BAINBRIDGE, Ga. (WALB) – Bainbridge neighbors say they are doing everything in their power to stop a proposed monkey facility from being built in their community.
Months of litigation have stalled progress on the planned project, which is expected to eventually house 30,000 monkeys, but this week a second lawsuit was filed against the company.
The second lawsuit comes after a judge recently granted Safer Human Medicine, the company that operates the facility, the right to intervene in the first lawsuit filed by Bainbridge neighbors against city and county agencies that neighbors say violated the Open Meetings Act when they approved the project.
The lawsuit cites several reasons why the monkey facility is a nuisance, including health and safety concerns, negative impacts on the Flint River and loss of property value. Although the facility has not yet been built, neighbors said, “They already know that their property is unsellable due to its location because they have not been able to sell it.”
Lisa DaSilva, one of the residents who filed the lawsuit, said the facility’s proximity to residential homes was a violation of a contract term.
“Our city has offered something within city limits and adjacent to several properties, and 200 residents live within a mile,” she said.
In the lawsuit, the neighbors said they have the right to declare the facility a nuisance. They are asking the courts not only to stop the project but also to make Safer Human Medicine pay for the loss of property value and legal fees.
DaSilva said she hopes the movement they started in the city will overwhelm the monkey facility.
“A lot of people have put a lot of hard work into this city and it can all be destroyed by one thing, and that is the monkey farm,” she said.
Safer Human Medicine responded in a statement:
Decatur County District Attorney Joe Mulholland said there is no deadline for the appeals court to decide to reverse the project, but he expects a response in the next few months.
Safer Human Medicine is confident it will prevail and has every intention of coming to Bainbridge.
If that happens, Mulholland said he would take the matter to the Supreme Court.
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