After their last defeat in the state courts, Susan Gray and her merry band of plaintiffs went to back to the federal courts with their attempt to overturn fifteen years of land use decisions in Howard County including the Wegmans store in Columbia. Followers of this legal action may recall that when this case was first filed in the federal courts, U.S. District Judge J. FredericK Motz dismissed the case by ruling that this was a matter for the state courts to decide. The state court subsequently dismissed the case, ruling that the plaintiffs did not have standing.
Now Ms Gray is arguing that since the state court has ruled that they have no standing the federal courts are the only venue left to them to seek redress. The latest news is that Ms Gray has now filed a motion with the U.S. Court of Appeals give them more time for “filing opening brief and to supplement the record.”
The defendants in this case, the county government, have objected to any extension. In an email to Susan Gray, county attorney Lou Ruzzi informed Ms Gray that “we can’t agree to further postponing the briefing schedule for the preparation of a transcript that has little or no value to the appeal.”
I should note that Ms Gray is also appealing the dismissal in the state courts.
This will apparently continue on so long as the union continues to support it. It may be one of the reasons that Wegmans has now delayed their opening until 2012. The union may feel that any delay is a victory for them.
Thanks to Tales of Two Cities netizen Lotsabogeys for continuing to track this legal action.
