LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The battle between Topgolf and the neighbors of Hurstbourne continued on Thursday and this time it was in front of a circuit court judge.
In March, WHAS11 News reported claims from Steve Porter, the attorney representing six neighbors, that the applicant Topgolf USA Louisville, LLC, which filed for zoning changes over a year ago, does not actually exist because the entity never registered with the Secretary of State.
Porter took that argument to court and said Topgolf USA Louisville, LLC wasn’t allowed to do business in Kentucky at the time of the planning commission hearing.
“[They] tried to put applications under a name that didn't exist,” he explained. “You should rule that the decisions made were arbitrary because they had the wrong people involved.”
Porter is hoping a judge will ultimately rule any decisions by the Planning Commission and Metro Council null and void.
“First that argument is completely unsupported by the law, and secondly this case has been about a topgolf center from the very beginning,” argued Topgolf attorney, Cliff Ashburner.
Ashburner said the debate has been over a Topgolf at the Oxmoor center, no matter what the name was listed under.
“The name of the entity has no impact on the amount of traffic that is generated, the amount of light that the facility might make, the amount of noise the facility might generate,” he said.
Those were the main concerns that neighbors presented at two public hearings totaling 12 hours of comment.
Porter is also pointing fingers at the planning commission and argues they did not do a thorough job before making the recommendation to Metro Council.
“Some of the things that happened on the lighting, and on the due process as far as testimonies and lack of believable experts,” he argued.
He believes the entire process, including public meetings, should have to start all over again now that Topgolf is officially registered with the Secretary of State, unlike before.
“The court is supposed to determine 'could the planning commission have made a reasonable decision or not,” said Ashburner.
The judge has 90 days to decide how to rule.
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