Manchester Hotel Hospitality, LLC Et Al. v. City of Manchester, Tennessee, Et Al

A city board of zoning appeals granted a variance request on September 17, 2018, and the city codes director checked a box on the variance application indicating that the request was approved.  At its next meeting, on October 15, 2018, the board approved the minutes from its September 17, 2018 meeting.  Two companies that opposed the variance filed a sworn petition for writ of certiorari on December 5, 2018, and the defendants filed a motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann.
§ 27-9-102, a statute providing that such actions must be filed within sixty days of the entry of the board decision.  The trial court granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss.  Because we have determined that, under the facts of this case, the board’s decision was not entered until the approval of the minutes at the October 15, 2018 board meeting, we conclude that the petition for certiorari was timely filed.  We, therefore, reverse the decision of the trial court.