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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe YMCA Camp Tecumseh’s quest to stay a zoning decision that allows a confined feeding operation to set up shop next to the camp’s property should be heard in White County, not Carroll County where the camp is located, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled.
The White County Board of Commissioners approved the rezoning of a tract of land in White County to allow more than 9,000 hogs in a confined feeding operation. Camp Tecumseh, located in Carroll County but on the county line, is adjacent to the parcel that contains the rezoned property.
The camp filed a petition for judicial review and stay of zoning decision in Carroll County against the White County Board of Commissioners. The board of commissioners filed a motion to dismiss, alleging Carroll County wasn’t a proper venue. The trial court denied the motion to transfer venue pursuant to Indiana Trial Rule 75, citing that Carroll County is a preferred venue because the petitioners are residents of that county.
“Though the Camp is clearly concerned about the anticipated future injury to its land in Carroll County as a result of the rezoning, this does not change the nature of the suit. The Camp’s cause of action is for judicial review of a White County ordinance rezoning White County land and will involve review of documents filed, proceedings held, and findings and decisions made only in White County,” Judge Ezra Friedlander wrote. “The Camp’s judicial review action does not relate to land in Carroll County for purposes of T.R.75(A)(2). Because Carroll County is not a county of preferred venue, the trial court erred by denying the motion for transfer of venue to White County. On remand, the Carroll Circuit Court is directed to grant the White County Board’s motion to transfer.”
The case is White County Board of Commissioners v. Y.M.C.A. Camp Tecumseh, Inc., 08A04-1401-MI-17.
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