Baldwin County Circuit Court Judge Jody Bishop last week set a bench trial date of January 2024 for a lawsuit a popular event venue has filed against the Baldwin County Planning and Zoning Commission.

The owner of Bella Sera Gardens, outside of Loxley, sued the commission in July, after it revoked the venue’s conditional use permit following numerous noise complaints from neighbors. The owner, Robin Gregorius, is seeking to reverse the commission’s decision, as well as any damages she may be entitled to as a result of the action.

“There will be a lot of people there on my behalf,” Gregorius said. “A judge will look at this, and he’s going to look at every mistake the Baldwin County Planning Commission made on my venue.”

Gregorius says that because unincorporated Baldwin County has no noise ordinance, the commission had no right to revoke the permit based on noise complaints. She also argues that she worked with Baldwin County Planning and Zoning Department staffers on a mitigation plan, which included commissioning a sound study at the venue, removing subwoofers from the property and installing some automatic doors.

Gregorius said that Planning and Zoning Director Matthew Brown had agreed to the plan in a prior meeting before her permit was revoked on July 6.