Gibbons v. Town of Vincent

Anne Bates Gibbons appealed a circuit court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the Town of Vincent (“the Town”), the town’s planning commission, and White Rock Quarries, LLC (“White Rock”) (collectively, “appellees”). This matter stemmed from a zoning change impacting 86 acres of undeveloped land owned by White Rock that were annexed into the Town. Gibbons’s complaint challenged the Town’s rezoning of the land based on a rezoning application submitted by White Rock and its annexation of the 86 acres. White Rock sought the rezoning and annexation so that it could construct and operate a rock quarry on the property. Gibbons alleged that the Town did not satisfy the notice requirements of the applicable statutes that give municipal corporations in Alabama the power to enact zoning ordinances and that set out the requirements for enacting such ordinances in adopting a 2009 amendment. In the alternative, assuming that the 2009 amendment was validly adopted, Gibbons sought a declaration that White Rock’s proposed use of the land was covered under section 5.5, not section 5.14.5, of the Town’s zoning code. The circuit court ultimately granted appellees’ motion for summary judgment, and Gibbons appealed. Finding that the Town complied with the applicable statutes in its annexation of the 86 acres, the Supreme Court affirmed the circuit court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the appellees.

Gibbons v. Town of Vincent