Homeowners Fight Eminent Domain That Would Make Way for New Heards Ferry Elementary

Twenty-one members of Riley Place Homeowners Association sent a letter to the Fulton Board of Education to protest possible relocation of Heards Ferry Elementary to their neighborhood on the southern end of Riverside Drive. The site is across from St. Andrews Presbyterian Church. 

“We’ve already been threatened with eminent domain.” said Herb Carter, one of the homeowners refusing to sell his property.

The homeowners' letter said in part: “The site on the southern end of Riverside [Drive] would require condemnation of at least two homes which homeowners do not want to sell…This is very valuable property made up of minimum 2 acre tracts, and the cost of land per acre, even after condemnation, would be about as high as any residential land Fulton County could consider acquiring.”

On Wednesday, more than 100 residents attended a public meeting at Riverwood International Charter High School on the relocation of Heards Ferry Elementary. Most at the meeting said they are opposed to moving the school to any new location.

Patrick Burke, Deputy Superintendent of Operations, said that by voting for the SPLOST referendum in November 2011, Sandy Springs residents approved moving Heards Ferry. He later added, “We’re studying what it would take to build on this site and keep things on this site.”

More on the SPLOST vote below.

During the meeting Burke said eminent domain is rarely used. “That’s not to say that we won’t use it,” he said.

The Riley Place homeowners represented in the letter do not have confidence in the Fulton County Board of Education. They complained in the letter that two previous meetings this year, on moving Heards Ferry, were not adequately announced to nearby residents and the general public.

Chris Clark, head of Riley Place HOA, said residents learned the Fulton County Board of Education was interested in their neighborhood about two months ago. “Out of six pieces of property that they need, [owners of] four have been approached by a mystery realtor,” he said. “We have not heard anything from [those property owners]. We assume they made a deal.”

Did you know the 2011 SPLOST referendum approved moving Heards Ferry?

Several residents say they now realize that they didn't understand the SPLOST referendum approved in November 2011.

Linda Gold's children attended Heards Ferry and Riverwood. “[Burke] kept saying that the voters voted for us to replace the school. I didn’t vote to replace the school,” she said.

Gold added, “I wouldn’t have voted for the SPLOST had I known they were going to rip Heards Ferry down. I thought that the money was going to build a new place on the site or repair it. I had no idea and neither did any of my friends.”

Did you misunderstand the 2011 SPLOST referendum? How do you feel about homeowners possibly being moved out by eminent domain? Tell us in the comments below.

See also: Residents Strongly Oppose Moving Heards Ferry Elementary