Scarfone Sues City For Violating Easement Settlement Agreement
The February One Parking Deck is nearing completion. Therefore, it seems only natural that the City of Greensboro is being sued once more over easement issues regarding existing businesses on South Elm Street.
Drew Brown of Greensboro Law Center, filed a lawsuit against Greensboro for Greater Greensboro Entertainment Group LLC. N Club LLC was owned by Rocky Scarfone.
It concerns easement issues. Scarfone sued Greensboro for easement violations in 2018. This lawsuit held up construction. Scarfone won the 2018 settlement by being paid $735,000 by Greensboro. Scarfone also received permanent easements from The N Club, 117-119 S. Elm St.
The settlement terms can be found in a 19-page detailed document. Brown filed a lawsuit Friday alleging that the city has violated temporary easement rights while construction is underway and will continue to violate the permanent easement rights once construction has been completed. The lawsuit states, “The extent of the breach includes building the parking garage literally and directly in the easement even after being told of the breach multiple times since December 2020.”
The easement was specifically designed to allow buses and tractor trailers to tour the building’s rear entrance. According to the settlement agreement, the city may encroach on the 15 foot-wide easement by one foot during construction.
The lawsuit notes the settlement agreement called for the easements to be recorded and states, “In the time after the easements were recorded, the City pretended the settlement and the recorded easements never occurred and has continually violated the terms of the settlement agreement and has not provided the easements as stipulated in the settlement agreement.”
The settlement agreement is specific and states that if vehicles are in the area set aside for parking buses for the N Club during construction, the city will tow those vehicles at the city’s expense.
The lawsuit states, “The City did not secure the parking on Market Street or Elm Street as required and then would not tow the cars or otherwise clear the easements and parking areas during and in advance of concerts as it had agreed to do.”
The lawsuit also states, “The plaintiffs have tried repeatedly to work with the City short of filing this lawsuit. On one occasion, Chuck Watts the General Counsel for the City quite literally hung up on the plaintiffs, during a scheduled call with counsel and clients present.”