Sandy Springs Buys Hammond Drive Property For Widening Project

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Sandy Springs, GA -- With the tide of redevelopment sweeping into central Sandy Springs, city leaders on Tuesday made a move to acquire property before the price tag reached epic proportions.

The City Council at its Tuesday, Feb. 2 meeting approved the purchase of a .41 acre parcel at 590 Hammond Drive for $375,000.

The property is needed to continue with plans to widen Hammond Drive from Roswell Road to Barfield Road, the city stipulates.

Some residents questioned the city’s move, wondering if the widening is necessary and if enough public participation has been held in connection to the project.

Those concerns prompted city staff to provide an overview of the project, which appears to have been part of a conversation that predates the incorporation of Sandy Springs.

Assistant City Manager Bryant Poole said Fulton County identified the need to widen Hammond Drive in 2005. Fast forward to 2008, the project was included in the city’s Transportation Master Plan, which outlined widening the road to four lanes and adding sidewalks, transit and bicycle accommodations.

The project in 2010 was included in Sandy Springs’ Downtown LCI Update and the North Fulton Comprehensive Transportation Plan.

Following that move, the city lobbied for and received $500,000 in funds earmarked by Congress.

That money, City Councilman Tibby DeJulio said, was appropriated by U.S. Rep. John Lewis because the proposal at the time included some form of transit.

In 2011, Sandy Springs submitted the project as part of the list of projects to be funded in the 2012 T-SPLOST ballot initiative, which subsequently failed in metro Atlanta.

Last year, Sandy Springs submitted a grant application to the Atlanta Regional Commission to help pay for the project. Poole said it appears the city has made the first round of cuts for the ARC grant, which he said was “great news.”

City Manager John McDonough, who stated “it’s been a while” since the city has conducted public outreach on the project, added it would be “irresponsible” for Sandy Springs to bypass the opportunity to purchase the property at the current price.

He added the price of neighboring parcels are selling for roughly $900,000.

DeJulio said the project has been in the back of the minds of city movers and shakers since he and former Mayor Eva Galambos began advocating for Sandy Springs’ incorporation.

“This is a project that’s been going on for many years, and this is a project that needs to be done,” he later added.

To that point, McDonough added the improvement project could be “great accelerated” if the city bypassed the use of federal funds, as that would entail conducting an environmental study that could take years.

The city manager added the city will demolish the current residence on the property and return the land to its “natural state.” Once that’s done, it will be added to the roster of properties the city regularly maintains.

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