No more trees will fall in Druid Hills – at least for a few days – until a DeKalb County judge can figure out how and if a controversial development off Clifton Road can proceed.
Superior Court Judge Asha Jackson said Monday she expects to rule “fairly soon” on whether to continue to stall work at the three vacant lots that attorney Robert Buckler wants to carve into a seven-lot subdivision near Emory University.
That answer likely will come by week’s end. It may take weeks longer for her to decide if the Druid Hills Civic Association has the right to sue to stop the project known as Clifton Ridge. And it may be months before she rules on the central issue: Whether Buckler must get the OK from the county’s Historic Preservation Board for the project, or if he needs only the planning commission approval he received in 2011.
“My preference is, nothing happens until I rule on these issues,” Jackson told attorneys for both sides after a day-long hearing on motions in the case.
Jackson did rule Monday that an attorney who was hired earlier this year by DeKalb for a legal opinion in the case could represent the civic association, even though the group is also suing the county.
Attorneys for Buckler argued that the $4,770 in county taxpayer dollars paid to Frank Jenkins for his work effectively created a conflict of interest for him to work for the civic association.
But Jackson agreed with Jenkins, who said his research was specifically for County Commissioner Jeff Rader and did not include any confidential information.
Rader later shared Jenkins’ work with the civic association, which d the research to develop a new argument against the development.
“I, in good faith and good conduct, gave a legal opinion to Mr. Rader,” Jenkins said. “My conduct was that I did not have an attorney-client relationship with the county at all.”
The battle between the Druid Hills Civic Association and Buckler has lingered for nearly a decade.
The civic association represents hundreds of residents who argue his proposed subdivision will erode the historic character of a neighborhood partially laid out by Frederick Law Olmsted, the landscape architect best known for designing New York City’s Central Park.
Based on that history, they argue Buckler’s proposal requires approval from the county’s Historic Preservation Board. The board has repeatedly denied development there.
Buckler has argued that his proposal meets county zoning requirements. In 2011, the county’s Planning Commission agreed that Buckler did not need the historic board’s OK and gave his project the green light. That led to the latest legal fight.
After the county’s planning department issued Buckler a permit to start construction, the civic association then asked for and got a temporary restraining order to stop work.
That order expired Monday, though work will remain on hold until Jackson issues a directive on what the next step will be.
Jackson also must set future dates for additional hearings. Those dates have yet to be set.
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