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Nashville’s new recreational vehicle regulations face a flurry of legal challenges from commercial operators against what they say is an arbitrary licensing process with a set of unworkable rules.
Four recreational vehicle companies have filed lawsuits Subway and Subway Transportation Licensing Board – The agency responsible for making rules and issuing licenses to operate – as of August 31.
Commission cuts recreational vehicle industry nearly half A total of 89 of 159 permits were approved to reduce the number of vehicles on downtown streets during the first permitting process in June.
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Mayor John Cooper, Police Chief John Drake and representatives from several Nashville business and tourism organizations encouraged commissioners Eliminate unenclosed party vehicles.
Honky Tonk Party Express, Nashville Party Barge, Nashville Underground and Gray Lion allege in separate lawsuits that MTLC denied the license without a logical basis. The second Honky Tonk Party Express document challenges rules requiring vehicle closures, limiting hours of operation and setting insurance requirements.
“It is clearly inappropriate that (MTLC) has clearly communicated the mayor’s message and accomplished, through rulemaking and permit allocation, what Mayor Cooper could not have done through ordinance,” a Honky Tonk Party Express file name.
Metro’s legal department is ready to defend the lawsuits, Cooper said.
“Come on. Common sense regulations for recreational transportation will help reduce traffic, control noise, make our streets safer, and improve the quality of life for Nashville residents,” Cooper said in an emailed statement Wednesday.
new state and local legislation Made it possible to regulate Nashville’s recreational vehicle industry last year. The nine-member MTLC, appointed by the mayor, has long overseen small vehicles, including pedal pubs.
The MTLC has issued 50 permits for sightseeing vehicles, which prohibit alcohol and can be open-air vehicles as long as each passenger remains seated. Another 39 permits are for recreational transport vehicles that allow alcohol on board and must be enclosed.
These lawsuits were first Nashville Postwill test the staying power of the new rules.
Metro’s legal director, Wallace Dietz, said the restrictions were “within Metro’s ability to regulate the industry in the public interest” and Metro was “confident” their implementation would be confirmed in court.
Licensing process under fire
Honky Tonk Party Express is the largest company in Nashville’s recreational vehicle space. It applied for 35 vehicle permits in June and was awarded 12 recreational vehicles and five sightseeing vehicles.
The company currently has 16 recreational vehicles in operation, with four more in custom use. Its lawsuit seeks licenses for all 20 of its recreational vehicles.
The company claims that MTLC has “doubled down” on its revenue by effectively reducing its fleet by 25% and limiting operating hours, eliminating about 40% of its business booking slots.
The commission has no traffic impact studies to base its decision to grant or deny the permit, the lawsuit says.
Diana Alarcon, director of the Nashville Department of Transportation, said a “connecting downtown” study of Nashville’s urban core transportation is underway and expected to be completed by February 2023, calling for a dramatic reduction in entertainment. One of the people in vehicular traffic.
Alarcon told a licensing meeting in June that if research showed the need to further reduce the number of recreational vehicles on downtown streets, she was concerned that businesses licensed this year could lose their licenses after further investment.
The Nashville Party Barge asked the court to overturn the committee’s decision to grant only four of the eight licenses the company applied for.
“The MTLC issued licenses to qualified applicants seemingly at random,” the lawsuit said.
Lower Broadway venue and bar Nashville Underground purchased a tractor and hay wagon last year with the intention of offering customers a “hay wagon experience.” But the venue missed the deadline to apply for a recreational vehicle permit because it claimed in court documents that the MTLC had not given proper notice of the narrow application deadline in early April.
The lawsuit alleges that the publicly released MTLC meeting agenda was deliberately vague in an attempt to reduce the number of applicants. Nashville Underground’s appeal attempt failed after MTLC attorneys said proper notice had been provided.
Gray Lion LLC sued the committee in circuit court. The MTLC granted two of the nine licenses the company requested, which the lawsuit calls “apparently unfounded discretion.”
Other regulations are challenged
Honky Tonk Party Express opposes rules that require recreational vehicles to be completely enclosed in separate boxes.
Closures make sense in the cool weather from November to February, but temperatures from March to October make it unfeasible to contain vehicles and adjust their air conditioners to comfortable and safe levels, the company said.
Supply chain issues and engineering issues will also make it difficult, if not impossible, to comply with the Oct. 2 deadline, the company’s lawsuit said.
The lawsuit also alludes to the inequity between regulations for pedal pubs and large recreational vehicles, which may allow drinking in unenclosed vehicles.
Honky Tonk Party Express said it “couldn’t identify the market for liquor liability insurance required by the new regulations” except for a company that might provide insurance and thus have a monopoly.
Honky Tonk Party Express asked the court to invalidate the rules on fences, hours of operation and liquor liability insurance and bar Metro from enforcing core codes on those issues until a ruling is made.
A hearing on Honky Tonk Party Express’s permit injunction request is scheduled for September 6 at 2pm.
Cassandra Stephenson covers Metro Government for Tennessee. Contact her at ckstephenson@tennessean.com. Follow Cassandra on Twitter @CStephenson731.
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