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Thursday, April 12, 2007

Ind. Decisions - Still more on: Appeals decision too little too late for Crown Point developer

Updating this ILB entry from Jan 4, 2007, Joe Carlson of the NWI Times reports today:

Crown Point developer Tim Heidbreder filed a lawsuit against Mayor Dan Klein in federal court Wednesday to recoup the money Heidbreder claims he lost when the city illegally denied him permission to build a concrete plant.

The federal case is separate from the ongoing legal battle regarding the concrete plant that has gone all the way to the Indiana Supreme Court, where the two sides are arguing over whether the mayor had the legal power to veto a City Council permit to build the plant.

In the state court case, the city is challenging an Indiana Court of Appeals decision that Klein did not have the power to veto the permit for the Redi-Mix plant at 1010 Millennium Drive. Nearby residents strongly opposed the plant.

Bruce Lambka, attorney for Heidbreder, said the federal civil lawsuit filed Wednesday is seeking "unspecified damages" from Klein and the city because of the mayor's illegal actions, which caused Heidbreder to lose the profits from building the plant or selling the land to a company that would. * * *

Lambka said he would have preferred to wait to file the federal lawsuit until after the state Supreme Court issued the final word on whether Klein had the power to veto the ordinance. As it stands, the lawsuit is based on the appeals court ruling.

But the two-year statute of limitations to file the federal case was set to expire today because Klein vetoed the original permit on April 12, 2005, Lambka said.

See a list of related ILB entries here.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on April 12, 2007 02:01 PM
Posted to Ind Fed D.Ct. Decisions | Ind. App.Ct. Decisions | Indiana Courts