LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A group of Hurstbourne residents is filing an appeal after a judge ruled the plans for TopGolf could proceed.
According to attorney Steve Porter, who represents the group of neighbors, said the zoning application was not “accurate and complete.”
“I think Topgolf should come here, Louisville is a good city for TopGolf,” Porter explained. “It could be in an industrial area, commercial area, where those lights don't shine in somebody’s backyard.”
Porter released a statement on the appeal, saying in part:
"On behalf of my clients in the Topgolf case, I am today filing a Notice of Appeal to the Kentucky Court of Appeals. This appeal will be based on the misinterpretation by the Circuit Court Judge of the responsibilities and duties of the Planning Commission and its staff as compared to the position of the general public and neighbors. The Kentucky statutes require a zoning application to be "accurate and complete". That was not true in this case. It is not the responsibility of the general public, contrary to the judge's opinion, to check the accuracy of every detail in a zoning application. That would be an impossible task for the public. Contrary to the judge's opinion, the general public is not a "party" to a zoning application. The only parties are the applicants and the Planning Commission, and the Planning Commission is supposed to represent the interests of the public, which it did not do in this case. If government did not do its job in enforcing the law, then the applications should never have been considered or approved. The courts require strict compliance with zoning statutes."
“They don't want the light shining into their backyards until 4:00 in the morning, which they will on weekends. They don’t like the night time traffic at 1:00, 2:00, 3:00 in the morning. They don't like the 175-foot polls which will not be lighted but will reflect the light from the lights on the stadium,” Porter said, commenting on why these neighbors refuse to give up.
The Louisville Metro Council and the Jefferson County Planning Commission have already approved the plans for TopGolf, and in June a Circuit Court Judge also ruled in favor of the project.
The plan is to build TopGolf at the site of the old Sears at the Oxmoor Center, where fencing already surrounds the building.
“They can even go ahead and start building TopGolf,” Porter said, “because we can't afford to put up what's called a supersedeas bond to prevent them from building. But if we eventually win, they'd have to tear it down.”
WHAS11 News reached out to Oxmoor Center and Topgolf about the appeal and at this point, have not received a response.
A representative from Oxmoor said earlier this month that "We believe the outcome is inevitable and further litigation is only an attempt to delay."
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