(June 16, 2010)—The Texas Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a lawsuit filed by Buda residents opposed to a planned U.S. Foodservice plant in the area.
The plaintiffs, Jim Hollis and Christopher Juusola, sought to reverse a City Council decision allowing U.S. Foodservice to move from Springdale Road in Austin to a site east of Buda near the Sunfield Municipal Utility District. Hollis is chairman of BudaFirst, a group opposed to the plant.
In June, the council rezoned 95 acres at the site for light industrial use. Although BudaFirst collected 788 signatures on a petition to put the matter on a ballot, council members voted in September to prohibit the referendum. City Attorney Susan Rocha has said the city charter bars such referendums.
In November, the group filed a lawsuit in the 3rd Court of Appeals in Austin but lost. The state’s highest court agreed to hear the case in March, but dismissed it on Friday, along with an emergency motion to stay.
The dismissal of the suit could mean that plans to build the U.S. Foodservice plant will move ahead. City officials have said that the plant will bring high-paying jobs to the area, and that the company asked for no financial incentives in the deal.
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