DeKalb County decides Tuesday whether to buy a wooded six-acre lot for nearly five times more than the county appraiser says the land is worth.
Some residents call the possible purchase of the land on LaVista Road for $1.9 million of park bond money a bailout even while admitting the land would make a good park. The property was assessed for tax purposes at about $393,000.
The land, near Oak Grove Road, is one of the rare undeveloped areas in the central part of the county. Residents and county officials have been trying for years to figure out how to keep the land from developing so they could have more green space.
“They’re probably doing the right thing in terms of a park,” said Don Broussard, a city planning consultant who lives near the property. “But why are we paying that kind of money as if it’s a developable site?”
County Commissioner Jeff Rader said the land was appraised in 2010 at $1.7 million and $2.3 million, respectively, by two outside appraisers hired by the county. An appraisal done just a few weeks ago again put the value at $1.7 million.
Rader said the outside consultants did more detailed and specific work than the county’s assessment system.
The county’s ownappraisal might be undervalued, Rader said, adding that he is comfortable with the staff-negotiated price between those outside assessments.
“If we could get it cheaper, we would,” Rader said. “But if we don’t acquire this land, people in Central DeKalb will be paying for a bond that they get no use out of.”
The lot was empty, except for trees and kudzu, when Rick Porter of Richport Properties of Tucker acquired the land in 2004.
The county then agreed to rezone the land so Porter could build townhomes. While a Porter’s nearby townhome community Davis Oaks has thrived, the LaVista project never got off the ground.
In the meantime, students in the nearby Arbor Montesorri school began doing an oral history project of the original landowners in the area.
Porter could not be reached for comment, but Commissioner Kathie Gannon said his daughter was among those who studied the land. That gave him the idea selling it for a heritage park, she said.
“He is really working with us to make this park happen,” Gannon said.
Porter has made campaign contributions to both Rader and Gannon in the past, though no commissioners were involved in negotiations to buy the land. Staff handled that work entirely.
The connections still make Broussard and some of his neighbors skeptical about the price tag and the sale itself.
“The cost seems high,” Broussard said. “There are probably lots of other developers in similar situations, so you have to ask yourself why their subdivisions aren’t being bought by DeKalb County.”
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