A Gwinnett County judge dismissed Thursday an attempt by Peachtree Corners residents to block the sale of one of the metro area’s largest undeveloped tracts of land along the Chattahoochee River.
The decision could clear the way for the sale of the land, called Simpsonwood, which currently belongs to the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church and includes a conference center. However, if the ruling is appealed, any final decision on Simpsonwood’s sale could be delayed.
For some neighbors, the case is about possibly turning secluded woods and fields into a subdivision or public park. For the Methodist church, it’s largely about finances.
It apparently was a difficult decision for the judge in the case.
“I understand so well what I have to do here today that I want to throw up,” Magistrate Mark Lewis said before ruling.
Norcross teacher Ludie Simpson gave Simpsonwood — 227 acres of prime riverfront property in the heart of what’s now suburban Peachtree Corners — to the Methodist church in 1973 with the understanding that it would not be “chopped into smaller parcels or exploited or despoiled.”
Now, the church says it’s losing money on the property and wants to sell it. The North Georgia Conference, which includes churches throughout the northern half of the state, subsidizes the Simpsonwood conference center’s operations with hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. The Simpsonwood conference center itself still owes an affiliated Methodist foundation about $5 million on a mortgage secured by the Simpsonwood property.
Last year, the church asked a judge to issue an order clearing the way for the property's sale. The church is currently in talks to sell part of the land to Gwinnett County as a park. Earlier this year, 11 people living near Simpsonwood sought to block any sale of the property and filed a motion to overturn the earlier court order.
On Thursday, Lewis ruled against the neighbors, but he left in place an order that effectively blocks the property’s sale. If the neighbors don’t appeal Lewis’ ruling, that order will expire.
Jim Erdy, one of the neighbors who filed the suit, said they had not decided whether to pursue an appeal.
Continuing to fight against Simpsonwood’s sale could be costly for the neighbors. The church has threatened to sue them for what it says are attempts to disrupt sales negotiations, as well as other claims.
After Thursday’s decision, church attorney Matt Reeves said the neighbors are “in the position of subjecting themselves to claims for damages if things keep going the way they’re going.”
The neighbors’ lawyer, Grace Lewis, said in court filings that the suit seeking to block the sale was brought in good faith.
Bill Carroll, a grandnephew of Ludie Simpson, said he wasn’t surprised by Thursday’s decision, given that a judge last year had already cleared the way for the church to sell the land.
But he said he’s still disappointed that the church didn’t keep its word to Simpson, and he hopes that the neighbors will press forward with their efforts if they can.
“If you start something, you ought to be prepared to go all the way,” he said. “I guess it depends on how much they believe in the case.”
In explaining his ruling, Lewis said the issue is property rights, not development.
“This is private people deciding what they want to do with their property,” he said.
Even if the neighbors appeal and lose again, any attempt to turn Simpsonwood into a subdivision likely would require zoning and other public hearings, the magistrate said.
“This isn’t going to be decided quickly, folks,” Lewis said.
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