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Board upholds Metro revocation of permit for Foxhall property after neighbors cite court ruling
Summary
The Metropolitan Board of Zoning Appeals voted to uphold the zoning administrator’s revocation of a building permit for 3508 Foxhall Road, rejecting an appeal from Mission Homes after neighbors and a chancery-court ruling were cited as controlling legal precedent.
The Metropolitan Board of Zoning Appeals on Jan. 16 upheld the zoning administrator’s revocation of a building permit for 3508 Foxhall Road, denying an appeal by Mission Homes and its development partner.
The decision preserves a September revocation of a permit that had been issued and then rescinded after Metro staff learned of a 2020 chancery-court ruling affecting the subdivision plat. Joey Hargis, Metro’s zoning administrator, told the board he issued the permit in error and “subsequently revoked” it after learning the court had found the smaller, underlying lots at issue were not valid building lots.
The ruling matters because it limits whether older underlying lots created before modern subdivision regulations can be treated as separate buildable parcels. Neighbors said the chancery-court decision and prior Board of Zoning Appeals cases that overturned similar permits left no discretion for Metro to allow the construction proposed by the developer.
Mission Homes attorney Grooms and contractor Christopher Knight told the board the developer purchased the site and spent money preparing plans in reliance on Metro staff emails that the underlying lots could be used to build two houses. Knight said the project team spent “countless man hours” and roughly $150,000 on plans and pre-construction work; he told the board, “We’re not the enemy,” and argued equity and vested‑rights principles should protect the investment.
Neighbors and neighborhood leaders, including Chip Hoare and Scott Huerman, urged the board to uphold the revocation. Huerman told the board the permit was issued on Aug. 30 and that neighbors delivered the chancery-court ruling to Metro on Sept. 9, which triggered a stop-work action. Several speakers said the neighborhood had previously funded litigation to preserve the plat and that allowing the permit to stand would undermine expectations tied to RS zoning in the area.
Hargis explained that prior zoning administrators and Metro staff had treated similar pre-subdivision lots as legally nonconforming but buildable in many cases, and that he had initially followed that practice. After receiving the court opinion, Hargis said the department flagged every lot in that plat to prevent further erroneous permits. He also told the board the department would not force occupants of homes already built on the plat to leave.
After deliberation the board voted to uphold the zoning administrator’s revocation. The motion to affirm the administrator’s decision passed; the board did not find that the administrator erred in revoking the permit in light of the chancery-court ruling.
The decision leaves the property under the current interpretation of the court ruling; Mission Homes’ attorney said the company may pursue appellate review.
