Pleasant Ridge homeowners' dispute with city of Charlestown will go to trial

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A group of Pleasant Ridge residents will go to court next month and make their case at trial in the fight to stay in their homes.

A group of residents sued the city of Charlestown in 2017, accusing the city and a private developer of working to extort homeowners out of their homes by enforcing new maintenance codes and handing out fines.

"They are going after my home in a roundabout way, and I have to protect it the best way I can," said David Keith, who has lived in Pleasant Ridge since 1970. "I cannot understand how they can take my home away and build a home for someone else. That’s what I can’t get through my head."

City attorneys say code enforcement officers were simply doing their jobs by enforcing the code violations, but Mayor Bob Hall said no fines were handed out.

"We’ve inspected homes. Landlords have said they didn’t want to fix them up. They sold the property," Hall said. "Two years later, they decided they didn’t like that, so they brought a lawsuit against the city."

A judge dismissed a similar case against the city in March.

In September, the neighborhood association's attorneys asked a judge to make a summary judgement, which would essentially decide the case without a trial. But Friday, the judge said no.

Representatives for the neighborhood association said they are willing to take the case "all the way to the Supreme Court" if needed.

The trial is now scheduled to start Nov. 12 in Clark County.

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