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A bed-and-breakfast operator in the Woodland-in-Waverly neighborhood has sued his neighbor, claiming that the man intentionally disrupted an outdoor wedding at the house by starting his lawnmower the moment a bride and groom began exchanging vows.
Meanwhile, the Metro Codes Department has issued citations to the operator, Richard A. Demonbreun, for allegedly violating the conditions of the permit allowing him to operate the business. The citations were issued following complaints made by some neighbors, according to Sonny West, the Metro Zoning Administrator.
Demonbreun has lived in the historic house at 746 Benton Ave. for 10 years, opening his business there five years ago. The business is not only a bed-and-breakfast, but also what is technically called a “historic home event” venue where weddings, receptions and such are held.
William Cochran Jr., the neighbor against whom the suit was filed, lives at 751 Benton Ave. He too operates a bed-and-breakfast and wedding site, The Inn at Evans Mill, 70 miles from Nashville in Smithville, Tenn.
“The little bitty weddings that I have on my front lawn bother Mr. Cochran,” Demonbreun said in an interview.
“He doesn’t like to look at weddings, occasionally, when we have them on the front lawn, and he’s determined to stop them. And so he decided to do so by ruining this most special of all days for this bride and groom and in front of 100 witnesses.”
Demonbreun said that he filed the lawsuit because he is concerned that Cochran will disrupt future weddings at the house in the same fashion.
“… I want to make it clear that this was a regrettable thing that had to be done,” Demonbreun said. “I have no desire to create animosity in the neighborhood.”
Cochran, who is one of a group of neighbors who claim that the events at the house diminish the neighborhood’s quality of life, said that he did mow his lawn during part of the wedding ceremony on April 16, but that he did not intend to disrupt it.
“This has been going on for four and a half years, these weddings, and not once has this happened before,” Cochran said. Demonbreun confirmed that Cochran has never before mowed his lawn during a wedding.
http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/index.cfm?section=9&screen=news&news_id=41574