Branch, Maxwells Appeal Jonquil Village Denial

The owners and developers behind a $40 million mixed use development at the site of the stalled Jonquil Village project are suing the City of Smyrna over its recent 4-3 denial of the proposed amendments to the approved site plan.

The complaint, which is attached to this article, alleges the city has violated Branch Capital Partners and T&C Land, owned by Todd and Cheri Maxwell, their constitutional and common law rights to develop their property and make profit off of it due to the onerous zoning of the 11.03 acre site, which was approved in 2007.

In 2007, the site was zoned Mixed-Use Conditional and a site plan was approved which supported a $185 million development with a Publix as an anchor retail store, 160,000 sq. ft. of retail space, 30,000 sq. ft. of office space, and underground parking. Since the economic downturn, however, this project fell through and is now deemed by the plaintiffs to be economically unviable.

The complaint alleges unconstitutional taking, arbitrary and capricious denial, and denial of due process. The plaintiffs allege that the 2007 zoning makes development of the site impossible under current economic conditions and amounts to the taking of the plaintiff's property without compensation and a "substantial destruction of plaintiff's valuable property rights."

In addition, it is alleged that the Smyrna City Council improperly delegated legislative authority when they were swayed by public comments to vote against the rezoning instead of voting strictly on the merits of the amended Jonquil Village site plan, which called for 288 apartments and 35,000 sq. ft. of non-residential space.

The plaintiffs are asking a judge to rule the zoning ordinance for the site unconstitutional and to order the city to reconsider the amended site plan to allow the plaintiffs "the highest and best use" of the property.