ASHEVILLE – The judge hearing a lawsuit challenging Buncombe County’s sale of parkland near City Hall to a local developer is preparing to strike down the land sale, an attorney for plaintiffs says.
Superior Court Judge Marlene Hyatt has asked attorney Joe Ferikes, who represents members of the family of the man who gave the land to the county more than 100 years ago, to prepare a draft order granting his clients’ request for judgment in their favor, Ferikes said at mid-day today.
“It means the case is over and we’ve won,” Ferikes said.
The outcome won’t become official until Hyatt signs an order and it is filed, Ferikes said. It is common for judges in civil cases to have attorneys for the winning side prepare a draft order that becomes the basis for the judge’s order.
Relatives of George Willis Pack, a wealthy lumberman who donated downtown parkland to Buncombe County in 1901, brought the suit last year.