The city of Huntsville maintains it should be dismissed as a defendant from a lawsuit filed by a group of residents objecting to a planned luxury subdivision on Monte Sano.

Attorneys filed a motion to dismiss Tuesday from the lawsuit filed in August protesting approved zoning changes by the city to facilitate the development off Gaslight Way in east Huntsville. The city asserts in its motion that there are no claims against the city permitted by state law.

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While the lawsuit focuses on rezoning ordinances, the city responds in its motion that “Alabama law grants municipalities plenary zoning authority, including the authority to amend zoning ordinances as they see fit.”

A hearing before Madison County Circuit Judge Alison Austin for the motion to dismiss has been scheduled for Nov. 10.

The lawsuit stems from plans for the construction of a 64-unit subdivision named Summit at Monte Sano – developed by Colorado-based See Forever Development Partners, which has also been named a defendant in the lawsuit. The website for the development touts plans for a “luxury housing” neighborhood.

Seven residents who live near the wooded area where the subdivision would be built brought the lawsuit filed by Huntsville attorney Robert Rodgers. The plaintiffs have requested a bench trial. The case has been assigned to Madison County Circuit Judge Alison Austin.

Huntsville attorneys David Canupp and Allison Chandler filed the motion to dismiss on behalf of the city. The developers have not made a filing in the case yet.

The city also said the plaintiffs had no standing in the case since “Alabama courts have repeatedly held that private citizens do not have the right to sue municipalities for the ‘failure to enforce local ordinances.’”

The motion to dismiss goes on to say that the plaintiffs “do not allege that they own any of the property that was rezoned, nor do they identify any present violation or deprivation of any legally recognized right (as opposed to speculative allegations about possible injury in the future).”

The development generated pushback before the city approved zoning changes to allow construction to go forward. A public hearing and city council discussion that lasted more than two hours at the May 26 meeting focused at length on concerns of construction on the lower slope of Monte Sano and the impact it could have on nearby homes. Rodgers, the attorney who filed the lawsuit, addressed the council at the public hearing in May on behalf of his clients and raised concerns that eventually were repeated in the lawsuit.

Thomas Nunez, the city’s manager of planning services, gave a lengthy presentation to the council in May on the development. Nunez said the development plans were within restrictions of the slope ordinances.

The lawsuit asks for the judge to prohibit the start of construction of the development and block the city from issuing building permits to the developers.