Judge delivers legal setback to homeowner fighting flood control project

A Fulton County homeowner is facing a legal setback after fighting Atlanta City Hall about a flood control project near Grant Park.

The decade-long legal fight over the city’s desire to clear the homes is due to the risk of storm flooding and raw sewage.

Tanya Washington has been leading the Peoplestown community and challenging the city’s effort to condemn an entire block of homes along Atlanta Avenue and Ormond Street.

The city prevailed in court in 2016 and has since then demolished most of the homes, but Washington is one of four holdouts.

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A judge rejected her challenge, in part, because she has already accepted payment from the city. A document from the court shows that the Washington had already accepted $128,000, which went to her mortgage company.

Washington said she’s not giving up the fight. She and other residents argued that the city improperly withheld critical information about flood risks for years.

The judge didn’t say the information was irrelevant, nor did he say the information was insufficient. He did say the information should have been presented years ago.

“I don’t think the city should be rewarded for dragging its feet in turning over critical information,” said Washington.

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“There was never any modeling to justify it. By the time the modeling was done, the homes were already taken,” said Jeff Moran, an engineering expert working for the holdouts.

He is anxious to testify that the city should never have condemned an entire block of homes for the flood control project.

“We want to be able to demonstrate that the engineering wasn’t in place to justify the actions that were taken, when they were taken,” said Moran.

The fight over the disputed engineering data, and what the data says about the risk of floods in the Peoplestown neighborhood, is expected to move to a courtroom later this year.

The city did not provide a statement because the matter is still in court.

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