About Sandy Springs reporter. (Sandy Springs, GA) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (March 22, 2013)
COMMUNITY Option of eminent domain for Target property unclear BY DAN WHISHT danwhisenhunt@reporternewspapers.net City officials are buying property needed for the planned city center project. For a larger version of this map, visit ReporterNewspapers.net. City officials continue to buy property around the former Target building the city owns on Johnson Fer ry Road, but it’s unclear whether using eminent do main remains an option. Eminent domain would involve Sandy Springs City Council forcing property owners to sell. It has major drawbacks, however. One would be the tep id response of City Council members to the idea. Coun cilman Gabriel Sterling has said he would not support it. Other council members say it’s a last resort. The other major draw back would have implica tions for the city’s down town plans, a project that will reshape the area on Ro swell Road between Ham mond Drive and Sandy Springs Circle. Condemning property using the eminent domain process would restrict those properties to public use for 20 years. City leaders want to attract private investors to the project, and a restriction to public use could limit those possibilities. City Attorney Wendell Willard said via email, “We are moving forward with negotiations to acquire the properties.” On March 19, Sandy Springs City Council voted to buy the property at 182 Hilderbrand Drive for $800,000. In October, the city bought prop erty located at 150 Hilderbrand Drive for $215,000. The city demolished the home on Feb. 21, making way for an ex tension of Blue Stone Road. The road construction is part of Phase 1 of the city center plan, a project that could take as long as a decade and will cost $84 million. Under the Phase 1 plan, the city will spend $9.6 million to build a segment for Mount Vernon Highway west of Sandy Springs Circle to Roswell Road and extending Blue- stone Road from Heritage to Mount Vernon Highway. A review of the 2008 appraisal of the Target property shows the appraiser was asked to give preliminary estimates of the value of 11 parcels. The appraiser es timated the total would be $7.35 mil lion but said the final cost could be 15 percent to 20 percent higher or lower. The sites include the Goodwill Store, the old Mellow Mushroom building, Sher win-Williams, Master Kleen Laundry and Waffle House. The property owners and their ten ants said they’ve had little communica tion with the city in recent weeks. Sandy Springs kicked off its city center project Feb. 21 by knocking down a home on property the city purchased to make way for an extension of Blue Stone Road. The home is located at 150 Hilderbrand Drive. In October, the city bought the property for $215,000 from the execu tor of the estate for Katherine K. Bell, according to city records. Bob Brown, who owns the Psycho Tattoo II on Roswell Road, said he last heard from the city around the first of the year. “They made me a very low offer which I would not accept,” Brown said. He said other property owners are re sisting the city. Other than that, he said he’s not quite sure what the city wants. “I don’t know what their real inten tions are,” Brown said. “I know they want to get started and I know it’s driv ing them crazy and yet I think all they’ve done is that little bit on Blue Stone.” Master Kleen owner Will Smith said his landlord hasn’t told him whether the building will be sold to the city. Smith said his landlord’s attorney told him the city sent a letter to property owners in February. “Our attorney spoke with them may be a month ago and they said they had sent ... letters to the property owners making an offer to buy the properties and gave them 21 days [to respond],” Smith said. “I don’t think anybody wrote them back. Or they told them to go to hell.” WE ARE SMALL BUSINESS EXPERTS. We’re not your typical IT shop. We are your strategic IT partners. Businesses don’t just call us when things go wrong. We work with clients so their technology becomes a strategic business asset and not just a necessary evil. And we are affordable! <777/77Solutions • •. • • Your Technology Team We take the worry out of IT so you can focus on your business! 770-551-8857 Providing high quality patient care for adults and adolescents Q?Medi£lini6 Take advantage of our affordable self pay rates Elvira Garcia, MD Most insurances accepted • Walk-Ins welcome • Hablamos espanol 7887 Roswell Rd, Suite B, Sandy Springs, GA, 30350 | Tel: 404-635-6644 Wm Cm iPad 1&2 Screen Replacement iPhone 4 Screen Replacement Offer expires 4/30/13 5975 Roswell Rd • Suite A109 (Across from Jason’s Deli) Sandy Springs, GA 30328 • 404.303.8001 View our Digital Editions on your smartphone or tablet ReporterNewspapers.net www.ReporterNewspapers.net | MARCH22-APRIL4,2013 | 5
