Monteagle Truck Stop still a go

Background:

William Foehring, Janice Foehring, William Best, MaryBeth Best, Ron Terrill, and Sandra Terrill filed two lawsuits in an effort to prevent the development of a truck stop near their homes. The six, referred to as plaintiffs, challenged the Town of Monteagle regarding the rezoning of property and challenged the Monteagle Regional Planning Commission regarding its approval of a site plan. RBT Enterprises, LLC was named as an additional defendant in both. Those cases were heard in the Chancery Court for Marion County. That Trial Court ruled in favor of the Defendants. The plaintiffs appealed.

On May 10, the case against the Town of Monteagle and RBT Enterprises regarding rezoning, Swiney stated, “The plaintiffs argued that the zoning ordinances at issue, 05-21 and 12-21, were invalid because the Town had no comprehensive or general plan in effect. The Trial Court ruled in favor of Defendants. Plaintiffs appeal. We hold, inter alia, that no comprehensive or general plan was required before the Town could exercise its zoning powers. It was sufficient that the Monteagle Regional Planning Commission (“the Commission”) transmitted to the Town Board of Mayor and Aldermen (“the Board”), the Town’s chief legislative body, the text of a zoning ordinance and zoning maps, which comprised the zoning plan. We affirm the judgment of the Trial Court.”

That judgement was 13 pages.

On May 11, in the case against the Monteagle Regional Planning Commission regarding a site plan, Swiney stated, “Petitioners alleged that the Commission acted illegally, arbitrarily, and capriciously in approving the site plan at issue because the underlying zoning for one of the parcels is invalid. The Trial Court ruled in favor of Respondents. Petitioners appeal. In a parallel declaratory judgment action case arising out of the same facts, we determined that the underlying zoning is valid, which is dispositive of this appeal. We affirm the Trial Court.”

That judgment was 4 pages.

According to the documents, expenses associated with the legal effort will be assessed against William Foehring, Janice Foehring, William Best, MaryBeth Best, Ron Terrill, and Sandra Terrill. At this time, the dollar amount is unknown.

Also unknown is if the six wish to push the case to be heard by Tennessee Supreme Court, the state’s court of last resort. The five Supreme Court justices may accept appeals of civil and criminal cases from lower state courts.

When contacted by Grundy County Herald the group of six declined to comment when questioned if they will accept defeat or push to have the case heard by the highest court in the state.

“We put our heads together and what we want to say is ‘no comment’ because it is still in litigation,” said MaryBeth. “We are just going to leave it at that, because there is still a lot going on.”