After multiple protests, dozens of speakers at Town Hall, a 10-0 Planning Board vote against the project, and a lame duck Board of Commissioners vote pushing the project through after being routed in the November election, a lawsuit was filed last week seeking to overturn the zoning decision allowing a Hyatt Place hotel to be built on Griffith Street at Davidson Gateway Drive. The proposed project is adjacent to the Community School if Davidson K-7 building and the Westside neighborhood and across the street from Spinnaker Cove and Davidson Day School.
aShortChronicle has obtained a copy of the legal claim filing, and here are the basic details.
- over 20 Plaintiffs from nearby properties are on the petition.
- the Defendants include the Town of Davidson and the landowner/development companies.
- 7 different claims are stated including claims of various procedural issues involving the zoning change as well as a claim of spot zoning.
Of the claims in the filing, the ones that may resonate with residents the most involve procedural issues around the public information process for the approval. The facts that there was not a formal public information session for the significantly revamped second application for the hotel and that the Planning Board 10-0 negative recommendation was not available at the official public hearing as prescribed by the Davidson Planning Ordinance speak to the transparency issues that have roiled the town for the past few years.
aShortChronicle spoke with Luke Charde of Spinnaker Cove. Charde is one of the plaintiffs, and he indicated that more people may be added as plaintiffs in coming days. The initial claim was filed under a deadline and work continues on that front.
Lawsuits cost money, and to support that side of the equation, a major fund-rising effort is also underway. aShortChronicle spoke with Maria Chilton who has set up a Go-Fund-Me site to support the cause. Chilton said that in addition to significant funds raised to research and file the claim, the Go-Fund-Me site has been set up with a $30,000 goal. Anyone concerned about this project is encouraged to donate what they can.
The site is named "Stop the Misplaced Davidson Hotel". It can also be reached directly at https://www.gofundme.com/stop-the-griffith-st-hotel.
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| Stop the Misplaced Davidson Hote |
Questions and inquiries on how you can help can be sent to misplaceddavidsonhotel@gmail.com.
Again, seeing a suit filed to stop this unpopular project should not be unexpected - particularly after the way Davidson's former leaders pushed it through. After a year that saw consistent pushback from citizens against Town Hall's actions, now it looks like that pushback is headed to court.
Check back regularly for more on this story as it unfolds.
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