No Parkside ruling this week

There will be no written ruling this week in the Parkside lawsuit, the Buncombe County Clerk of Court’s office confirmed today, because Judge Marlene Hyatt, who ruled in favor of the Pack heirs last week, is on vacation.

While Hyatt did decide the matter in favor of the Pack heirs against the county and developer Stewart Coleman‘s Black Dog Realty, a written ruling will clarify exactly what remedy is ordered. The land could be returned to the heirs (who have said they would preserve it for public use), the county could be required to buy it back from Coleman or Hyatt could decide on a different course of action.

In the meantime, Coleman still technically owns the land, even though Hyatt upheld the heirs’ argument that the county’s 2006 sale of the land to Coleman violated stipulations by philanthropist George Pack that it remain in public use.

— David Forbes, staff writer

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8 thoughts on “No Parkside ruling this week

  1. The deed states clearly what remedy should occur in the event the land is sold improperly: ownership reverts to the Pack family.

    The judge has already determined that the sale was improper. The Parkside land deal is invalidated and the property rightly belongs to the Pack family now. Buncombe county must repay Coleman his money and turn over the land to the Pack family.

  2. Heck of a time to go on vacation. I thought this was a done deal and the land was going to the public.

    Why did we sell Coleman the land for 300,000 anyways? That seems criminally low for some of the most prime real estate in Asheville.

  3. the henge

    It would be terrible for the rich to steal another piece of the pie for their own bank accounts ,lets hope the judge had a great vacation and does what is right and stands up for all citizens not just a priveledged few,its time to recapture our land and stand up against the machine that is slowly destroying this beautiful and eclectic town

  4. “criminally low, indeed.
    At least it’s less for the city to repay now…”

    It’s not the city that would or should have to pay for it. The city was not involved in the transaction with Coleman. It was your wonderful corrupt county commissioners who tried to make a quick buck and sell a piece of property they knew they were not suppose to sell.

  5. Zanna2

    Great! Now Coleman will build the development elsewhere, taking down hundreds of trees instead of one. Way to go environmentalists! Spread the growth to the forests instead of the urban downtown – where growth should be.

  6. Zanna,

    Silly rabbit. Maybe you’re not aware that the land in question was public parkland. It’s not even a development issue, it’s a transparency and competence issue.

    Fortunately, the judge was able to read the words “public forever” and know what that meant.

  7. Zanna2 wrote: “Way to go environmentalists!”

    A state court ruled in favor of the plaintiff who charge Buncombe County with BREACH OF CONTRACT. The plaintiff (the Pack family) won. This ruling was against an illegal land sale by the government.

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