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Opinion OUR OPINION
Poorly developed plan
When DeKalb residents approved a green space referendum,
they expected grass, not concrete
Published on: 11/30/04
"People are desperate for more parks in this county,"
DeKalb CEO Vernon Jones said in pleading with voters to
approve a $125 million green space bond referendum in 2001.
So why did DeKalb buy dozens of useless buildings with the
money, including a $600,000-an-acre office complex that boasts
more concrete than grass?
After buying the magnificent Arabia Mountain preserve, the
definition of "green space" grew looser, as evidenced by the
list of 133 parcels bought with the bonds. A report by The
Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Ben Smith suggests that the
county took a grab-bag approach to its acquisitions and to its
definition of parkland.
Flush with millions in fresh cash, the CEO and the board of
commissioners pursued properties the way addled squirrels
chase acorns — darting to and fro with no regard for oncoming
traffic.
For instance, the county bought
Executive Square, a 17-acre office complex next to the DeKalb
County Jail on Memorial Drive, for $10.3 million, including $5
million in park bond money. The county's parks program
appraised the land by itself at $3.8 million, barely one-third
of the purchase price.
Three years ago, when DeKalb voters overcame their historic
aversion to public financing and agreed to a special tax to
buy parkland, all the credit went to Jones, Now, all the
questions go to Richard Stogner, Jones' executive assistant.
Stogner defends the green-space program, calling it "the
premium accomplishment of this administration." There's no
denying the lasting benefit from the county's purchase of 940
acres to expand the Davidson-Arabia Mountain Nature Preserve
in south DeKalb. The land had been zoned for 5,000 homes and
11 acres of commercial development. With Arabia Mountain, the
county knew what parcels to pursue since conservationists had
long dreamed of the preserve's expansion and had a wish list
of the surrounding private land vital to fulfilling that
vision.
But once it bought the Arabia Mountain properties, the
county demonstrated little prioritizing in what it purchased
next. Because DeKalb is already so built out, Stogner and
other county officials contend that buying developed property
was unavoidable.
However, part of the problem was
the poiiticizing of the selection process. Jones and the seven
commissioners divvied up the cash by geographic districts,
with the CEO getting $37.9 million to spend and the
commissioners each taking home $7.9 million to their
districts.
So rather than buying the raw land
most at risk for development, no matter where it fell in
DeKalb, the purchases accommodated a political agenda. The
commissioners — who follow the same protocol in their zoning
decisions — generally supported one another's recommendations
for green-space purchases, even when there was little green to
be seen.
Among the county's oddest
purchases was a $2.4 million former church property. The
county now leases the main building on the Flat Shoals Parkway
site to a for-profit cable television network for $1 a year.
Before it bought buildings, DeKalb relied on one appraiser
to set the value. Other counties routinely insist on multiple
assessments before they buy to avoid being overcharged.
There is the possibility thai DeKalb ended up overpaying at
times. The 10 most expensive properties cost DeKalb taxpayers
$46.3 million. Yet tax assessors said the combined fair market
value of the 10 properties is $11 million. Even granting that
the tax assessors could be underpricing the market value of
the properties, a $35 million difference ought to trouble
county officials.
With the $125 million almost depleted, DeKalb officials are
considering asking taxpayers to approve a second referendum,
for up to $500 million. But Jones and company will face a much
less trusting electorate this time. And they can only blame
themselves for that growing mistrust.
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