MICHELLE WILLARD, Post Staff Writer
Posted: Tuesday, August 19, 2008 10:13 am

Rutherford County can use witnesses, the Chancery Court ruled this morning.

Chancellor Robert Corlew denied the county’s request for a declaratory judgment, but he will still allow the presentation of additional evidence including witnesses.

“Courts make batter decisions when they have the opportunity to consider all of the evidence,” Corlew said before scheduling the trial date for Sept. 15.

The county’s zoning resolution is under the gun after Rutherford County’s Board of Commissioners denied in a two-thirds vote a rezoning and conditional-use permit request by BPU Holding, LLC, the developer behind Bible Park USA.

The Shelton family, which owns the 240 acres optioned by BPU, filed suit against Rutherford County in June challenging the county’s use of a landowner petition and the subsequent denial of the park’s rezoning request.

The lawsuit requests the landowner petition be corrected, the zoning application approved and attorney’s fees be paid by the county. No specific damages were requested.

C. Dewees Berry, representing the county, argued the county’s denial was a legislative action and therefore requires the introduction of additional evidence for the court to see the case in its entirety.

Sheltons’ attorney, arguing the counterpoint, said the county’s decision with the landowner petition was administrative, not legislative and should only be reviewed by its paper trail.

“This is a landowner rights case,” Harris said. “It’s our position that landowner rights have been violated.”

In the end Corlew sided with Berry and the county by allowing additional evidence in the trial, but not before slamming the county’s zoning resolution, calling it an “abhorration.”

The county’s resolution has been challenged in numerous cases and the consensus has been the resolution needs to be rewritten.

Michelle Willard can be contacted at 615-869-0816 or mwillard@murfreesboropost.com.