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LOCAL
THE CHAMPION, THURSDAY, JANUARY 10 - 16, 2019 • Page 3
City responds to recent lawsuit
BY TAYLOR ROBINS
Taylor@dekalbchamp.com
The Ardent Companies,
a real estate investment firm,
filed a lawsuit Dec. 6 in
Superior Court of DeKalb
County against the city of
Brookhaven for “obstruction
of Ardent’s efforts to assemble
and redevelop home sites
along Bramblewood Drive.”
Jon and Courtney
Wheeler and The Ardent
Companies name Brookhaven,
Brookhaven Mayor John
Ernst and councilmembers
Linley Jones, John Park,
Bates Mattison, Joseph
Gebbia and City Manager
Christian Sigman as
defendants in their official and
individual capacities.
“Normally the City of
Brookhaven does not comment
on pending litigation at all,
but it should be noted that
the claims made by Ardent
in the filing are completely
without merit and represent
yet another attempt by Ardent
to usurp taxpayer funds for
private profit,” Brookhaven’s
Communications and Public
Engagement Director Burke
Brennan said in an email
statement to The Champion
Newspaper. “We will be
vigorously defending this
litigation.”
According to the
complaint, “Ardent’s
experience with Brookhaven
serves as a cautionary tale
to any developer trying to
get in on Brookhaven’s
hot redevelopment market:
Brookhaven will give a
developer the governmental
approvals it needs, as long as
the developer pays to play.”
In 2017, the investment
firm obtained purchase
contract from the Wheelers
for properties located
along Buford Highway at
Bramblewood Drive that
encompassed 17 acres of land.
The Ardent Company intended
to develop a gated townhome
community consisting of 226
brick homes.
According to the complaint,
the project met the permitted
use and density outlined in
Brookhaven’s Comprehensive
Plan.
However, a portion of the
17-acre property is zoned as a
single-family residential area
and the city owns a public
right-of-way for Bramblewood
Drive.
The Ardent Companies
filed two applications to
rezone the property as a multi
family residential area and for
the city to abandon the right-
of-way Nov. 1,2017.
Upon receipt of the
applications, The Ardent
Company was informed that
the city was interested in 3.14
acres of the same property for
a new public safety facility,
according to the complaint.
Ardent claims that the
city delayed consideration of
the applications “knowing
that the purchase contracts
would expire if it delayed the
applications long enough.”
According to the
complaint, Ardent offered
close to $250,000 for the city’s
abandonment of the 2-acre
right-of-way. The city then
informed the company that
it would abandon the right-
of-way for $1.5 million per
acre, citing that the city had
just received $1.6 million per
acre for the abandonment of
the city’s Tullie Road right-of-
way, the complaint states.
The complaint alleges that
the city offered to sell the
right-of-way for $2 million in
total.
“In addition, the city
offered to abate taxes on the
project, which, in part, would
have reduced the amount of
taxes payable by Ardent to
DeKalb County and its school
system,” states the complaint.
The Ardent Companies
rejected the offer.
Both of Ardent’s
applications were reviewed by
the city council Sept. 12 and
the application for the right-of-
way abandonment was denied,
causing Ardent to withdraw its
rezoning application.
The purchase contracts
have since expired. The Ardent
Companies and the Wheelers
claim to have been damaged
as a result of the Wheelers
not being able to sell their
properties to Ardent and
Ardent was unable to move
forward with its project.
The plaintiffs have
demanded a jury trial,
according to the complaint.
Apparent murder-suicide
reported in Decatur
BY HORACE HOLLOMAN
horace@dekalbchamp.com
Decatur Police are
reporting a murder-suicide
in downtown Decatur after
responding to a call at the
Courtyard by Marriott on
the 100 block of Clairemont
Avenue.
According to police,
officers responded to the
call at 1:39 a.m. on Jan. 2.
Officers arrived on the scene
and located 42-year-old Ranie
Overman and 46-year-old
Gerald Loch inside a hotel
room.
Overman and Loch were
in a relationship together,
according to police, and
Overman had at least one
gunshot wound to her body.
Police said Loch also had a
gunshot wound to his body,
which was self-inflicted.
Police said there are no
other suspects involved in the
case.
Georgia Bureau of
Investigations crime unit was
on the scene the morning of
Jan. 2 as well.
Several guests of the hotel
were checking out and into the
Marriott the morning of Jan.
2. The Champion Newspaper
asked hotel management if
guests had been notified of
the shooting. An official with
Courtyard by Marriott said
he could not comment on the
matter due to the pending
investigation.
Brianna Backes, who lives
across the street from the hotel,
said she thought she heard
fireworks around the time of
the shooting but is not certain.
“It’s kind of scary knowing
that happened,” Backes said,
while walking her dog near the
hotel entrance. “I pray for all
the families involved.”
Backes said while
she thinks the incident is
unfortunate, she feels safe in
Decatur.
“I hope that it doesn’t
happen again, obviously, and
I’m horrified to find out that
people died, but I assume the
law enforcement will take
care of it,” Backes said. “This
neighborhood is super safe, so
I’m not too worried.”
We'd love to hear from you.
HORACE HOLLOMAN
Horace@DeKalbChamp.com
CARLA PARKER
Carla@DeKalbChamp.com
Taylor@DeKalbChamp.com
