Posted on 11/01/2005 6:47:36 PM PST by flying Elvis
A 200-acre site that was part of William T. Sherman's Atlanta campaign is once again up for grabs. This time, the contenders are Henry County government and developer Maxie Price, Jr., and the guns have been replaced by lawyers.
The county is looking to condemn part of the site of the Battle of Lovejoy's Station, on the south side of McDonough Road at the Clayton County border, in the name of preservation. Henry County Commissioner Elizabeth “BJ” Mathis, who represents the area, wants the site to be turned into a passive park dedicated to Civil War history, and an existing home from that era to be converted into a museum filled with artifacts found on the site.
But the site had been slated for development of hundreds of homes, according to plans submitted to the county by Georgia General Parcels, LLC, the developer on the project. When the county came looking to buy, negotiations on a price broke down and it began condemnation procedures.
A special master hearing is scheduled for Nov. 8, and will determine what the county will pay for the tract, funding for which will come from impact fees charged on new development, Mathis said.
The taking procedure is an exercise of the county's power of eminent domain. The practice has come under fire from property rights advocates in recent months, after a U.S. Supreme Court decision bolstered government's right to seize property for private development.
But Henry officials have a public park in mind for the battlefield, and say it is a proper use of eminent domain. Not long after the Supreme Court decision, county commissioners vowed to use eminent domain for public purposes only.
“All eminent domain is not wrong,” said Mathis. “And every eminent domain is not right.”
State lawmakers are working to make sure the distinction is clear, and are seeking to rein in local government's power to seize property for the purpose of increasing tax revenue. At least two pieces of legislation have been filed for consideration next year, but are likely just part of a package of several bills that would address what is and is not proper use of seizure power, said state Rep. Steve Davis, R-McDonough. Davis believes the battlefield taking to be an appropriate use, but questions it's timing.
“My only concern with that situation is that it wasn't done before the developer bought the property,” he said. “Is it the best circumstance? I don't know.”
Mathis admits the county was in the dark about the property's significance as a Civil War site until developers told them. She said Georgia-and Washington, D.C.-based Civil War preservation organizations have pledged help raising money to develop the site once the county acquires it.
An appointed steering committee would help determine exactly what is done with the property, Mathis said, but walking trails, historical markers, battle reenactments and other events have been discussed.
It's not clear how much the county will pay for the site. That's for the special master to determine.
But Lee Tucker, a Duluth attorney representing Price, vowed to fight the condemnation, and said that while the county never made a formal offer, initial discussions of a price were “laughable.”
And “There is, in our mind, an issue over whether this is a proper condemnation,” he said.
Yeah...how does one "condemn" a battlefield?
btt
A tract that the developer had purchased is being "condemned". They, understandably, want the same amount of moolah out of it that they would have gotten by putting houses on it; not just to be paid back what they paid.
This is the only type of exercise of eminent domain that I can approve of: preserving part of our historic heritage. God knows the Atlanta area does not need one more development.
I agree. The blood of patriots should not be sold, or turned into ratty subdivisions.
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