Not far from the backed-up traffic on Ga. 92 in north Fulton County, Mountain Park sits apart on a half-square mile of hilly woodlands that slope down to two small lakes teeming with waterfowl. The 500-some residents love the town’s tranquility, scruffiness, mishmash of housing and curling one-lane roads. “It’s quirky, it’s Southern, it’s intelligent, it’s backward,” said Keith Ridgway, an 11-year resident. “It’s like living in a state park.”
But paradise has a price. Town politics marked by apathy. Very high taxes. And a lawsuit that’s bleeding the town coffers.
On Wednesday night a town hall meeting was held to mull the eternal Mountain Park questions.
Should the town dissolve the charter and become part of unincorporated Fulton County? Would it be better for Mountain Park to be annexed into Roswell or even Woodstock? Why don’t more people run for town council?
But the gorilla in the living room was the lawsuit. And that’s such a touchy subject that Mayor Jim Still didn’t want it talked about.
“This is a brainstorming session, not a blame-storming session,” he said.
In 2005, the town council sued several developers in upstream Roswell, saying they ruined the lakes with sediment from building sites. The town’s lawyer, Martin Shelton, said it would cost $2 million to
$3 million to dredge the lake and haul off the spoilage. Though three of eight defendants have settled, no trial date has been set.
Meanwhile, Mountain Park has paid more than $1.76 million in legal fees, said town clerk Karen Segars. That’s a hefty tab for a bare-bones operation with a $482,000 annual operating budget. The town employs only one full-time employee — Segars — and three part-timers.
Because of the lawsuit, Mountain Park taxpayers have taken a hit. The owner of a $200,000 home in Mountain Park pays $942.40 in town taxes before exemptions. The millage is 11.78, higher than neighboring towns Roswell or Alpharetta, which offer city police, parks and a bevy of other services. Residents bear all the tax burden because Mountain Park doesn’t have a single retail businesses, not even a convenience store.
Some residents said the lawsuit has put the town in such a distressed position that it’s impossible to decide questions about the town’s future, such as whether to dissolve the charter. Hope Mays said shutting down the town is hardly a new idea.
“This is a question that’s always there,” said Mays.
Still said some problems will remain, no matter how the lawsuit ends. For instance, the town has trouble finding enough people to run for the seven council seats. Shrinking the council and changing terms from four to two years might increase participation, people at the meeting agreed.
The session ended with a decision to determine what residents want more information about.
Longtime resident Pat McLendon said it’s hard to get Mountain Park folks to agree on anything.
“We’ve always had a lot of fighting in Mountain Park, politically,” she said. “You have some that won’t change and some who want to change.”
Labels: developer, lake, Mountain Park, sues
# posted by
Brian Vanderhoff @ 10:31 AM
Dan O’Leary, normally a mall operator, played pitchman today, giving his first public presentation of his idea to build a casino at Underground Atlanta.
O’Leary and his business partner John Aderhold brought the proposal, first reported in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, to the executive board of the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau. O’Leary also brought in what he called his “dream team,” including lawyers and lobbyists from McKenna Long & Aldridge and the president of Dover Downs, a casino and four-star hotel in Delaware. O’Leary has a letter of intent with Dover Downs to operate the proposed casino.
O’Leary told the board, made of hoteliers and other civic leaders, that his proposal will make Underground a “jewel” of downtown.
“We may not even call it Underground Atlanta anymore,” he said. “This is a new deal. It’s 12 acres of property that will become something completely different.”
While the ACVB didn’t have any action in front of them, O’Leary was clearly pleading for their support.
O’Leary’s proposal calls for the Georgia Lottery Board to approve “video lottery terminals” in a casino and hotel at Underground.
The lottery board has not set a date for a decision.
After the meeting, Joe Hindsley, general manager of the Hyatt Regency, one of downtown’s largest hotels, said he wants more details, such as how many visitors the casino will attract, how many nights they’ll be expected to stay, and how much of the expected $600 million in gross revenue, that O’Leary estimates the casino will generate, will trickle down.
“I like the idea we’re combining a demand generator that has been successful in many parts of the country with an area of town that’s had its challenges,” he said. But before endorsing the idea, he said he needs more details.
O’Leary told the board he will need political support for the casino.
“Do we need political support for it? Yes,” he said, noting that more than $200 million annually is spent by Georgians gambling in nearby states.
“There’s gaming in Georgia, folks. We’re just not getting our money,” O’Leary said.
Labels: casino, casinos, developer, underground atlanta
# posted by
Brian Vanderhoff @ 2:26 PM
