A legal fight attempting to block a Golden Triangle Development LINK-backed industrial park in Starkville is not yet finished.
A group owning property surrounding the 400 acres of proposed advanced manufacturing space filed a notice of appeal with the Oktibbeha County Circuit Clerk Thursday that states they’ll appeal for a judgement by the Mississippi Supreme Court.
A timeline for the appeal process is not yet known, and Oktibbeha County Deputy Civil Clerk Tina Mullins said Thursday she would soon put together a cost estimate for the appellants.
On May 16, Circuit Judge Jim Kitchens issued an order stating the Starkville Board of Aldermen “had a reasonable evidentiary basis” for its split 6-1 vote in January to rezone the properties constituting the industrial park for manufacturing.
The change, Kitchens wrote in his order, “was not arbitrary, capricious, discriminatory or illegal.”
The appellants — LMK LLC, Bettye Bell, Mary S. Bell, Margaret Copeland and Laura B. White — did not meet their burden “to show that the decision was invalid,” the order states.
After learning of his organization’s courtroom victory Wednesday, LINK Chief Executive Officer Joe Max Higgins said he would approach the board of aldermen and Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors this summer in regard to the two bodies’ combined $14 million in bond pledges that will help fund the park’s development.
Higgins had not yet responded to a text message Thursday, but a protracted legal battle is expected to again delay the project.
The appellants previously forced a delay in bond issuances, property acquisitions and park construction when they filed their first round of legal challenges, including a bill of exceptions against Starkville’s newly approved comprehensive plan, earlier this year.
Higgins previously said even if Starkville and the LINK win the legal battle this year, the delay will push park construction efforts into 2018.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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