Developer Stewart Coleman has appealed a ruling on a controversial land sale that prevents him from building a nine-story condominium project on what was once public parkland.
In September, Judge Marlene Hyatt sided with a lawsuit filed by the heirs of famed philanthropist George Pack asserting that land donated to Buncombe County was intended for public use and thus could not be used for private development. The county sold Coleman a piece of that land in November 2006.
Now Coleman’s attorney, Pat Kelly, has filed an appeal with the N.C. Court of Appeals. He also made a motion for Hyatt to make findings of fact and elaborate on which laws she used to make her decision, a motion Hyatt denied.
In the original summary judgment, Hyatt simply indicated that she sided with the Pack family’s lawsuit, though the Pack family’s attorney, Joe Ferikes, had argued that Pack’s donation legally counted as a “dedication” and thus had sharp limits placed on how it could be used in the future.
Ferikes said that it would likely be two months or more before the full brief listing Coleman’s argument for appeal would come out.
“Right now, we’re putting together all the information into a packet—all the documents, all the arguments, everything,” he said. “The court needs all of those to be able to evaluate the appeal.”
As of press time, Kelly had not returned calls from Xpress requesting comment.
