Sandy Springs City Council authorized the use of eminent domain to purchase property needed for Johnson Ferry Road-Mount Vernon Highway intersection improvements project after negotiations stalled.
City Attorney Dan Lee said eminent domain has only been used twice, including one for a title issue and another with a property owner who did not want a project to move forward.
While use has been authorized, Lee said it might be required at the April 4 council meeting.
The improvements project also ties in with the burial of power lines at the intersection and around Veterans Park at Roswell Road by Georgia Power at a cost of $4.5 million to the city.
The city needs a 13,874-square-foot portion of the 1.4-acre property at 325 Mt. Vernon Highway, at its intersection with Johnson Ferry Road and Boylston Drive. The vacant building on the lot previously was used as a bank. The city determined compensation for this property should be $659,034, Lee said.
At 280 Hilderbrand Drive, the intersection improvements require a little more than 3,000 square feet of property and slope easement, plus almost 2,000 square feet for a temporary construction easement. This 1.86-acre lot at the northwest corner of Hildebrand Drive and Boylston Drive has a two-story office/retail building constructed in the 1960s or 1970s. The city offered $150,678 for the property and added $5,156 for site improvements.
The third and final property for which eminent domain was authorized is at 295 Mount Vernon Highway, located on the southwest corner of Mount Vernon Highway and Boylston Drive. The city wants to use a little bit less than 2,300 square feet of the property. An owner-occupied and operated Chevron-branded convenience store is located on the lot, which is just over a third of an acre. Just and adequate compensation should be $145,321, he said.
The project design was changed three times to lessen the impact on this property, Lee said.
“It’s very difficult sometimes when the road comes close to a gas station because the underground tanks take up more area than you see and getting into those tanks can be very costly,” he said.
The cost brought to the council was about $500,000 less than when this part of the project started, Lee said.
The property has “too many owners”, Lee said, with more than 20 owners. That has created a title problem, so the lawyer who represents most of them asked the city to use eminent domain to meet the project’s needs, he said.
The city was able to successfully negotiate with the owners of The Link Counseling Center Inc. for a small section of the property at 348 Mount Vernon Highway, and for a temporary construction easement in the intersection improvement project. City staff set the compensation of $185,000 for 2,744.89 square feet of the 1.36-acre property and another 1,656 square feet for use as a temporary construction easement. The property is on the northwest corner of Mount Vernon Highway and Hunting Creek Road.
“All the projects tonight are also related to a tough schedule that staff is trying to meet in order to comply with Georgia Power’s construction guidelines and timetable for the relocation of utilities,” Lee said.