Gregory, Inc., Triple A Homes, Inc., Wisemanplus, LLC, and Wisemanplus Dev Co LLC, et al. v. Town of Fuquay-Varina

This lawsuit was filed against the Town of Fuquay-Varina on behalf of all individuals, proprietorships, partnerships, corporations, and other entities who (a) from July 1, 2018 through July 11, 2022 (b) paid water and sewer system development fees to the Town of Fuquay-Varina.  The Plaintiffs contend that the Town of Fuquay-Varina unlawfully imposed water and sewer system development fees that violated the North Carolina “Public Water and Sewer System Development Fee Act.” The Town of Fuquay-Varina vigorously denies these allegations.  However, to avoid the risk and uncertainty inherent in litigation, the Town of Fuquay-Varina has elected to settle this case.

The settlement class is defined as “all individuals, proprietorships, partnerships, corporations, and other entities who (a) from July 1, 2018 through July 11, 2022 (b) paid water or sewer system development fees to the Town of Fuquay-Varina.”

Notice of the proposed settlement was mailed to the last known address of the Settlement Class Members to advise of certain benefits that Settlement Class Members may be entitled to receive pursuant to the settlement of this class action lawsuit, which is pending in Wake County Superior Court, Raleigh, North Carolina.  In addition, Notice was mailed to advise Settlement Class Members of a Court hearing on the proposed settlement, and of Settlement Class Members’ rights in connection therewith. Settlement Class Members should read the entire Notice carefully because their rights may be affected. For example, if you are a member of the Settlement Class, you will be part of the settlement unless you exclude yourself on a timely basis. A copy of the Notice is available here.

If the Settlement is approved, the Town will provide monetary payments to class members who paid water and/or sewer system development fees. The Town of Fuquay-Varina will establish a Settlement Fund equal to seven million sixty-seven thousand nine hundred and ninety-seven dollars and sixty cents ($7,067,997.60) less attorneys’ fees and costs as awarded by the court.

In the event a Settlement Class Member to whom a distribution is due cannot be found during the nine-month period after this Action becomes Final and after the Class Notice & Settlement Administrator has applied good faith efforts to locate such person, such amount shall revert back to the Common settlement fund to be distributed to Class Members in the same percentages as their Class Member benefits checks from the common fund. In the event all Class Members are made whole (by receiving the full amount paid in fees plus interest of 6% from the date of payment back in settlement funds) and money remains in the settlement fund those funds shall be paid to the Town.  For a further description of these benefits, please consult the Notice of Class Action and Proposed Settlement.

To get a payment, you do not have to do anything if you are a member of the Settlement Class. A check will be sent to you automatically, if and when the settlement is approved. The Court will conduct a Fairness Hearing on March 8, 2024, to decide whether to approve the settlement. If the Court approves the settlement, and no appeal is taken, then you will receive your payment promptly after that occurs. If an appeal is taken, then resolving it may take some time, perhaps more than a year.

You are a member of the Settlement Class if you paid water and/or sewer system development fees to the Defendant Town of Fuquay-Varina from July 1, 2018 to July 11, 2022. However, if your address has changed since you paid those fees to the Town of Fuquay-Varina, please submit a change of address here or complete the Change of Address Form to assure that the Class Notice & Settlement Administrator has information concerning your current address. Any Settlement Class Member that is not located within nine-months of this Settlement becoming final, will not receive payment from the settlement.  The Change of Address Form must be completed in full, signed and returned to: Gregory v. Fuquay-Varina Settlement Administrator, Post Office Box 10269, Tallahassee, FL 32302-2269.

If you do not wish to participate in the proposed settlement, you may exclude yourself from the settlement by “opting out.” If you opt out of the settlement, you will not have the right to share in any of the settlement proceeds. If you decide to opt out of the settlement, you must submit a written and signed request for exclusion, titled “Request for Exclusion,” which sets forth your name, address, telephone number, the approximate date of the impact fee payments and an affirmative statement that you wish to be excluded from the Settlement Class. The signed Request for Exclusion must be filed with the Office of the Clerk of the Superior Court, General Court of Justice, located at the Wake County Courthouse at 316 Fayetteville Street, Raleigh, N.C. 27601 on or before January 22, 2024, and copies of the Request for Exclusion, postmarked by January 22, 2024 must be mailed to Gregory v. Fuquay-Varina Settlement Administrator, Post Office Box 10269, Tallahassee, FL 32302-2269.  The signed Request for Exclusion must also be mailed and postmarked by the same date to the lawyers for the parties who are identified in the Notice of the Proposed Settlement.

If you are a Settlement Class Member and do not exclude yourself and you want to object to the Settlement, you can tell the Court you do not like the Settlement or some part of it. You can give reasons why you think the Court should not approve the Settlement.  The Court will consider your views.  To object, you must file and send a letter that contains all of the following:

• Your name and current address;
• The name of the lawsuit, Gregory, Inc., et. al v. Town of Fuquay-Varina, Wake County File No. 19-CVS-8602;
• Set forth the specific reason(s), if any, for each objection, including all legal support the settlement class member wishes to bring to the Court’s attention and all factual evidence the settlement class member wishes to offer in support of the objection;
• Be personally signed by the settlement class member or an officer or director thereof with actual authority to bind the entity; 
• Include an identification, by case style and number, of any other class settlements the objector or the objector’s attorney(s) have asserted an objection; and
• Include an identification of all attorneys having a financial interest or stake in the objection.

You must file your objection with the Clerk of Superior Court, Wake County Courthouse at 316 Fayetteville Street, Raleigh, N.C. 27601 no later than January 22, 2024 and mail your objection postmarked by January 22, 2024 to Gregory v. Fuquay-Varina Settlement Administrator, Post Office Box 10269, Tallahassee, FL 32302-2269 and to the following by the same date:

William G. Wright
Shipman & Wright, LLP
575 Military Cutoff Rd, Suite 106
Wilmington, N.C. 28405

Dan Hartzog, Jr.
Hartzog Law Group, LLP
2626 Glenwood Ave., Suite 305
Raleigh, North Carolina 27608    

Jim Scarbrough & John Scarbrough
Scarbrough & Scarbrough, PLLC
137 Union Street South
Concord, N.C. 28025

James R. DeMay 
Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman, PLLC
400 West Morgan St. 
Raleigh, North Carolina 27603

Yes. The Court has approved class counsel to represent the Class. You will not be charged by these lawyers. You do not need to hire your own lawyer. If you want to hire your own lawyer, you will have to pay that lawyer. Your Class Counsel are: 

William G. Wright 
Shipman & Wright, LLP 
575 Military Cutoff Road, Suite 106 
Wilmington, N.C. 28405 
Phone: 800-762-1990 
Facsimile: 910-762-6752 
[email protected] 

Jim Scarbrough & John Scarbrough 
Scarbrough & Scarbrough, PLLC 
137 Union Street South 
Concord, N.C. 28025 
Phone: 704-782-3112 
Facsimile: 704-782-3116 
[email protected] 

James R. DeMay 
Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman, PLLC 
400 West Morgan St. 
Raleigh, North Carolina 27603 
Phone: (704) 941-4645 
Facsimile: (919) 600-5000 
[email protected]

Class Counsel will ask the Court to approve attorneys’ fees and reimbursement of expenses not to exceed one-third (1/3) of the value of the Settlement fund. The Court will determine the amount of fees and expenses to award.

The Court will hold a Fairness Hearing to decide whether to approve the settlement. You may attend and you may ask to speak, but you do not have to.  The hearing will be in Courtroom 10A at the Wake County Courthouse at 316 Fayetteville Street, Raleigh, N.C. 27601 at 2:00 p.m. on March 8, 2024.   At this hearing, the Court will consider all the objections, if any, and will consider whether the settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate.  The Court will listen to people who have filed timely written objections and have asked to speak at the hearing. The Court may also decide how much to pay Class Counsel.  At the conclusion of the Hearing or after the Hearing, the Court will decide whether to approve the settlement.

No.  You do not have to come to the Fairness Hearing.  Class Counsel will answer questions the Court may have.  But you are welcome to come at your own expense. If you send an objection, you do not have to come to the Hearing for the Court to consider it. As long as you mailed your written objection on time, the Court will consider it. You may also pay your own lawyer to attend, but it is not necessary.

The Notice only summarizes this Action and the Settlement.  More details are in the Complaint, as Amended, the Answers filed by Defendants, the Preliminary Approval Order and in the Settlement Agreement.  You can get copies of these documents, in addition to the Order Granting Preliminary Approval of the Settlement in the Documents section of this website. You can also look at the documents filed in this Action at the Office of the Clerk of Superior Court, General Court of Justice, located at the Wake County Courthouse at 316 Fayetteville Street, Raleigh, N.C. 27601.

You can get more information or have questions answered by calling the offices of Class Notice and Settlement Administrator toll-free: (833) 419-0977