A suit filed by the Metropolitan Government of Nashville against the local Board of Zoning Appeals can continue after a Tennessee Supreme Court ruling granting Nashville standing in the case.
The dispute stems from a Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) decision in 2012 that overturned the zoning administrator’s decision to deny permits to replace a static billboard with a digital billboard and add a digital billboard to an existing static billboard.
Metro Nashville filed a petition with the chancery court of Davidson County, asking the court to review the BZA decision. The petition was challenged by the landowners and the company that leases the property, who claimed that Metro Nashville lacked legal standing to initiate the suit. Legal standing refers to a party’s personal stake in a matter and whether that stake is affected to the point they are entitled to judicial relief. If a party lacks standing, they are not permitted by law to pursue litigation.
The chancery court agreed with those seeking the permits that Metro Nashville lacked standing and granted their motion to dismiss. Metro Nashville took the case to the Court of Appeals, which reversed the trial court and reinstated the case.
The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case and on Tuesday ruled that Metro Nashville has legal standing to pursue an action in court regarding the BZA decision. The Court determined that Metro Nashville has legal standing under Tennessee law because it is a party that could be “aggrieved” by the actions of the zoning board. The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case and today determined that Metro indeed does have legal standing to pursue an action in court regarding the BZA decision. In its ruling, the Court determined that Metro Nashville can be considered a party that possibly could be “aggrieved” by the actions of the board, giving them legal standing under Tennessee law. The Court noted that Metro Nashville potentially could be aggrieved because the zoning board’s decision to grant the permits could result in billboards that violate Metro Nashville ordinances.
The case now returns to the chancery court, which will decide whether the billboards are grandfathered under a previous law that would permit the requested digital changes, or whether they fall under the current law, which would cause the digital billboards to be in violation of the local sign ordinance.
To read the unanimous opinion in The Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County v. The Board of Zoning Appeals, authored by Justice Jeffrey S. Bivins, go to the opinions section of TNCourts.gov.