Roswell Settles Lawsuit Filed By Mayor Jere Wood

ROSWELL, GA -- Roswell leaders have settled legal action brought forth by Mayor Jere Wood over the City Council's rejection of his request to build a home on his property in downtown.

Council members voted 3-2, with Mike Palermo and Marcelo Zapata opposing, to approve the general release and settlement agreement between Wood, the Council and the city.

Wood recused himself from presiding over the agenda item. Council members Donald Horton, Nancy Diamond and Jerry Orlans voted in favor of the settlement.

The approval now allows city leaders to consider a certificate of appropriateness for Wood to build a wood-frame structure on property he owns at the corner of Canton and Woodstock streets.

The request will be considered by the Council's next regular meeting. If approved, Wood "shall file a dismissal with prejudice of the litigation" motion in Fulton County Superior Court within five business days of the approval, according to the Council's agenda packet.

If the City Council rejects the certificate, Wood would be free to move forward with the lawsuit.

When reached by phone, the mayor told Patch he is "pleased" that his appeal had been resolved."

"I was disappointed that three of the five (Council members) did not support their own Historic Preservation Commission, but I'm glad to see that we can resolve this," he added.

The issue began in 2016 when the mayor sought approval from the Historic Preservation Commission to construct a one-and-a-half story, 3,000-square-foot wood frame house at the corner of Canton and Woodstock streets.

The commission initially approved the certificate, but the City Council at its Aug. 22, 2016, meeting voted to reject the certificate. Wood filed the lawsuit in September.

Zapata said he felt like the issue should have been hashed out by the Historic Preservation Commission and not the City Council. He also said he believed the city had a strong case to win the lawsuit if it were presented to a judge.

The mayor told Patch that will seek out a tenant for the farm house once it's constructed. The project is expected to take a couple of years, as he's squeezing in the work on the weekends.

"It's a backyard project," Wood noted, adding he's using his sawmill to cut the lumber and do the necessary work to construct the frame, which will be transported to the property once it's ready to go.

Once it's up and running, he said he believes the house will be “consistent with all the farmhouses that I remember in Roswell.”

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