Friday, April 20, 2018

Developer fights citizens defending their homes as Griffith Hotel lawsuit moves forward

Plaintiffs seeking to reverse the lame duck decision by former Commissioners Beth Cashion, Rodney Graham, Brian Jenest and Stacey Anderson approving a new hotel on Griffith Street had their first day in court on Tuesday.  At an afternoon hearing, motions were heard on efforts by both sides to jockey for position ahead of a motion for a "judgement on the pleadings" now set for May 22nd.

Three motions were heard Tuesday.

Plaintiffs sought to have the case designated as "exceptional" which would allow the case to be heard in its entirety by a single judge rather than having the various proceedings heard by different judges.  There is a shortage of such judges to handle these exceptional cases and therefore this motion was denied - a not unexpected outcome under the circumstances.

Defendant Nish Patel, the developer, sought to have himself removed from the case individually, while his firm Beacon IMG remains as a defendant.  Patel was listed separately as a defendant due to how some paperwork was signed during the zoning process being contested. The judge allowed this removal with conditions, but at this time it is unclear if those conditions will be met.  In any event, like the first motion this has no bearing on the merits of the case.

The third motion involved the addition of new plaintiffs to the case.  As regular readers will remember, 24 plaintiffs filed originally from the Westside and Spinnaker Cove neighborhoods.  Residents in these neighborhoods are concerned about a hotel that will loom over their backyards, negatively impacting home values and their quality of life.

The original complaint was filed on the last day possible under NC law.  The statute of limitations in North Carolina zoning cases is extremely short.  At just 60 days, it is among the shortest for bringing civil actions.  This compressed timeframe unsurprisingly resulted in some residents wishing to join after filing.

While these added plaintiffs could have been allowed, in a disappointing move that again does not speak to the merits of the case, the developer's attorney sought to have these additional plaintiffs thrown out.  It's a move that does little but rub salt in the wound of people trying to defend their homes.  After both sides made their arguments and cited cases in their favor, Judge Hugh Lewis decided not to allow the addition of new plaintiffs in this one.

Tuesday's actions did not change the general direction of the case one way or the other, but the move to disallow new plaintiffs did show the developer's willingness to fight mercilessly for what it wants - a hotel very few people in town see as appropriate for that location.

The next scheduled court date is May 22nd.  Stay tuned for more details on this story as they emerge.  If you are interested in donating to support the plaintiffs and Davidson's small town character, click HERE.

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