Two Summit families have filed suit against the town after councilmen made zoning changes earlier this month to place all properties along a busy street in commercial zones.
Dr. Robert Van Uden and his wife Jean, and Ashley Atkinson and his wife Gaye filed the lawsuit in Pike County Circuit Court on July 21. They are represented by Flowood attorney John Shows.
The lawsuit centers around two conflicting theories as to how Summit should grow.
The town council wants more development along Lawrence Street and the Hershal Grady Memorial Parkway — two busy east-west streets that connect with each other at a four-way stop at Highway 51 and usher in commuter traffic, mainly students to Southwest Mississippi Community College and North Pike schools.
However, Lawrence Street residents — including the plaintiffs and planning commission chairman Dr. Tom Carey — hold the opinion that commercial growth should be confined to existing zones along Highway 51.
At its July 12 board meeting, the council adopted its comprehensive plan, zoning ordinances and land use maps, making significant changes to plans that the town’s planning commission had recommended in the process.
The most significant changes are the wholesale rezoning of residential properties and vacant lots along Lawrence Street and Hershal Grady, from Hickory to Cherry streets, as well as one piece of property on Highway 51 north of the four-way stop.
The measures councilmen adopted more closely resembled an initial development proposal by William Peacock of the Central Mississippi Planning and Development District, who the town had hired as a consultant.
While Peacock’s initial recommendation called for a commercial corridor along Lawrence Street, the planning commission railed against it. Peacock submitted a new “mixed-use” zoning plan, which also was rejected.
A third option, with proposed commercial districts significantly pared back to include none along Hershal Grady or on the northern end of Highway 51 received the graces of the planning commission, and it’s the version the plaintiffs had also hoped the council had passed.
In their lawsuit, the couples say the town council acted improperly because it didn’t notify residents of the changes in advance, hold a public hearing on the changes or prove that there had been enough change in the area to warrant the commercial zones. Further, they argue that the council didn’t have the authority to make wholesale changes to the comprehensive plan and zoning maps — only to accept or reject the planning commission’s recommendations.
The plaintiffs want a judge to set aside the zoning changes and preserve residential zoning in the dispute area.
The lawsuit rings familiar in Summit. In 2010, The Van Udens and Carey successfully sued the town after it tried to rezone Highway 51 property owned by Venton Ray Adams from residential to commercial. That same piece of property is part of the focus in the newest zoning dispute.
