A Franklin County resident and attorney filed a lawsuit in the county's circuit court accusing the Frankfort/Franklin County Planning Commission of violating Kentucky's Open Meetings Act.
In the suit, which was filed Monday afternoon, Martha Gray asked that the court rule that the planning commission violated the open meetings act by reversing its decision to table the matter of a bourbon warehousing text amendment.
During the commission's Sept. 8 meeting, it voted 6-3 to table a motion to allow for bourbon barrel warehouses in agricultural zones (AG) under conditional use.
In tabling the issue, the commission stated that once the city and county complete the comprehensive plan update, projected to be sometime in the summer of 2023, the commission's sub-committee, the Zoning Update Committee, would then reconsider the matter.
During the Oct. 13 planning commission meeting, the board voted to un-table the motion despite the fact it was not mentioned anywhere in that meeting's agenda.
With the matter back on the agenda for the November meeting, the planning commission voted to recommend the approval of the text amendment to the Frankfort city commissioners and Franklin County Fiscal Court respectively.
Gray's lawsuit states that in the month between the September and October meetings Commissioner Bill May asked that the matter be taken off the table without giving the public proper notice.
One of the suit's allegations reads as follows:
"No special meeting was noticed or scheduled, and the public was given no notice that Commissioner May had even asked for such a meeting or that there was any intent on the part of the Commission to revisit, or consider revisiting, the vote that had been taken to refer to the matter back to the Zoning Update Committee."
The matter of un-tabling was brought up during the old business. Gray points out that the only word under the agenda's old business heading was "NONE." She maintains that the Franklin County residents were not allowed to voice their opinions on the text amendment that has been a hotly contested issue for more than a year.
Before the November meeting Gray filed a formal complaint against the planning commission. In the lawsuit she states that the response she received from the commission's attorney, Ed Logan, was unsatisfactory.
"Defendant’s Response is not responsive to the allegations in the complaint nor does it include a statement of the specific statute or statutes supporting the public agency’s denial and a brief explanation of how the statute or statutes apply” as required by KRS 61.846(1)."
In addition to the violation, Gray asks that the circuit court void any actions the commission took on the text amendment during its Oct. 13 meeting. The suit also asks to void the Sept. 8 vote to reconsider the decision, thus sending the matter back to the zoning update committee pending the completion of the comprehensive plan.
The text amendment is due to appear on city and county agendas sometime in February.
When asked about the lawsuit, Russell Wright, the planning commission chair, replied to The State Journal via email that he had no comment.
Logan, the commission's counsel, has not responded to the request for comment.
State-Journal.com’s comments forum is for civil, constructive dialogue about news topics in our community, state, nation and world. We emphasize “civil” at a time when Americans, in the words of the current president, need to “turn down the temperature” of political debates. The State Journal will do its part by more carefully policing this forum. Here are some rules that all commenters must agree to follow:
Absolutely no attacks on other commenters, on guest columnists or on authors of letters to the editor. Our print and online opinion pages are sacred marketplaces of ideas where diverse viewpoints are welcome without fear of retribution. You may constructively critique the ideas and opinions of others, but name-calling, stereotyping and similar attacks are strictly prohibited.
Leeway will be given for criticism of elected officials and other public figures, but civility is essential. If you focus your criticism on ideas, opinions and viewpoints, you will be less likely to run afoul of our commenting rules.
Keep comments focused on the article or commentary in question. Don’t use an article about the Frankfort City Commission, for example, to rant about national politics.
Hyperpartisanship that suggests anyone on the other side of an issue or anyone in a particular particular party is evil is not welcome. If you believe that all Democrats are socialists intent on destroying America or that all Republicans are racists, there are lots of places on the internet for you to espouse those views. State-Journal.com is not one.
No sophomoric banter. This isn’t a third-grade classroom but rather a place for serious consumers of news to offer their reactions and opinions on news stories and published commentary.
No consumer complaints about individual businesses. If you’ve had a bad experience with a private business or organization, contact the Better Business Bureau or the government agency that regulates that business. If you believe the actions of a private business are newsworthy, contact us at news@state-journal.com and we will consider whether news coverage is merited.
Absolutely no jokes or comments about a person’s physical appearance.
No promotion of commercial goods or services. Our outstanding staff of marketing consultants stands ready to help businesses with effective advertising solutions.
If you state facts that have not been previously reported by The State Journal, be sure to include the source of your information.
No attacks on State Journal staff members or contributing writers. We welcome questions about, and criticism of, our news stories and commentary but not of the writers who work tirelessly to keep their community informed. Corrections of inaccurate information in news stories should be sent to news@state-journal.com rather than posted in the comments section.
Post a comment as anonymous
Report
Watch this discussion.
(1) comment
Yep , that whole deal appears illegal, as it favors the bias of a $ billion dollar industry, over the concerns of local citizens .
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
State-Journal.com’s comments forum is for civil, constructive dialogue about news topics in our community, state, nation and world. We emphasize “civil” at a time when Americans, in the words of the current president, need to “turn down the temperature” of political debates. The State Journal will do its part by more carefully policing this forum. Here are some rules that all commenters must agree to follow:
Absolutely no attacks on other commenters, on guest columnists or on authors of letters to the editor. Our print and online opinion pages are sacred marketplaces of ideas where diverse viewpoints are welcome without fear of retribution. You may constructively critique the ideas and opinions of others, but name-calling, stereotyping and similar attacks are strictly prohibited.
Leeway will be given for criticism of elected officials and other public figures, but civility is essential. If you focus your criticism on ideas, opinions and viewpoints, you will be less likely to run afoul of our commenting rules.
Keep comments focused on the article or commentary in question. Don’t use an article about the Frankfort City Commission, for example, to rant about national politics.
Hyperpartisanship that suggests anyone on the other side of an issue or anyone in a particular particular party is evil is not welcome. If you believe that all Democrats are socialists intent on destroying America or that all Republicans are racists, there are lots of places on the internet for you to espouse those views. State-Journal.com is not one.
No sophomoric banter. This isn’t a third-grade classroom but rather a place for serious consumers of news to offer their reactions and opinions on news stories and published commentary.
No consumer complaints about individual businesses. If you’ve had a bad experience with a private business or organization, contact the Better Business Bureau or the government agency that regulates that business. If you believe the actions of a private business are newsworthy, contact us at news@state-journal.com and we will consider whether news coverage is merited.
Absolutely no jokes or comments about a person’s physical appearance.
No promotion of commercial goods or services. Our outstanding staff of marketing consultants stands ready to help businesses with effective advertising solutions.
If you state facts that have not been previously reported by The State Journal, be sure to include the source of your information.
No attacks on State Journal staff members or contributing writers. We welcome questions about, and criticism of, our news stories and commentary but not of the writers who work tirelessly to keep their community informed. Corrections of inaccurate information in news stories should be sent to news@state-journal.com rather than posted in the comments section.