Lawsuit filed against Walden vice mayor

WALDEN, Tenn. (WDEF) – The vice mayor of the town of Walden is being sued by private developers who want to build a grocery store in the town. 

In the lawsuit filed by LOP, LLC, they allege that Vice Mayor Lizzie Schmidt hid personal connections to the Pruett’s Market in Signal Mountain, which is currently the only grocery store on top of Walden’s Ridge in Hamilton County.

Walden Vice Mayor Lizzie Schmidt, who is the defendant in a lawsuit filed this week. (From: Town of Walden)

The suit claims she helped pass a restrictive ordinance that would prohibit the grocery store from being over 15,000 square feet, despite the Walden Planning Commission suggesting the store should be twice the size.

While Vice Mayor Schmidt declined to comment on the lawsuit filed against her this, we did find footage of her explaining why she is against the project at a Walden town council meeting in November.

She explained then, “I do think that sewage issues, I do think that the coal mines that are underneath make it dangerous to have too large of a building… Walden should have small to medium sized buildings, and I don’t think based on the buildings that are on Walden’s Ridge right now, that 30,000 square feet would qualify as a small building.”

The plaintiffs are seeking millions of dollars in damages.

Additionally, 10 residents of Walden filed a petition for Vice Mayor Schmidt’s removal in Hamilton County Circuit Court on Wednesday afternoon.