Motion filed in Ghost Town property dispute

Oct. 11—MAGGIE VALLEY — A struggle to control the former Ghost Town in the Sky property is inching its way through the N.C. Business Court, with the attorney for Jill McClure asserting factual issues are clear and her request to dissolve the partnership governing the property should be granted.

Both sides agree that moving forward under the current operating agreement is untenable, but each has a different idea of how the corporation should end. Should McClure, succeeding the partner who contributed all the corporation's assets, receive all the property or its value, or will it end with one entity member buying the other out and for what price?

The property, originally owned by the late Alaska Presley, was placed into a limited liability corporation, Ghost Town in the Sky, LLC, in early 2020, where a Presley and Coastal Development, LLC, intended to redevelop a western-themed amusement park and its 250 acres on the top of Buck Mountain.

Frankie Wood was named the managing member of Ghost Town in the Sky, LLC, and upon Presley's death in 2022, McClure inherited her aunt's membership interest in the corporation.

Since then, nothing has been done, and the property continues to deteriorate, McClure's attorney, Mary Euler, alleged in her motion for summary judgment filed in late September.

Euler's motion contends it is impossible to operate Ghost Town in the Sky, LLC, as outlined in the operating agreement and dissolving the partnership is the only course forward to protect the rights of McClure, who has paid the bulk of the property taxes and received no income.

Euler argued that her client must have the opportunity to at least make enough income to pay the property taxes, which are roughly $50,000 annually, or risk the property falling into foreclosure.

"The current managing member sits at the helm of the company like a parasite waiting for it to deteriorate further and further while he bears no risk," Euler wrote.

Euler's motion asserts that Coastal Development cannot demonstrate its capital contribution but asserts the Presley contribution was $6.5 million, representing the value of the parcels Presley contributed to the LLC when it was first formed. The motion asks that this value be part of the summary judgment.

The time period for discovery has ended, the brief states, and Coastal Development could only provide estimates of expenses related to corporation business dealings — items such as mileage, housing expenses, meal expenses, business meals, meetings and time, according to the motion.

Many of the estimates were from a time before Ghost Town in the Sky was formed, and others were related to another Maggie Valley, LLC, formed with Presley, Maggie Valley RV Park, to develop property on Moody Farm Road.

Further, Wood could not state the source of funds, the bank any of the listed checks were drawn on, or what the payments were made for, the motion continues, and the LLC had no bank account until Frankie Wood opened a checking account in December 2022, after Presley had died and the lawsuit was filed.

Since its formation, "the business has generated zero cash flow, there has been no profit whatsoever, and there has been no business conducted," the motion states.

Because of the deadlock, Wood cannot be removed as the managing member, so judicial dissolution is the only alternative, Euler argued. The motion stated that the proceeds of liquidation and dissolution of Ghost Town would be distributed according to each member's respective capital account balance, per state statute and case precedent.

All that remains, Euler wrote, is the question of "what are the capital account balances for each member as of the date of liquidation, and what is the appropriate distribution to the assets upon liquidation assuming assets are distributed in-kind to the members?"

McClure said if she gets the property back once the lawsuit is settled, she would try to find someone to develop some sort of an entertainment venue or "something positive to draw people into Maggie Valley."

She said several have already come forward to express interest, but nothing can be done until the dispute is settled.

The flip side

Waynesville Attorney Rusty McLean is representing Wood and Coastal Development in the matter, and said he intends to file a similar motion for summary judgment or respond to Euler's motion soon.

That argument will detail "what we believe to be issues of fact," he said, and the motion will direct the judge to specific information in the exhibits, including several that the court has sealed."

There is one issue both sides agree on, though, and that is the two parties in the case are at loggerheads, McLean said. The solution is establishing a value and entering an order so that one party can buy the other out.

Both sides have hired appraisers, and the two amounts differ widely, McLean noted, however, he did not divulge the value his appraiser has concluded the Buck Mountain parcels are worth. At one point, McLean said Coastal offered McClure $4 million for her 50% share, though McClure contends it was an offer to receive funds for the property only after a certain length of time.

Now, the offer will be nowhere in that range, McLean added, although the N.C. Business Court will ultimately rule on both a judicial dissolution and a fair value for the parcels involved in the litigation.

"It will be what a judge tells us her 50% share is worth after he hears both experts," he said.

McLean contended the developments at Ghost Town would have been started long before now if it hadn't been for the lawsuit or if McClure had accepted the offer. However, before the lawsuit, no development was started, and in his deposition, Wood said he didn't have financing for the project.

McLean contended that some investors will put up money for development, but not until the lawsuit ends.

"As soon as we have the opportunity for the judge to establish the value we need to pay, we will pay her and move forward with the project," he said. "The whole thing was to try to get her to join us and move forward, but she didn't want to be a part of it. That's why this has gone on for this length of time."

McLean hopes the issue will be resolved by the year's end.