CLAYTON–The Rabun County Board of Commissioners acted illegally when they approved a zoning change in July for a 5-acre lot near Lake Burton to allow construction of a boat storage facility, a lawsuit filed last week alleges.

The suit contends a vote to approve a zoning status change from agricultural to commercial was illegal because it did not follow the prescribed procedures required by local and state law.

It also contends there were conflicts of interest involving a former owner of the property —who was also a member of the Rabun County Planning Commission, which initially approved the request–and County Commissioner Will Nichols.

The lawsuit asks that the zoning change be voided and the land returned to agricultural status.

County officials have denied any wrongdoing in the matter.

The lawsuit was filed in Rabun County Superior Court on July 20 by three groups: Friends of Murray Cove, the Atlanta Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends and the Lake Burton Civic Association.

The lawsuit raises concerns about whether commissioners followed their own policies and procedures for the rezoning process.

“The process wasn’t followed,” said Matt Mitcham, a property owner on Lake Burton and member of Friends of Murray Cove.

About 20 people came to the July 20 county commission meeting to oppose the zoning change.

Mitcham said it was not only obvious the commissioners had already made up their minds, but several disparaging comments were directed toward them by a county commissioner.

“We don’t think we were treated fairly,” said Mitcham. “We’re reasonable people, but it was apparent the decision was made before we even came in.”

“A lot of the discussion seemed to center around ‘us versus them,’” said local attorney Michael Cummings, who represents the groups filing the lawsuit.

“They (commissioners) really laid into the crowd,” said Chip Groome, President of the Lake Burton Civic Association. He said the group attending the meeting felt they were being treated with disrespect just because they live at the lake. “It was not an open process. For them to do this was very disappointing. We want to be good neighbors. We want to help the county. We’d rather spend money on the charities in this community than trying to get the commissioners’ attention.”

In the lawsuit, it alleged commissioners failed to follow their own ordinances and procedures in several instances prior to the vote to rezone, including:

-A legal notice published by the county in The Clayton Tribune that did not name the owner of the tract of land as required.

-A rezoning notice posted on the property was placed so far into the property it was not in a “conspicuous place,” as required by law, and was not posted for the required period of time;

-The application for a zoning change contained no information except a vague reference to “boat storage.” There was no supporting statement, as required by Rabun County’s Zoning ordinance.

-Commissioners allowed the property to be rezoned without any siltation, water or sediment runoff plan, and without plans for “driveways, entrances, utilities, traffic impact studies, creek or stream buffers or any other plans or specifics whatsoever.”

An adjacent property owner said a proposed boat storage unit is not consistent with the current usage of the surrounding property.

“The property our congregation owns on Lake Burton is used for worship, contemplation and fellowship,” said Georgia Lord, assistant clerk for the Atlanta Friends group of Quakers which owns adjacent property, in a written statement to The Tribune. “We gather there to connect with nature’s beauties and cultivate a sense of peace and simplicity. The proposed use for the adjacent property is not only inconsistent with our long-time usage of our property, but also seems likely to cause damage to our property through runoff of water and pollutants.”

The lawsuit states that on March 15, 2021, Matthew (Matt) Woods was a member of the Rabun County Planning Commission and also a one-third owner in the property. His parents, Sandra and Barry Woods, owned a two-thirds interest, according to the complaint.

One day later, on March 16, a deed from the owners of the property to Taywood, LLC was filed in the office of the Rabun County Clerk of Court, showing a transfer tax on the amount paid for the property as being $190,000.

On the same day, Taywood LLC applied for a change in zoning of the property, according to the lawsuit.

“Planning Commission Member Matt Woods did not disclose any conflict of interest in the zoning decision, nor did he recuse himself from voting on the zoning change concerning the property he allegedly sold the day of or the day before the application was filed,” the lawsuit states.

Taywood LLC was formed 15 days before the zoning application was filed, according to the lawsuit.

It also states that Rabun County Commissioner Will Nichols, who voted to grant the request for rezoning, is the brother-in-law of Matt Woods and the son-in-law of the other owners of the property “the day of or the day before the application for a zoning amendment” was filed.

“Plaintiffs believe that the failure of both a member of the Planning Commission and of the County Commissioner to disclose actual or potential conflicts of interest in land that they and/or family members owned the day of or the day before the zoning application change was filed, and from which they or a family member profited, violates their duty … under the conflict-of-interest statute.”

Contacted Friday, Nichols said his family did not own the property at the time of the vote.

“None of our family owned that property when it was being voted on,” Nichols said.

County attorney Allyn Stockton said he doesn’t believe there as a conflict of interest.

“There was nothing that required him to recuse himself, based on what I know,” Stockton said, adding that Nichols’ vote did not change the outcome of the request for a change of zoning, which passed 4-1. Only commissioner Scott Crane voted against the motion.

Commission Chairman Greg James said last week he didn’t think “we did anything wrong procedurally, but if indeed we did, we will fix it and we’ll move on.”

Meanwhile, several residents of Lake Burton say they intend to get more involved politically as a result of what they see as their mistreatment.

“We want to be sure we have adequate representation (on the county commission),” Groome said. “There should be no taxation without representation.”

Staff Writer Megan Broome contributed to this story.