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Judge halts Lindbergh plan |
In theory, the restraining order that a Fulton County Superior Court judge granted Monday should temporarily stop construction of a 47-acre office, retail and residential project that will include two BellSouth office buildings at MARTA's Lindbergh station.
But enforcing the order against the telecommunications giant, which isn't even a party in the ongoing legal battles between a Buckhead neighborhood association and MARTA, baffled many in the courtroom.
"We will communicate what the judge said to BellSouth," said Charles Pursley, the attorney representing MARTA. "But if they say, 'The heck with you,' well, I don't know if we have any legal authority to try and make them stop."
Fulton County Superior Judge Stephanie Manis said the restraining order will last about two weeks until she makes an initial ruling on the lawsuit the Garden Hills Civic Association filed last year against MARTA. After the ruling, even she seemed somewhat unclear as to what could and couldn't be done at the development site. Tearing up the parking lot was off-limits, she said, but the area could be cleared.
"When in doubt, don't do it," she told attorneys for MARTA and the city of Atlanta. "I wish I could be more precise."
Attorneys and officials at BellSouth could not be reached for comment Monday on whether their company would obey the court order.
The lawsuit came after MARTA proceeded with plans to transform property around the Lindbergh train station into a luxurious complex where people could work and live. MARTA leased the property to the developer Carter & Associates and assisted in the demolition of buildings and clearing of the property.
That MARTA used public money to clear the property and facilitate private development was wrong, the association says in its lawsuit. Garden Hills residents, who are worried about the potential traffic congestion the development is expected to attract, also claim the 1998 rezoning process was improper.
"We cannot help but show irreparable harm," Richard Hubert, attorney for the civic association, told the judge during arguments. The neighborhood residents will be "profoundly affected" by the development, which includes 10,000 parking spaces, he said.
A TOUGH ORDER TO ENFORCE
An order to stop construction of the BellSouth office buildings at MARTA's Lindbergh Center may not hold, because the order was issued against MARTA, not BellSouth. / Staff