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State v. Owen
Citations: 88 S.E.2d 832; 242 N.C. 525; 1955 N.C. LEXIS 612Docket: 721
Court: Supreme Court of North Carolina; August 26, 1955; North Carolina; State Supreme Court
Municipalities require statutory authorization to enact and enforce zoning regulations. In the case of State v. L.G. Owen, the Supreme Court of North Carolina examined whether the zoning regulation of the City of Winston-Salem could be enforced against property outside its corporate limits. The court found that the statewide enabling legislation (Chapter 160, Article 14 of the General Statutes) did not allow for zoning beyond municipal boundaries. Additionally, the City’s charter prior to the 1947 enactment did not authorize such zoning, despite a provision allowing ordinances to operate within one mile of the limits, which was interpreted as pertaining to the jurisdiction of the Municipal Court rather than zoning powers. The relevant enabling act, Chapter 677 of the Session Laws of 1947, did mention that authority for zoning outside the corporate limits was contingent on Forsyth County Board approval, but did not grant outright zoning authority. Previous drafts of the bill had included provisions allowing for zoning three miles beyond the limits, but these were omitted in the final version. Although subsequent amendments in 1953 introduced similar provisions, they did not retroactively validate the earlier ordinance. Consequently, the court ruled that the City lacked the legislative authority to zone property outside its corporate limits, rendering the ordinance invalid. The amendatory act of 1953 does not retroactively validate a pre-existing municipal ordinance that was invalid under the enabling statute at the time of its enactment. An invalid ordinance cannot be validated simply by amending the statute to allow for valid enactment under the new law. The record indicates no subsequent ordinance activated the original zoning regulation for property outside the corporate limits, and the State's case relied solely on the original ordinance from December 21, 1948. Consequently, since the original zoning ordinance was not activated for properties outside the city limits by either the amendatory legislative act or by a Board of Aldermen ordinance, it is unenforceable against the defendant's property. The judgment from the lower court is affirmed with no error found.