Wilmington City Council approves spending more than $2 million to settle lawsuit with local business

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - During a scheduled meeting Tuesday night, Wilmington City Council members approved an ordinance 6-1 to allocate $2.1 million to settle a lawsuit with Funk Yard, LLC.

Peter Koke manages Funk Yard, LLC. He says the city illegally blocked access to the company’s property at 1536 South Front Street.

“Basically, the city took away the access to it,” Koke said. “It was two parcels, and [the city] changed the back address to the Front Street address.”

The city’s attorney, Meredith Everhart, has proposed a settlement for Wilmington to pay Koke more than two million dollars and take over the properties the property, along with other properties at 222 and 226 South Front Street.

Koke filed the lawsuit in August of 2021 but says the problem started several years before that. Going forward, Koke says he just wants transparency.

“I don’t think that city intentionally targets homeowners, property owners, business owners,” Koke said. “I think the system is broken and we need code assistance, not code enforcement.”

WECT reached out to a Wilmington spokesperson for comment. He replied that he will be able to provide more information after meeting with city attorneys Wednesday morning.

The ordinance will appear at the next city council meeting because the vote to waive the second reading was not unanimous.

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