Lawsuit against City of Cape Girardeau regarding alleyway use moves to federal court

The lawsuit filed against the City of Cape Girardeau, KEENMAC LLC and SEMO Cardinal Group LLC may be heading to federal court for involving questions of federal law.

The plaintiffs in the case, Athena Property Group LLC, APG Limited LLC, Shiloh LLC and Remedy Capital LLC filed a lawsuit against the City of Cape Girardeau, KEENMAC LLC and SEMO Cardinal Group LLC regarding the city’s decision to issue the special-use permit for the use of an alleyway to KEENMAC LLC for the Roni's Mac Bar restaurant drive-through. The plaintiffs claimed in their petition that the actions of the defendant have "unreasonably and unlawfully" restricted the plaintiffs’ drive-through access and rights to the alley and have suffered damages in excess of $25,000.

According to the notice of removal of the lawsuit to federal court, the plaintiff's claim of "inverse condemnation" involves questions of federal law.

The second count of the plaintiff's petition concerning inverse condemnation claims the "defendants have deprived Plaintiffs of their property rights without due process of law and have taken Plaintiffs’ property rights for private or public purpose without compensation".