Gwinnett County, Georgia v. Diplomat Infraprop Sugarloaf, LLC

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ January 03, 2023

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A23I0118. GWINNETT COUNTY, GEORGIA v. DIPLOMAT INFRAPROP SUGARLOAF, LLC.

Diplomat Infraprop Sugarloaf, LLC, filed a zoning appeal and complaint for injunctive relief against Gwinnett County, Georgia. On December 5, 2022, the trial court denied Gwinnett County’s motion for a judgment on the pleadings. On December 8, 2022, the trial court granted Gwinnett County a certificate of immediate review to seek an interlocutory appeal, and Gwinnett County filed its application for interlocutory appeal on December 20, 2022. We, however, lack jurisdiction. To obtain appellate review of an interlocutory order, a party must follow the interlocutory appeal procedures set forth in OCGA § 5-6-34 (b), including obtaining a certificate of immediate review within ten days of the order and filing an application within ten days of the certificate. See Mullinax v. State, 271 Ga. 112, 112 (1) (515 SE2d 839) (1999); Howard v. State, 194 Ga. App. 857, 857 (392 SE2d 562) (1990). Here, Gwinnett County filed its application 11 days after the trial court granted it a certificate of immediate review.1 “Compliance with the applicable filing requirements for an interlocutory appeal application is an absolute requirement to confer jurisdiction.” State v. Wheeler, 310 Ga. 72, 76 (3) (849 SE2d 401) (2020).

1 On the same day it filed its application, Gwinnett County filed a “Motion to File [an] Out of Time Application for Interlocutory Appeal or In The Alternative[,] To Have its Filed Application Deemed Timely.” This Court denied the motion. See Case No. A23E0020 (decided December 21, 2022).

Accordingly, we lack jurisdiction to consider this application for interlocutory appeal, which is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 01/03/2023 I certify that the above is a true extract from the minutes of the Court of Appeals of Georgia. Witness my signature and the seal of said court hereto affixed the day and year last above written.

, Clerk.