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Newton City Council approves settlement of zoning lawsuit with McCombs Investments, LLC
Summary
Council approved a settlement in Catawba County File 24 CVS 2814 that requires McCombs Investments, LLC to dismiss its rezoning lawsuit with prejudice and the city to pay $3,500 to the applicant's counsel; the agreement includes a limited non‑rejection promise for future rezoning filings related to the parcels.
The Newton City Council on Sept. 9 approved a settlement to resolve litigation filed by McCombs Investments, LLC challenging the council's earlier denial of a rezoning application.
Attorney Bob Grant outlined terms: McCombs and an associated party will dismiss the pending Catawba County lawsuit (File 24 CVS 2814) with prejudice and execute releases; the City will pay $3,500 to Scarbrough and Scarbrough, PLLC, on presentation of an invoice as attorneys' fees for McCombs; each party will otherwise bear its own fees; and McCombs and the releasors will indemnify the City against further fee claims. The settlement also states that the City's April 1, 2025 vote approving reasonableness and consistency statements regarding the rezoning denial relates back to the Sept. 3, 2024 meeting when the application was denied. In addition, the City agreed not to reject rezoning application(s) for the subject parcels on the basis of Newton City Code Section 102-131, though any future application would remain subject to the standard submittal, Planning Board review, and council decision process.
The underlying lawsuit had alleged that the council's rezoning denial violated the applicant's substantive due process and equal protection rights under Article 1, Section 19 of the North Carolina Constitution; the City denied those allegations. Council Member Jody Dixon moved to approve the settlement; Mayor Pro Tem John Stiver seconded the motion, and the council approved the proposed settlement.
The settlement resolves the pending litigation for the named parcels, conditions the City's payment on invoice presentation, and preserves the ordinary rezoning review process for any future applications for the subject properties.
