The North Carolina Court of Appeals recently ruled against Asheville in a decade-long legal battle over a vehicle advertising a local piano bar. The appellate decision overturned previous rulings in favor of the city, dating back to a 2014 incident where the Off the Wagon Dueling Piano Bar was cited for violating a city ordinance by parking a vehicle covered in advertising behind their business. Although the business promptly corrected the violation by removing the vehicle, a subsequent citation issued in 2017 claimed they were still in violation for driving the truck around the city for advertising purposes.
The city then filed a lawsuit in 2018 seeking to enjoin the business from using the truck and collect $57,500 in civil penalties. However, the Appeals Court sided with the business, agreeing that the violation cited was the specific parking incident in 2014, not the continued operation of the truck throughout the city. The court emphasized that the city failed to provide evidence of ongoing violations after the initial notice was resolved by the business.
In his opinion, Judge John Tyson highlighted that the burden of proof was on the city to show evidence of ongoing violations, which they failed to do. Judges Valerie Zachary and Jefferson Griffin concurred with Tyson’s decision. This ruling marks a significant victory for the Off the Wagon Dueling Piano Bar in their legal battle against the city of Asheville.
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Photo credit www.carolinajournal.com
