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Price of water security may be $6.4 million

The Atlanta Journal Constitution
David Pendered
May 7th, 2007

Atlanta is poised to pay $6.4 million for 1.5 acres to increase the security of a water treatment plant near Atlantic Station. Just last year, a developer assembled the site for $4.2 million, city officials said.

The city wants to buy the land to prevent it from being developed, said Robert Hunter, commissioner of the city's Department of Watershed Management. The site is on a ridge above the Hemphill Water treatment Facility and any structure would present a security risk to the city's supply of drinking water, Hunter told the City Council's Finance Committee last week.

Hunter said federal laws prevent him from publicly disclosing the nature of a potential security threat to the water reservoir and treatment facility, on Howell Mill Road near its intersection with Bishop Street.

The land is zoned for an industrial use, which means there is no height restriction on a future building that could serve any purpose other than residential, city officials said. If the land were rezoned to allow for a mixed-use development, including residential, the rezoning application would be supported by a city planning document that envisions building up to 12 stories along this portion of Northside Drive.

The 1.5 acres is at the northwest corner of Northside Drive and Bishop Street. Several committee members balked at the $6.4 price tag.

Howard Shook said the city can't afford to "bubble-wrap" itself to increase security. Jim Maddox wondered if the city could block development on the site by administrative means. A city attorney said that was not legal.

Robert Day, a managing partner with the company that owns the property, Northside Bishop Partners, LLC, said his company had plans to rezone the property and build a mixed-use development. As plans were being drafted, the city's watershed department contacted the company and said the city wanted to buy the land. Day said he believed in the potential of the site, located at the west side entrance to Atlantic Station, and had invested money to hold the land and hire architects and engineers to create development plans.

The Atlanta City Council is slated to vote today on the proposed purchase.

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