Carson planned to divide a 17-acre Forsyth County parcel into 42 lots and claimed the planning director assured him that existing zoning allowed 9,000-square-foot lots. After buying the land, spending more than $83,000 on development work, and facing a county moratorium and zoning change, Carson was denied a land-disturbance permit. Georgia’s Supreme Court held he acquired no vested right to develop under the former zoning: that theory requires substantial reliance on official assurances that a building permit will probably issue, but the director had only confirmed current zoning and made no such assurance. The Court reversed the Court of Appeals and remanded with direction to reconsider two related appeals it had dismissed as moot. All participating justices concurred; Justice Warren did not participate.