Ringgold resident and business owner Craig Burchfield hopes that two years worth of legal wrangling are behind him after a Catoosa County Superior Court judge recently ruled that Burchfield’s business is in compliance with county zoning ordinances and is not a “nuisance” as described by disgruntled neighbors.

“Most of all, I just want people to know that I'm still here and that I haven't gone anywhere,” said Burchfield, owner of ASAP Tree Service in Ringgold. “I get calls all the time with people asking me whether or not I've been put out of business.”

Burchfield said that when he started providing tree service and selling fire wood eight years ago, he never heard a word from anyone living near him. As the business began to grow, so too did complaints that he was causing disturbance in the neighborhood.

Burchfield said that since 2010, there have been continuous complaints from both of his next-door neighbors and from a neighbor across the street.

“For awhile there weren't any complaints at all,” Burchfield said. “But over the past two years, I've been dealing with complaints from the neighbors and dealing with the county also.”

Burchfield said he has complied with every request the county has presented since the ordeal began in 2010, which included erecting an eight-foot-tall privacy fence around his nearly two-acre back yard.

“I've done everything that has been asked of me every step of the way,” Burchfield said.

Burchfield put up the $13,000 fence in September 2010 after the county issued him a cease-and-desist order due to having visibility to the work site, reports show.

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