A lack of proper notice has again delayed the settlement of a high-profile lawsuit against the city, and some members of City Council want to know why.
The council at its July 17 meeting voted to defer settlement of a lawsuit concerning plans to develop 5775 and 5795 Glenridge Drive.
The council voted to defer settling a lawsuit filed by MLGP Lakeside over plans to develop the property. That lawsuit has its roots in a 2007 zoning application, which the city denied in 2008. The developers in 2010 filed a new plan for the 26-acre property, which the city also denied.
The new site plan the city deferred calls for 520 residential units, 8,000 square feet of restaurant space, 700,000 square feet of office space and 42,000 of additional commercial space. That’s a 40 percent reduction in the office density, developers said.
The council will consider approving the plan at its Aug. 21 meeting. This is the second time the council has delayed settling a high-profile lawsuit over legal notices. The city council pushed back its plans to settle a religious discrimination lawsuit the Church of Scientology filed against it because residents said they hadn’t received enough notification. The council settled the Scientology lawsuit on July 17.
The city uses the Sandy Springs Reporter and the Sandy Springs Neighbor to publish its legal notices. City spokeswoman Sharon Kraun said the papers’ publication schedule makes it difficult to time legal notices. The Reporter publishes every other Friday, while the Neighbor is weekly.
“In one instance, the legal notice was posted in the Neighbor, but not in the Reporter due to deadline and publication restrictions,” Kraun said. “The council deferred to make sure that notice received widespread coverage. In the second instance, the Neighbor received materials on time, but failed to include the ad in its printed edition. Council deferred so that proper notice could be given.”
Other factors prompted the council to postpone the decision. The council was concerned about the development’s impact on the medical building across the street from the development.