Gwinnett County commissioners are expected to decide Tuesday whether to buy a 16-acre piece of land that county staffers say they have no definite need for.
It’s the same proposed purchase — for $5.27 million — that was postponed in June after District Attorney Danny Porter threatened the commissioners with a grand jury investigation if the deal went through.
Monday afternoon, Porter said he will include this case — along with other land purchases — to the grand jury in September if the commissioners buy the land.
The land, located along I-85 outside Suwanee, is owned by four men, the father-and-son development team of Tim and Ty Robinson, Norcross attorney J. Patrick O’Brien and Reginald Strickland, according to their attorney.
The proposed purchase would settle two lawsuits involving an adjacent sliver of land at that location, which the county took through eminent domain in April to extend a road and add a sewer, records show.
Both of those lawsuits — one was the eminent domain case — were initiated by the county. The property owners responded by appealing one and filing a counter-claim in another, according to court documents.
The county has no specific purpose for the land, which commissioners have tentatively agreed to buy for $5.27 million at a time when they are struggling to close a budget deficit.
It’s not clear how much the land is currently worth. County officials declined to release the county’s appraisal for the land.
Mike Ludwiczak, a senior assistant county attorney, said there is “some potential” for an I-85 interchange to be built on the land.
But a supervisor in the county’s Transportation Department, Alan Chapman, said the land “doesn’t have a current transportation need at this time.” He said an exit ramp is possible.
It’s unclear where the idea to purchase the land originated; all the discussions have occurred behind closed doors.
Chapman said it did not come from his department, and other county officials and commissioners said they either did not know or would not say.
“I’m not really sure I can comment on that,” said Ludwiczak, explaining that he didn’t want to divulge information that came out of executive session meetings.
For the land purchase to pass, it must get the support of Commissioners Shirley Lasseter and Kevin Kenerly and Chairman Charles Bannister.
Commissioner Mike Beaudreau opposes the purchase, and Commissioner Bert Nasuti said he will recuse himself because O’Brien, one of the land owners, is a partner in his law firm.
Lasseter, who represents the district where the land is located, said Monday that she is “ready to vote,“ but would not divulge her plans.
Bannister and Kenerly did not return calls seeking comment.
Beaudreau said Monday that he doesn’t understand why the county would buy the land.
“I don’t understand the logic in buying more land that we don’t even need,” Beaudreau said. “We have the land we need for the road. It’s an open and shut case. It’s befuddling to me.”
The four who own the land, under the corporation name Old Peachtree Partners, bought 24.74 acres in November 2004 for $2.89 million.
The developers wanted to build a 146-unit subdivision, but the Board of Commissioners rejected the plan. They later tried to get a permit to build a hotel, but the county rejected that request, too,
In 2007, the developers agreed to sell 2.6 acres to the county for $1.1 million to extend Northbrook Parkway and for a sewer line.
But the owners backed out of the deal, arguing that the county had not been clear about its plans for a sewer line, developer Tim Robinson said.
The county sued and later acquired the land through eminent domain for $950,000.
The developers appealed the county’s move, contending that it rendered the rest of the land useless until the county extends the road.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Sunday on four other land purchases in which the Board of Commissioners voted to pay inflated prices for land based on questionable appraisals, including two that were supplied by the property owners.
Porter has said he will ask a grand jury to look into those purchases.
How we got the story
While reviewing numerous land deals, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution examined county records and lawsuits related to the land, the developer’s attempts to build on it, a broken agreement between the county and developer to sell a portion of the land and the county’s subsequent taking of that portion through eminent domain. The AJC also interviewed some of the men who own the land, their attorneys, several county commissioners and officials from the county’s law and transportation departments.
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