Our client was the developer of a large residential neighborhood. Portions of the neighborhood shared a property boundary with a landfill. The landfill held a permit from the state for specific height limitations and for specific waste that could be disposed of. Our client was satisfied with those permit restrictions when it bought the land.
However, after purchasing the property and spending significant funds to develop the property into a neighborhood, our client found out that the landfill had received an amended permit to significantly increase the height of the various mounds within the landfill, without notice.
Our strategy was to administratively appeal the amended permit and fully analyze the permitting regulations and the permitting file. Based on that analysis, we advanced our appeal and argued that the state and the landfill violated the regulations and law in expanding the size of the landfill on various counts, to include that the expansion violated local zoning ordinances and proper notice was not afforded to the affected property owners.
The Administrative Law Court agreed and reversed the permit amendment, which was also affirmed by the S.C. Court of Appeals.
