Newspaper Page Text
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.”
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