Judge rejects lawsuit over Gwinnett subdivision

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by homeowners trying to stop a Lilburn-area development.

Three dozen residents filed the lawsuit against Gwinnett County in December, seeking to stop construction of a 195-home subdivision on Oleander Drive, near the intersection of Five Forks Trickum Road and Lace Lucerne Road. They said the subdivision would create traffic, flooding and other problems that would lower their property values.

In the lawsuit, the homeowners said that by approving the 93-acre subdivision, Gwinnett County had essentially taken their property rights without compensation.

But U.S. District Judge Thomas Thrash dismissed the lawsuit last week. In his order, the judge said the homeowners had not alleged any facts supporting their claim that their property values would be destroyed.

“For example, they do not allege any facts supporting their inability to access their property, build on their own property, develop their own property or any other activity whatsoever that Gwinnett County’s approval of a nearby rezoning has prevented them from enjoying,” the judge wrote.