KENTUCKY BLUEGRASS EXPERIENCE RESORT LAWSUIT AGAINST CITY OF MIDWAY DISMISSED BY JUDGE MATTOX

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By Bob Vlach
Woodford Sun Staff

Woodford Circuit Judge Jeremy Mattox dismissed claims against the City of Midway as a defendant in a lawsuit filed by the Kentucky Bluegrass Experience Resort (KBER) in a May 18 order.
“We were pleased (with the dismissal). How could we not be,” said Grayson Vandegrift, who was Midway’s mayor when the city was added as a defendant in the lawsuit against the Board of Adjustments (BOA).
KBER and its owners, Andrew Hopewell and Joey Svec, filed the lawsuit in early February 2022, seeking to overturn the BOA’s decision in December 2021 denying KBER’s request to treat the RV park’s wastewater using a private treatment facility. The City of Midway was added as a defendant last May after the city council voted 5 to 0 in October 2021 to deny KBER’s request for municipal water and sewer service.
Hank Graddy, an attorney representing KBER in the suit, told the Sun that he will file a motion asking Judge Mattox to reconsider his decision. “If that is unsuccessful, then my expectation is we will ask the Court of Appeals to reverse his decision,” Graddy said.
He argued the City of Midway does not have the discretion as a public utility “to refuse to provide sewer service” when they are “at your front gate” – calling its decision discriminatory.
The lawsuit filed against the City of Midway cited a May 6, 2021 email from then-Mayor Vandegrift expressing his support for the RV park. “I’m so happy to have heard last night that your plans were approved by the BOA. We are very excited about this opportunity to grow Midway’s tourism and local economic potential. … As you all get an idea of how much sewer capacity you’ll be using, let me know and we can start talking services.”
Graddy argued the council’s decision was political. “They believe,” he said, “they can provide sewer by popularity,” referencing a large public outcry opposing the RV park.
“The arguments (in the suit) to me,” Vandegrift told the Sun, “were more geared towards an attempt to embarrass me than … any kind of legal argument.
“If that was their goal, I was never embarrassed. Sticking up for my constituency’s what I’m supposed to do as an elected official.”
Vandegrift said he originally liked the concept of having a campground on the property (located north of I-64 at the Scott County line) rather than an industrial or residential use, but changed his mind after “the plan changed. It got bigger and bigger.”
In his May 6, 2021 email, Vandegrift was referring to the conditional use permit granted a day earlier, which allowed overnight accommodations for up to 472 guests as a Tourist Destination Expanded enterprise. In addition to the guest RV sites, the permit allowed 15 sites for employees and 11 owner sites.
The amended CUP request filed in November and heard in December 2021 – after the Midway City Council decision to deny municipal services – asked to add a new condition that “All campsites and facilities will be supplied with water from Kentucky American Water, and all wastewater will be treated by KY Division of Water KPDS permitted facility in compliance with the Clean Water Act.”
Graddy said his clients are considering whether to drop the lawsuit against the BOA and make a different request, with another method of wastewater treatment for the RV park.