Massey v. Butts County

BENHAM, Justice.

Once again we are faced with the troublesome issue of a party’s standing to use equitable means to enforce or attack the issuance of a building permit. We endorse our holdings in Tate v. Stephens, 245 Ga. 519 (265 SE2d 811) (1980), and Brand v. Wilson, 252 Ga. 416 (314 SE2d 192) (1984), and conclude that one who seeks to use equity for such a purpose must show “special damages” in order to pursue such an action, i.e., one “must demonstrate that his property will suffer special damage as a result of the decision complained of rather than merely some damage which is common to…