Northcross Mall Lawsuit
Allan McMurtry
The attorneys for Allandale have filed a petition before the District Court in Austin, Texas seeking payment of part of our legal fees as they relate to our lawsuit. We have incurred expenses due to the claim filed against us by Lincoln Properties and have filed to be recompensed for those expenses.
This petition will be heard on April 14th at 9:00AM in the 200th Judicial District Court of Travis County in the Travis County Courthouse. Once this matter is taken care of, we will be filing an appeal of the original verdict from November of 2007. This appeal will be before the Texas Court of Appeals.
This case is a long way from being over. The City of Austin has paid legal fees in excess of $625,000 at the rate of over $400 an hour. At the same time, Allandale has incurred legal expenses in excess of $60,000, and RG4N has incurred expenses above that. ANA and its membership feel strongly that Austin, or any City, should abide by its own ordinances. Case law is specific to this issue. Regardless of whether Austin violated its own ordinances in the past, the City is no more above the law than are the citizens of Austin.
This case has merit, and we believe that we will ultimately prevail in a court of law. Allandale has long maintained that this is not an issue for or against Wal-Mart. It is about the City making decisions that impact citizens without providing citizen public hearings. ANA will continue to stand up for our rights in this matter. Adequate hearings ensure common knowledge and provide a forum to bring to light critical issues associated with large super discount centers, regardless of who builds them.
