After several tries to obtain approval for a tower project in court, Central States Tower IV LLC (CST) failed to file a record promptly, so the Indiana Court of Appeals reversed a ruling in the company’s favor. According to The Indiana Lawyer, litigation began after CST had executed a lease agreement with the Portage Township Multi-School Building Corporation to construct a tower on school property. However, after CST submitted a second site plan to the Portage Plan Commission’s Development Review Committee (DRC), it recommended denial based on a lack of agreement regarding an easement for the property.
CST filed a petition seeking judicial review after the commission denied the site plan proposal, reported The Indiana Lawyer. In a court trial, CST’s request to overturn the decision was rejected, and the company then filed suit against the “School Building Corporation’s obligations to provide access to the site according to the lease and to also provide a recordable easement.”
CST encountered several struggles throughout the process, including the denial of a building permit and its requested special exemptions. These challenges prompted the company to file “a verified petition for writ of certiorari contesting the BZA’s decision.”
Ultimately, The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed the trial court’s denial of the cert petition. The court found that CST did not file the BZA report within 30 days of filing its petition, or request an extension, so the request was dismissed.
“CST concedes that it did not file the BZA record within thirty days of the filing of its petition. Its argument, however, is that it did not do so because the BZA failed to compile the record and provide it to CST for filing, as required by Indiana Code section 36-7-4-1613(c),” according to Senior Judge John Sharpnack.
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