August 27 Legal Update

On August 26, the Hendricks County judge assigned to our case dismissed it with prejudice.

The judge made no decision on the merits of the case. We had not reached that point yet.

Instead, the judge determined that we had no right to even ask a court to review the Planning Commission’s decision—a decision we firmly believe was legally flawed and violated Brownsburg’s own zoning ordinances.

She ruled that we were not properly aggrieved to bring the case.

If the immediate neighbors of a proposed development—people directly affected by the decision and who participated in the proceedings—are not properly aggrieved, then who is?

After the ruling, we were in immediate contact with our attorney. She made one thing clear: she strongly and passionately believes that this dismissal with prejudice was made in error. She has taken similar cases to the Indiana Supreme Court and won. She knows the law. We trust her.

Our Petition properly pleaded the allegations of standing as required under the judicial review statutes and the Indiana Trial Rules. But even if the Court disagreed, we were entitled to amend.

Under Indiana law, a motion to dismiss for lack of standing is treated as a motion to dismiss under Indiana Trial Rule 12(B)(6), which provides a party the automatic ability to amend its complaint once as a matter of right.

We will be taking action to address this error, reverse the dismissal, and amend our pleading. This fight is not over, and we will see this through to the very end.

Stay tuned.