An unpublished opinion of the North Carolina Court of Appeals does not constitute controlling legal authority. Citation is disfavored, but may be permitted in accordance with the provisions of Rule 30(e)(3) of the North Carolina Rules of Appellate Proced ure.

NO. COA02-894

NORTH CAROLINA COURT OF APPEALS

Filed: 20 May 2003

ANN J. ETTERS,
    Plaintiff,

         v.                        Gaston County
                                No. 01 CvD 4264
JEAN K. FAIRES,
    Defendant.
    

    Appeal by plaintiff from order entered 3 April 2002 by Judge John K. Greenlee in Gaston County District Court. Heard in the Court of Appeals 5 May 2003.

    Stott, Hollowell, Palmer & Windham, LLP, by Grady B. Stott, for plaintiff appellant.

    No brief filed by defendant appellee.

    McCULLOUGH, Judge.

    Defendant Jean K. Faires installed a gate across a driveway on her property on 1 November 2001. Plaintiff Ann J. Etters filed a complaint against defendant on 2 November 2001 in which she alleged that she and her lessees had been using the driveway for at least forty-six years to access the rear of her property. Plaintiff requested that defendant be immediately restrained from blocking the entrance to the rear of her property. The trial court entered a temporary restraining order on 2 November 2001 that directed plaintiff to remove the gate immediately.
    On 8 January 2002, the trial court entered a preliminaryinjunction with the parties' consent which permitted plaintiff to use the driveway for access to her property between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. Defendant filed a motion to modify the preliminary injunction on 22 January 2002 in which she alleged plaintiff had not complied with the terms of the preliminary injunction. Upon finding that plaintiff and her tenants had violated the preliminary injunction numerous times, the trial court entered an amended preliminary injunction on 3 April 2002. The trial court permitted plaintiff to have access between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m., and the trial court ordered that plaintiff “pay to the defendant the sum of $525.00 as attorney's fees in this matter.” From the trial court's order, plaintiff appeals.
    Plaintiff contends the trial court erred by awarding attorney's fees to defendant. While conceding that the trial court's order is interlocutory, plaintiff asserts the order affects a substantial right and is immediately appealable. She argues the trial court's order fails to differentiate whether the fee was awarded pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 6-21.5 (2001) or N.C.R. Civ. P. 11(a).
    Plaintiff has appealed from an interlocutory order, and there is generally no right to an immediate appeal from an interlocutory order. Andaloro v. Sawyer, 144 N.C. App. 611, 612, 551 S.E.2d 128, 129 (2001). The trial court's order in this case contains no findings in support of its award of attorney's fees to defendant. See Brooks v. Giesey, 334 N.C. 303, 313-15, 432 S.E.2d 339, 345-46 (1993). As a result, this Court cannot determine whether the awardof attorney's fees is proper and whether it affects a substantial right. We therefore treat this appeal as a petition for writ of certiorari and allow the writ for the limited purpose of vacating that portion of the amended preliminary injunction which awarded attorney's fees to defendant.
    Vacated in part.
    Judges MARTIN and CALABRIA concur.
    Report per Rule 30(e).

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