In La Vergne, property owners applied to the city for a building permit to install new doors on their car wash to convert the wash into a car dealer in 2016. La Vergne issued a building permit to the property owners, who performed the $14,000 conversion of the future car lot but, things failed to go smoothly.

The new tenant was set to open with a zoning confirmation letter in hand to receive car lot approval from the Tennessee Motor Vehicle Commission. However, things evidently changed.

In March of 2017, the tenant allegedly started using the property to perform "Heavy Auto Repair." The La Vergne Codes Department contacted the new dealer and informed them of their ordinance violations. The owner of the property later evicted the tenant.

Later, the property owners signed a new lease for another car lot. The city then informed the property owners that they needed planning commission approval to operate the lot. A letter was submitted to the courts that the city claimed to have sent the property owners two years prior outlining the process. The owners said they never got a letter suggesting they were breaking rules in the City of La Vergne.

The property owners appealed the City Board of Zoning request that the business failed to get the proper green light to run an auto lot. The owners went as far as saying that the Board of Zoning acted illegally, which ended with a trial court.

In November of 2018, a trial court agreed with the La Vergne Board of Zoning Appeals which meant the car lot could not longer operate. In 2019, the trial court denied the property owners motion asking La Vergne to reconsider.

Another appeal was filed, but denied by the Court of Appeals at Nashville on May 27, 2020.

Case: No. M2019-00384-COA-R3-CV