Nov. 1--Challengers of a permit issued for the proposed Talbots project downtown have filed another motion: to have City Attorney Scott Davis' business dealings with UHF Development added to the legal record.

The motion "to supplement the record of proceedings" was filed by permit appellants this week in Craven County Superior Court. It comes just days before Monday's court proceeding to determine whether the challengers have legal grounds to appeal the city's permit decision.

In the motion, appellants contend that nearly 70 documents attached to the motion will prove that Davis or other members of his law firm were "engaged in systematic and considerable representation" of the developers who applied for the controversial permit.

Because of that alleged business relationship, the appellants say that "the actions of the Board of Aldermen were so tainted by the city attorney's participation that the entire (permit) hearing is fatally flawed."

In their motion, appellants say that if Davis had voted during the permit decision, he would have been violating state law because of a conflict of interest.

"While the city attorney himself does not vote on conditional-use zoning permits, it is unmistakable ... that the city attorney was forcefully injecting himself into the decision-making process."

UHF Development Group LLC was awarded the $1,050,000 contract in 2006 to build the "Talbots project," a 75-foot building proposed for South Front Street. The corporation is owned by friends Hubie Tolson and Eddie Coleman, and their company's initials stand for "the ultimate is having fun."

Until January of this year, Davis was listed as the registered agent for UHF Development Inc., a separate entity that also involves Tolson and Coleman.

Davis did not return calls Friday. But he said in a January interview that he had not done work related to the South Front Street project, a proposed retail and residential building intended to bring clothing retailer Talbots to New Bern.

Davis said that he set up UHF Development Inc. for an out-of-town project, and that he referred Tolson and Coleman to law firm Ward and Smith when it became apparent that they were interested in the city project.

Attorney Troy Smith of Ward and Smith backed up Davis' contentions, and said that the work the city attorney did amounted to "a 10-minute deal, a page-and-a-half document" that might have cost Tolson and Coleman $100.

Nancy Hollows, one of about two dozen residents appealing the permit, says the timing of the recent motion is not connected to Monday's legal proceedings. She said the residents' lawyer, Neil Whitford, believes the paperwork will substantiate the conflict- of-interest claim raised in the appeal. The appeal alleges "multiple procedural issues" in the process that led up to the permit being granted.

"The timing of the motion is coincidental," Hollows said Friday. "Monday's proceeding is just the next step because mediation didn't work out."

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