A Farmville restaurant has sued its landlord — furniture merchant Richard F. “Dickie” Cralle Jr. — for $18 million, alleging that plans for a competing restaurant violate their contract, records show.

The lawsuit filed in Prince Edward County Circuit Court represents one side of a legal argument. Cralle and other defendants had not filed their response as of Tuesday morning. A Herald reporter attempted to reach Cralle for comment, but was unsuccessful.

Charleys Waterfront Café, Inc., which filed the suit July 16 against Cralle, The Fat Frogg, LLC, of Elon, N.C., and North Carolina businessman Jeffrey D. MacKenzie, also seeks a temporary and permanent injunction prohibiting the new restaurant from opening.

Charleys has operated for the past 15 years in a renovated warehouse owned by Cralle in downtown Farmville. Cralle’s Green Front Furniture occupies much of the surrounding area, drawing people from throughout Virginia, the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast to downtown Farmville.

The suit alleges that the restaurant’s contract gives it exclusive use of 11,662 square feet of space for the operation of its restaurant and that it “specifically provided for a ‘Restriction as to Competition’ wherein the landlord agreed that it would not ‘lease, own, or operate a restaurant in competition to the Tenant in or upon any property now owned by the Landlord” in Farmville.

The suit also alleges that Cralle “entered into an agreement with Defendants Fat Frogg and MacKenzie to lease these Defendants certain commercial space directly below the Plaintiff’s restaurant for the operation of a pizza restaurant. This agreement was in direct and material violation of the existing … Agreement” and “Defendants Fat Frogg and MacKenzie knew of the contractual agreement between Cralle and the Plaintiff at the time they entered into the agreement with Cralle.”

The suit says that “Cralle and his agents began construction of the Fat Frogg Restaurant space.  MacKenzie and other representatives of Fat Frogg assisted with this construction.”

The plaintiffs are arguing breach of contract, civil conspiracy to injure professional reputation in violation of state code sections, and tortious interference with contract.

Circuit Court Judge Kimberly S. White, according to court papers, has recused herself. A new judge has not been assigned to the case.