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Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Ind. Courts - SLAPP-type lawsuit filed against several members of Allen County Plan Commission
A lengthy editorial today in the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette begins:
A lawsuit filed by a developer against three individuals serving on the Allen County Plan Commission is a slap in the face to citizens who volunteer their time to serve the community. The lawsuit also uncomfortably resembles a SLAPP suit, or strategic litigation against public participation. In short, it appears to be an unsubtle attempt to bully members of the plan commission into approving a project that has run into significant public opposition.Oakmont Development Co. III LLC is the developer behind the controversial Canyon Cliffs subdivision planned for the northeast corner of Coldwater and Chapman roads. Last week, it filed a lawsuit in Allen Circuit Court against the Allen County Plan Commission, as well as three members of the plan commission who voted against the project.
SLAPPs are lawsuits launched by plaintiffs with the objective of intimidating challengers and coercing them to drop protests against building projects or initiatives. It’s a common but underhanded tactic often used to subdue environmental advocates or other activists, who typically don’t have the money to defend themselves against a costly lawsuit.
Eric Dannenmaier is a law professor at Indiana University School of Law in Indianapolis who teaches courses on law in democracy, property law and environmental law. He wrote in an e-mail that “This doesn’t appear to be, technically, a SLAPP suit because this is a suit against commission members, not members of the public who are taking a stand against some sort of development. But it is like a SLAPP suit in that it could be seen as calculated to intimidate individuals and discourage future actions by them or others – rather than simply calculated to assert a legal right. If the developer/plaintiff is correct in his legal position, a suit against the commission itself, in its corporate form, would seem to be equally effective in obtaining the development approval he desires. Suing individual commissioners appears to add nothing to an underlying legal claim for approval, and thus one might question its purpose.”
Posted by Marcia Oddi on August 19, 2008 09:46 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts