The Howard County Ambulance District has filed a counterclaim in the case by which the City of Fayette is asking a judge for an injunction to prevent the district from constructing a new base inside a residential district.

On Wednesday, August 19, the district’s attorney, Jennifer Griffin, filed answers to the city’s petition for injunctive relief, doubling down on its assertion that the district is not subject to local zoning codes. The district also filed a counterclaim asking a judge to rule that the city lacks authority to intervene in any way with the district’s “exercise of its governmental powers,” stating that the city’s actions are causing "irreparable harm" to the district.

The ambulance district also filed a motion for a change of judge.

As has been reported by the Advertiser, Fayette’s Board of Aldermen turned down the ambulance district’s request for a conditional use permit to build a new ambulance base on four lots it purchased inside a neighborhood zoned RS-1, for single-family residences. The council cited multiple reasons for the denial, chief among them being the desire to protect RS-1, especially after several area residents spoke out against the plan.

The following day, the district issued a letter to the city stating it would build there anyway because the district is not subject to such zoning laws.

The city’s attorney, Erin Wiseman, in June, filed a petition for injunctive relief, essentially asking a judge to rule on the matter.

The ambulance district’s board, also in June, agreed to pause efforts to build on the lot to seek a more suitable site. But while that cooled tensions, at least somewhat, this new action could further ignite a growing controversy between citizens and the district.

As of this writing, a case review hearing was scheduled before Circuit 14 Presiding Judge Scott Hayes at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, September 23, in Howard County court.