A group of property owners has filed an appeal with the Fulton County Superior Court, asking a judge to overturn a Georgia Public Service Commission order approving a railroad’s plan to take portions of their land for a new spur.
The property owners, represented by the Institute for Justice want the court to rule that Sandersville Railroad’s land grab in rural Sparta, Georgia, does not constitute a “legitimate public use.”
“We’re optimistic that the Fulton County Superior Court will look at the facts in this case and quickly come to the conclusion that what Sandersville is proposing is not a public use under the U.S. and Georgia Constitutions, and that Sandersville cannot legally take this land through eminent domain,” IJ Senior Attorney Bill Maurer said in a release. “If a private company can take people’s land for the benefit of just a few private businesses, then nobody’s property is safe.”
The Sandersville Railroad, a Class III short line railroad that has served the area since 1893, petitioned the PSC on March 8, 2023, to condemn land for a proposed 4.5-mile-long spur. The railroad subsequently moved to condemn additional land.
The railroad’s existing rail lines are about 25 miles from Sparta, and the company does not operate in the city. The spur — named the “Hanson Spur” — would connect a Heidelberg Materials-owned rock quarry on Shoal Road southeast of Sparta with a CSX Transportation rail line but not existing Sandersville Railroad tracks.
The PSC’s 5-0 ruling earlier this month allows the Sandersville Railroad to start proceedings to condemn 200-foot-wide strips of land for the spur.
The railroad said the spur has several confirmed shippers, including Heidelberg Materials, Pittman Construction, Veal Farms Transload, Revive Millings and Southern Chips. While the railroad said most homes are at least 1,000 feet from the line, it plans to construct 20-foot-tall earthen berms with trees planted on top in areas where the line is closer to homes and install grade crossings on the properties its line crosses.
