From Staff Reports

RALEIGH —  Barely 25 hours after the attorney for the plaintiffs — seeking to preserve forever the Vance Monument in the heart of downtown Asheville —  filed a petition to appeal its case to the N.C. Supreme Court after a lower court’s April 5 decision that affirmed the City of Asheville’s right to demolish it.

Specifically, plaintiffs’ attorney H. Edward Phillips III told the Daily Planet in an April 23 telephone interview that, “on April 22 at 11:11 a.m,” he received notice from the N.C. Supreme Court  — “only 25 hours after I filed (10:15 a.m. April 21), so the court’s not wasting any time. It’s not letting any moss grow under it.” He added that the motion for the temporary stay was “allowed by order of the court in conference... It was pretty darn fast.”

Phillips then noted, “It (the relatively quick issuance of a temporary stay by the N.C. Supreme Court) tells me two things — they’re keeping everything in status quo right now, until Asheville has an opportunity to respond. As part of the status quo, they don’t want anything done (by the city to the monument’s base) in Pack Square Park, or to components of the monument (that the city is storing.)

In discussing other key upcoming aspects of the case, Phillips said that since he filed the appeal to the N.C. Supreme Court on April 21, the City of Asheville’s deadline to respond is on May 3.

“The city has 10 days to file a response to the Petition for Writ of Supersedeas, Phillips noted.

“Once they file that response, the court will deal with the petition.

“We are at the point that, obviously this is the end of the line for the state courts  — and with the UDC v. Winston-Salem case pending before the state Supreme Court, because there are similar issue, such as the standing issue in both cases — the court is really going to examine it.”

Phillips concluded by noting, “We’re zealously advocating our position (that the city needs to honor its commitment to the preservationists) and we believe the court will take action it deems appropriate in light of the fact that there is a similar case (the United Daughters of the Confederacy v.Winston-Salem case) now pending before it.”