Signs by Sharon owner files lawsuit against the City of Martin

Signs by Sharon building

Story by Shannon Taylor Senior Investigative Reporter

Signs by Sharon owner Sharon Bowers filed a lawsuit against the City of Martin on Sep. 30, 2022.  The agent for service of process is Martin Mayor Randy Brundige. The lawsuit reads that it “centers on Brundige illegally ordering Bowers to tear down her building after storm damages when it could have and would have been safely restored as a historic building in the Historic District of Martin.”

On Oct. 2, 2021, a thunderstorm struck Martin which came with heavy rains and wind and the storm caused damage to a small section of a side wall in Bowers’ building toward the adjacent alley. The damages were located in a part of the building that had been remodeled and the wall damaged was not tied to the remaining structural walls of the building.

After the storm, Martin building inspector Mike Brundige, an appointed family member of the mayors, went to the location and spoke with Bowers’ maintenance man, Mark Thompson, and told him to inform Bowers that the building would need to be put in the ground in a week and no one was to enter the building or they would be subject to arrest, according to the lawsuit.

Bowers called Mike back and asked to be allowed an engineer to inspect the building, but she was told no and that she would also be responsible for demolition, or the City of Martin would demolish the building at a greater cost to her.

Bowers then requested access to her building so that she could retrieve items inside, but she was informed that she would not be allowed to enter and if she did so, she would be arrested.

Mike is not a structural engineer according to the lawsuit and he did not engage the services of a structural engineer to examine the building to determine if it was able to be repaired instead of being demolished.

Mike ended up later allowing Bowers ten minutes to retrieve personal items from her business location. The contents of her building totaled $100,000.00 in value.

The lawsuit states that the building could have been repaired; the remainder of the building was not damaged by the storm and the remainder did not present a danger to adjacent properties or to the public.

Another issue was that the building was located in the historical district in Martin which was created by the City of Martin pursuant to state law to preserve historic areas of cities in the State of Tennessee. Martin has commercial design standards and procedures which are supposed to be followed in order to demolish a historic structure. According to the lawsuit, Martin did not follow its standards regarding the demolition.

The lawsuit further states that Bowers’ building was demolished without due process of the law and under the threat of arrest and confinement constitutes an inverse condemnation. It also states that Mike’s order to demolish the building was a “direct and substantial interference with the beneficial use and enjoyment of her land” as well as violating state, county and city laws and ordinances.

The lawsuit claims that the decision of demolition of Bowers’ building was ordered by someone not qualified to assess the structural integrity of the building and that the order violated Bowers’ civil rights.

Bowers is requesting a trial by jury and an award of judgement not to exceed $500,000.00.

The Press researched building inspector licenses on a tn.gov website but could not find Mike’s name listed.

The City of Martin responded to Bowers lawsuit on Nov. 28, 2022 and admitted that Mike Brundige told an individual to have Bowers contact him regarding damage to the building but denied saying that “the building would have to be put in the ground.”

The City of Martin admitted that “there are proper and mandatory procedures required to alter/demolish any building in the historic district” however, the City of Martin averred that they did not demolish Bower’s building, but that it was instead done at “her directive.”

The City of Martin has demanded a judgement dismissing the claim against them. Depositions of witnesses will be taken and assessed before moving on.

The issue of the lawsuit has not been brought up at any Martin board meetings.

The press reached out to Mayor Brundige, Mike Brundige, city attorney Kirk Moore and members of the Martin Historic board but no response has yet been received from any of them.

This is a developing story.