Sheridan Mayor Cain Nattin and all city council members were served with lawsuit summonses by a process server Tuesday night before the monthly city council meeting, according to court documents.
Yet, in the meeting, the lawsuit was never mentioned except right before its start when Council Member Jim Lancaster mentioned it to Council Member Lee Hinson who was sitting beside Lancaster.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of property owners Daniel and Ginger Roberts by their Little Rock attorneys Joseph R. Falasco and Laura L. O'Hara of Quattlebaum, Grooms & Tull law firm.
The lawsuit claims Nattin and the city council members have refused to enforce a 2025 judge's order to make an adjacent property owner take down their building in violation of the city's zoning codes.
Scotty Warren, Sheridan's zoning administrator, gave a department update to the council Tuesday night.
He did not mention the lawsuit or any zoning issues in Sheridan. He discussed ice and snow on one building. No report by Warren was in the media packet provided by the city.
The Backstory
The lawsuit offers background on the dispute.
At issue is a building by Defendants Jeremy McNair and Amanda McNair that sits three feet from the Roberts' property line. The lawsuit states, "The Robertses operate food
business from their property, and the disputed building encroachment directly and adversely affects the use and enjoyment of their land."
The lawsuit states also: "The Sheridan Zoning Ordinance, which is applicable to all properties within the City of Sheridan, requires a twenty-five-foot side setback for buildings constructed on properties such as the McNairs Property.
This setback requirement exists to ensure adequate separation between structures on adjacent parccls, to preserve property values, to protect the health and safety of neighboring property owners, and to maintain the character of the community
Compliance with setback requirements is mandatory, and the City of Sheridan is charged with enforcing these requirements."
The background in the court filing explains that the McNairs began construction in October 2022 on a building known as Paw Springs Resort.
The lawsuit states: "Rather than complying with the Sheridan Zoning Ordinance's twenty-five-foot
side setback requirement, Mr. McNair erected the building less than three feet from the property line that the McNairs Property shares with the Roberts Property."
Because of violation of the setback requirement by "more than twenty-two feet" this represents a "substantial and egregious departure from the ordinance."
The timeline in the lawsuit explains:
- June 7, 2023, Ginger Roberts "engaged a licensed surveyor to mark the proper boundary lines of the Roberts Property. Survey confirmed that McNair's French drain significantly encroached onto the Roberts Property.
- June 8, 2023, Ginger Roberts spoke with Mayor Cain Nattin, City Attorney Ed Koon, and city official Scotty Warren about these issues. "At that time, City officials informed Ms. Roberts that the building Mr. McNair had erected on the McNairs Property violated the Sheridan Zoning Ordinance, which requires a twenty-five-foot side setback."
- September 5, 2023, the Sheridan City Council met, "in part, to address the McNairs violation of the Ordinance."
In that meeting Council Member Jim Lancaster made a motion to drop the McNair setback case due to several errors that were made on the part of the City. Council Member Lynn Camp seconded the motion.
"Rather than taking enforcement action against the McNairs, the City Council decided that Mayor Nattin would attempt to schedule an arbitration between Mr. McNair and Mrs. Roberts," the lawsuit states.
It continues, "The City Council effectively abandoned its enforcement responsibilities and left the Robertses without a remedy from the municipal government that is charged with enforcing its own ordinances."
After the City Council refused to enforce the Ordidance, the McNairs filed an application for
variance seeking retroactive permission to maintain a building less than three feet from their property line, according to the lawsuit.
It states, "In their variance application, the McNairs claimed that they believed they were in compliance with city ordinances when they erected the building because they thought the setback requirement was only ten feet and because they had measured from pink flags they assumed represented the boundary line of the Roberts Property."
However, "these claims were unfounded, as there were no pink flags marking the Roberts Property."
Into 2024 and 2025
"On April 16, 2024, the Sheridan Board of Zoning Adjustment conducted a hearing on the McNairs' application for variance," the lawsuit states. The Zoning Board granted the McNairs' application for a variance because the building had already been erected and the Zoning Board did not want to enforce its Zoning Ordinance against the convenience of the McNairs."
However, the Robertses appealed the Zoning Board's decision to the Circuit Court of Grant County.
On July 31 and August 1, 2025, the case went trial in Grant County with Special Judge Robert Bynum Gibson presiding. Grant County Circuit Judges Stephen Shirron and Margaret Dobson recused.
On August 1, the Circuit Court granted the Robertses' motion for "directed verdict on the variance issue, finding that Jercmy McNair and Amanda McNair are not entitled to a variance from the setback requirements of the Sheridan Zoning Ordinance as requested in April."
Gibson entered the judgment on Sept. 30, 2025. He "ordered and adjudged that Jeremy McNair and Amanda McNair are not entitled to
variance from the setback requirements of the Sheridan Zoning Ordinance as requested in April."
Gibson's judgment also awarded damages to the Robertses "in the amount of $1,100.00 for trespass, plus post-judgment interest at the rate of 6.5% per annum until fully paid."
The lawsuit states, "The Court's Judgment conclusively establishes that the McNairs' building remains in violation of the Sheridan Zoning Ordinance and that no variance exists to excuse this violation."
So far, no action
Despite Gibson's ruling, "the City of Sheridan and its officials have failed and refused to enforce the Zoning Ordinance against the McNairs," the lawsuit states.
The Robertses have requested that the city enforce the ordinance and require the McNairs to remove the non-compliant building, but the City has declined to take any enforcement action, according to the lawsuit.
The NcNairs building remains in violation of the twenty-five-foot setback requirement and less than three feet from the Roberts Property line in the "same condition as when it was unlawflly erected."
The lawsuit states that the city failed to enforce its ordinance. Because of this lack of action the Robertses are deprived of the protections "afforded by the zoning ordinance, by diminishing their property values, and by subjecting them to the ongoing nuisance created by the proximity of a commercial pet grooming facility."
The lawsuit cites Arkansas Code Annotated Section 14-56-421(b)(2) that "expressly provides that any individual aggrieved by a violation of a planning ordinance may mandamus any official to enforce the provisions of the ordinance."
A mandamus is a court order compelling a government official to perform a duty they have neglecred to do.
The lawsuit states: "The Robertses are entitled to writ of mandamus commanding the City of Sheridan, Mayor Cain W. Nattin, and City Council Members Brian Williams, Lee Henson, Betty Cook, Morgan House, Jim Lancaster, and Lynn Camp to enforce the Sheridan Zoning Ordinance by requiring the McNairs to remove the building that violates the twenty-five-foot setback requirement."
The Robertses are seeking injuctive relief.
"The proximity of the building to the property line diminishes the Robertses' property value, interferes with their business operations and subjects them to nuisances including noise, and odor."
The lawsuit states, "These harms cannot be adequately compensated by money damages because they are ongoing and directly affect the Robertses ability to use and enjoy their property."
However, public interest is also imperative in this case, the lawsuit states.
"Zoning ordinances exist to
protect the health, safety, and welfare of the community.
Allowing property owners to violate setback requirements with impunity would undermine the integrity of the zoning system and encourage other property owners to similarly flout the law.
The public has an interest in the consistent and uniform enforcement of zoning ordinances."
The requests to the Court
The Robertses are requesting from the Court:
- A writ of mandamus commanding
Defendants City of Sheridan, Arkansas; Cain W. Nattin, in his official capacity as Mayor of the City of Sheridan; Brian Williams, Lee Henson, Betty Cook, Morgan House, Jim Lancaster, and Lynn Camp, in their official capacities as Sheridan City Council Members, to enforce the Sheridan Zoning Ordinance pursuant to Arkansas Code Annotated $ 14-56-421 by requiring Defendants Jeremy McNair and Amanda McNair to remove or modify the building on the McNairs Property that violates the twenty-five-foot side setback requirement. - A permanent injunction commanding the McNairs to bring their property into compliance with the Sheridan Zoning Ordinance by removing or modifying the building that was erected less than three feet from the property line shared with the Roberts Property, in violation of the Ordinance's twenty-five-foot side setback requirement.
- An order that the McNairs remove or modify the non-compliant building within a time period to be
specified by the Court, and to impose appropriate sanctions, including daily fines, for any failure to comply with the Court's order.
The Robertses are also asking for their costs and attorneys' fees incurred in this action and "all other relief to which they may be justly entiled."
Circuit Judge Margaret Dobson recused immediately from the case.
Circuit Judge Stephen Shirron has been assigned the case although he recused in the previous Roberts case.
Shirron and Dobson are running against each other for Circuit Judge, District 7, Division 2 in the March 3 primary.
