Court dismisses lawsuit that sought to stop Amprius battery plant in Brighton

BRIGHTON — The lawsuit that attempted to stop development of the Amprius battery factory in the former Kmart distribution center building in Brighton has been dismissed.

In a brief order filed Thursday, District Court Judge Roberto Ramirez ordered the case dismissed with prejudice, which means that it cannot be refiled.

All parties agreed to the order; all parties will pay their own legal fees.

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The case began when Brighton resident Angela Pirrone objected to the decisions of the Brighton City Council to permit a rezoning of the 1.3 million-square-foot property to enable Amprius Technologies Inc. to locate a battery manufacturing plant on the site, which is surrounded by land that is either zoned residential or anticipated to become residential. Amprius had been offered state and local economic incentives to locate its factory there. 

The city first attempted to deny Pirrone access to documents in the case, saying they were outside the bounds of what is permitted, and then said the case was filed under an incorrect area of the law and that Pirrone could not file under the correct area because she lives too far away from the site at 1.5 miles.

Neither the court order, nor the stipulation that Pirrone asked the court to consider, contained reasoning for the dismissal. Calls to Pirrone’s attorney, Benjamin Volpe of Volpe Law LLC, were not returned Friday afternoon. Neither was a call returned from the city of Brighton’s attorney, Matthew Hegarty of Denver firm Hall & Evans LLC.

The case filed Oct. 17, 2023, in Adams County District Court is Angela Pirrone v. the city of Brighton, the City Council of the city of Brighton, Starboard Platform Brighton JV LLC, Norris Design Inc., and Amprius Technologies Inc., case number 2023cv31466.