Lenoir City seeks suit dismissal

Lenoir City is hoping a judge will rule to halt Loudon County’s lawsuit alleging annexation violations.

Attorneys representing Lenoir City filed the motion March 15 in Loudon County Circuit Court citing a lack of jurisdiction and failure to file a timely claim.

The original county complaint for declaratory judgment and breach of contract was filed Feb. 14 after Loudon County Commission voted 7-3 on Feb. 6 to pursue legal action.

The matter centers around the annexation by Lenoir City of properties owned by Belle West Pointe LLC and WNW Properties LLC. The county parcels, which were to be used for residential development, were annexed May 11, 2020, and Nov. 14.

The properties are outside an established Urban Growth Boundary, which by state law limits annexation of county land by cities.

Kyle A. Baisley, an attorney with Long, Ragsdale & Waters, P.C., a Knoxville law firm representing the county, said the annexations did not follow state law and were not approved by commission as required by a 2005 Interlocal Agreement between the city and county.

Lenoir City’s motion indicates the county lacks standing since injury in fact, causation and redressabilty have not been met. Any injury suffered must be established as actual and real with monetary damages applicable, according to the motion.

The motion cites state law that allows aggrieved property owners who are beside or within areas of annexation to contest the ordinance but excludes public corporations, such as the county, from the definition of an aggrieved property owner.

In addition to a lack of standing, the motion claims the complaint was not filed within the time allowed by state law.

City Attorney Walter Johnson, who is representing the city along with Knoxville attorney T. Scott Jones, said he explained in a Jan. 23 meeting of Lenoir City Council why he thought the county did not have a case.

Johnson said a Nov. 8 letter written by County Attorney Robert “Bob” Bowman gave commissioners much of the same information regarding standing. Johnson said that letter went only to Commission Chairman Henry Cullen, Loudon County Mayor Rollen “Buddy” Bradshaw and Commissioner Van Shaver, and Johnson claimed the rest of commission was unaware.

“There’s a lot of other things to say about the case if it gets that far, but we don’t think it should,” Johnson said. “We think essentially this, that they didn’t file it in time and they’re not the proper party to bring the lawsuit.”

Johnson said he believes the interlocal agreement is worthless and has been basically ignored since 2005.

Bowman said he could not comment because he had not yet seen the motion to dismiss. He said the letter sent in November gave a general overview of annexation law in Tennessee and was not specific to a particular issue.

Bowman is not representing the county in the case due a conflict between his law firm and Lenoir City.

Baisley said he had no comment but will address the motion when he files a response in court.