Alabama Power Cleared About 300 Yards of Trees on Fenn Church’s Land, Then a Judge Refused to Keep Him 300 Feet From the Crews

Fenn Church was away from his land near Calera last week when Alabama Power crews went to work. By his estimate, they cleared about 300 yards of trees on his property before he got back.

On Nov. 10, a Shelby County judge handed him a win anyway. Circuit Judge Jonathan Spann dismissed the utility’s new lawsuit and denied its request to keep Church at least 300 feet from the crews clearing a path for a transmission line across his property.

What the judge decided

Alabama Power had sued Church the week before, asking for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction. The company said it needed the buffer for safety, arguing that Church would not keep a safe distance from crews preparing to clear trees and brush.

Church’s attorneys asked the court to throw the case out. They argued that the company could not run a second lawsuit with the same parties and the same issues while the original condemnation case is still pending. Spann agreed that Alabama law bars two such cases from moving forward at the same time, and he denied both the restraining order and the injunction, according to ABC 33/40.

The dismissal is without prejudice, so Alabama Power can ask again. WVTM 13 reported that hours after the ruling, the company filed a notice of appeal with the Alabama Supreme Court.

“They had no business cutting my tree”

Church’s argument has been the same from the start. He says no trees should come down until the courts decide whether the utility has the right to take the path at all.

“Until this right to take has been decided, they had no business cutting my tree,” Church told WVTM 13. He added that he did not want his property destroyed until the whole case had been heard.

WVTM 13 reported that crews have cleared about 300 yards of the half-mile corridor through his property, and that Church says the cutting happened while he was away. ABC 33/40’s investigative team captured drone video of the cleared areas on the morning of the ruling.

Church has proposed other routes through neighboring land. He says the utility isn’t interested.

How the crews got onto the land

The fight has swung back and forth for two months. In September, Spann barred Alabama Power from entering the property while the condemnation case went on. On Oct. 21, the Alabama Supreme Court stayed that order in a 5-1 vote, with two justices recused, letting the company enter the land temporarily without ending the case.

Earlier hearings raised concerns about the line’s effect on Church’s home, his privacy, Buxahatchee Creek and old-growth trees, according to ABC 33/40.

The next morning, crews returned. Church and supporters stood at his front gate starting around 7 a.m., while workers came in from the south gate on foot and marked trees.

Days later, Inside Climate News reported that Church had vowed to stand at that gate himself and refuse to let crews drive through it.

Earlier in this dispute, this site reported on the moment Alabama Power first asked a court for the restraining order that Spann has now turned down.

What Alabama Power says

The company said it was “disappointed by the court’s decision” and is weighing its legal options. It said the safety of its employees, contractors and the public remains its highest priority.

Alabama Power also pointed out that Church was awarded $425,435 for its right to locate the line and reach the route, and that he still owns his property. WVTM 13 reported that the company says it deposited the full compensation and posted an $850,870 appeal bond, which it believes gives it the right to enter.

The line is part of a 74-mile, $248 million transmission project. The company is aiming to finish it in May 2027 and has warned that more delays could put that date at risk. Gadget Review, writing on Yahoo News, noted that no court or independent investigation has yet confirmed the scope of the clearing Church describes.

What comes next

The larger condemnation case, which will decide whether Alabama Power can take the path through Church’s land, is still open, and the company’s new appeal will now go to the state’s highest court.

For homeowners watching utility crews work near their own yards, the case has become a test of a simple question: can the trees come down before a court has finished deciding whether they should? Similar fights have played out over Nashville Electric Service crews and a Woodbine homeowner’s maples and DTE’s marked yard trees in the Grosse Pointes.

On Church’s land, about 300 yards of that answer is already on the ground.

This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.

Image: “Utilities Workers clearing hazard trees” by Region 5 Photography is licensed under CC BY 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/.