Cumberland Yacht Harbor, a $250 million planned waterfront community being developed five miles east of downtown Nashville by developer Jim Varallo, might be landing in hot water again. The point of contention is crayfish.
NashvillePost.com has learned that Varallo Investment Properties, LLC., along with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, are being sued by the Murfreesboro law firm of Bullock, Fly, and Hornsby. This is the same firm that succesfully sued and halted construction of the Tennessee Valley Authority's Columbia Dam.
According to NashvillePost.com sources, the firm has filed a 60 day notice of intent to sue "...to preserve the status quo and prevent multiple takings of the endangered Nashville Crayfish from the confluence of Mill Creek and the Cumberland River in Davidson County, Tennessee."
Also, "Petitioner asserts that the construction and operation of the Cumberland Yacht Harbor's 45 acre marina will take multiple Nashville Crayfish based on habitat destruction, stream sedimentation and chemical (oil and gasoline) spills that may occur daily during the marina's operation."
NashvillePost.com contacted Varallo seeking comment on the lawsuit, but he declined. Attempts to reach petitioner Frank Fly of Bullock, Fly and Hornsby were unsuccesful at the time of publication of this article.
For at least four years, river activists have sought to use the presence of crayfish as a mechanism to block the project.
Earlier this year, Tower Investments LLC, a Woodland, Calif.-based real estate company controlled by the Marks family, disclosed it had taken a majority stake in the Cumberland Yacht Harbor project. Nashville's Hardaway Group and Franklin's Parkes Development also were announced as partners in the development.
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