee sued Brookhaven for declaratory and injunctive relief; the trial court issued an interlocutory injunction against Brookhaven, which was partially stayed by the Georgia Supreme Court to permit council votes but barred non-legislative steps.
The trial court later granted summary judgment to Chamblee, allowing Chamblee to proceed with its annexation; voters approved the Chamblee referendum on November 5, 2013, and Chamblee’s annexation was scheduled to take effect December 30, 2013.
Highwoods appealed, arguing (inter alia) the Act was not effective before the referendum and that Brookhaven’s annexation preempted the legislature’s local-act authority; the Court of Appeals stayed Chamblee’s annexation pending appeal.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the local Act was effective before the referendum	Highwoods: Act not effective until December 30 after voter approval, so Brookhaven’s annexation preceded any legislative action	Chamblee: Act (to initiate referendum) became effective on Governor's signature; annexation itself conditioned on referendum and later effective date	Court: Act became effective on signature for the purpose of initiating the referendum; annexation effectiveness was conditioned on voter approval and later date
Whether Brookhaven could annex the same territory during the pending referendum	Highwoods: Brookhaven’s 100%-method annexation was valid because general law delegates annexation power to municipalities	Chamblee: OCGA §36-36-10 preserves General Assembly’s local-act annexation authority and precludes municipal action that would impair it	Court: Brookhaven was prohibited from annexing territory that the General Assembly had designated for annexation pending the referendum; such municipal action would restrict/impair legislative power
Whether general-law delegation preempts or forbids the local Act	Highwoods: General law delegation (100% method) prevents a local act from blocking municipal annexation	Chamblee: General Assembly explicitly reserved its authority and intended alternative methods not to limit local acts	Court: OCGA §36-36-10 reserved legislative priority; general-law delegation does not override a local act designating annexation and referendum
Whether enforcing the Act would violate Georgia’s single-subject requirement	Highwoods: Enforcing the Act after Brookhaven’s vote would deannex from Brookhaven and annex to Chamblee, creating a two-subject local law	Chamblee: No valid Brookhaven annexation occurred during the referendum, so no deannexation arises	Court: Argument waived for appellate review because trial court did not rule, but unnecessary to remand—the court found no completed Brookhaven annexation, so no one-subject problem arose

Key Cases Cited

Du Pre v. City of Marietta, 213 Ga. 403 (annexation is legislative in nature)
Phillips v. City of Atlanta, 210 Ga. 72 (same principle on legislative nature of annexation)
Ballentine v. Willingham, 237 Ga. 60 (General Assembly has power to extend or diminish municipal limits)
Bruck v. City of Temple, 240 Ga. 411 (annexation by municipality historically required local act)
Niskey Lake Water Works, Inc. v. Garner, 228 Ga. 864 (recognizing delegation of annexation power after constitutional amendment)
Smith v. City Council of Augusta, 203 Ga. 511 (referendum provisions in an act can be effective immediately upon the Governor's approval)
Plantation Pipe Line Co. v. City of Bremen, 227 Ga. 1 (municipalities receive only such legislative power as the General Assembly delegates)
Higdon v. City of Senoia, 273 Ga. 83 (municipal legislative power is limited to that delegated by the General Assembly)
Kemp v. City of Claxton, 269 Ga. 173 (allocations of state power to local entities are strictly construed)
City of Decatur v. DeKalb County, 284 Ga. 434 (appellate courts may remand for trial-court consideration of constitutional claims when summary judgment otherwise appropriate)
Stiles v. Earnest, 252 Ga. 260 (referendum is a special election under Georgia law)
Wall v. Bd. of Elections of Chatham County, 242 Ga. 566 (legislature may provide for referendums by local law)
Haynes v. Wells, 273 Ga. 106 (constitutional issues not ruled on below are waived on appeal)
Fayette County v. Steele, 268 Ga. App. 13 (standard of de novo review for legal questions)
Cherokee Warehouses, Inc. v. Babb Lumber Co., 244 Ga. App. 197 (statutory construction requires harmonizing all parts of a statute)