In the culmination of a long-running neighborhood feud, Oak Hill residents Jimmy and Sally Bradshaw filed suit on Friday against First Presbyterian Church, claiming that recent construction at the church has impaired the value of their home.

The Bradshaws' home, at 875 Robertson Academy Road, backs up to the 55-acre church property. They say rainwater runoff has been forced onto their land by changes to First Presbyterian's landscape, leaving their lawn "a constant, muddy mess" and damaging the foundation of their house.

For its part, however, the church is denying responsibility and claiming the Bradshaws' water problems predate its building activity.

In the lawsuit, filed in Davidson County Circuit Court and available at this link, the Bradshaws accuse church representatives of misleading them by promising that the muddy drainage flowing from the church's property into their yard would be "taken back to year zero" and fully remedied. According to the complaint, the church gave these assurances fraudulently in the hope of neutralizing the couple's opposition to its planned projects.

The Bradshaws say some of First Presbyterian's recent construction was undertaken without proper permitting from the City of Oak Hill. And they accuse the church of subjecting them to "numerous other indignities," such discharging raw sewage onto their land and letting workers take part in noisy activities in the early hours of the morning.

The actions of the church, the plaintiffs argue, have burdened their property with stigmas that impair the "value and marketability" of their home.

Jimmy Bradshaw is himself a litigation attorney with Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs in Nashville, but the family has retained Ray Prince of Prince & Hellinger P.C. to plead its case. They seek an injunction to keep the church from further damaging their property, as well as an unspecified amount in damages.

Tom White of Tune, Entrekin & White is counsel to First Presbyterian. He told NashvillePost.com that "the construction commented about in the complaint was done professionally and approved by the City of Oak Hill."

White said the Bradshaws have engaged in a "non-stop series of inappropriate complaints" for several years. "Several weeks ago, we were actually given a copy of proposed litigation and informed that unless we purchased the plaintiff's residence, a lawsuit would be filed. We declined to purchase the property.

"Many of the items which they complained about, with respect to water to their property, pre-existed the work that they complain about," White added.