The Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) on Sept. 4, 2024, approved the use of eminent domain for Sandersville Railroad’s 4.5-mile rail spur project, according to media reports. Property owners appealed.
PSC “has jurisdiction over the eminent domain case,” according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, as it is “the state regulator for utilities — including railroads.”
The Sandersville Railroad said in a Sept. 4, 2024, statement that PSC “voted 5-0 to adopt an April 2024 initial decision by a PSC Hearing Officer allowing the Sandersville Railroad to begin condemnation proceedings for 200-foot-wide strips of land necessary for the construction of the Hanson Spur.” This amounts to “43 acres of privately owned land in Sparta,” according to the Rome News-Tribune. The spur is slated to connect raw material producers to CSX’s line that runs along Georgia Highway 16 in Hancock County, according to Sandersville Railroad.
“The [PSC] decision comes after property owners who could be forced to sell land and other nearby residents who joined the case asked the PSC to overturn a hearing officer’s April ruling to greenlight the eminent domain request,” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. “The case represents one of the most significant tests of Georgia’s eminent domain laws to emerge in years and could set precedent for use of the controversial power.”
The newspaper explained eminent domain this way: “when a government or utility forces a private property owner to sell some — or all — of their land for a specific project. The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects against abuse of eminent domain and requires ‘just compensation’ for seized property. Georgia law requires a court’s determination that a project serves a ‘public use,’ adding that economic development alone is not enough.”
According to the Rome News-Tribune, nonprofit public-interest law firm Institute for Justice “vowed to appeal Wednesday’s [Sept. 4] decision to Fulton County Superior Court on behalf of the property owners.” (While Hancock County Superior Court “has jurisdiction over the land,” noted The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “Georgia law dictates that any request for judicial review by the property owners would be heard in Fulton County Superior Court.”)
Institute for Justice Senior Attorney Bill Mauer said, “Georgia law does not permit a private company to take land through eminent domain unless the land will be put to public use,” according to the Rome News-Tribune. “Building a rail spur that will only be used by a few private companies, and not the public at large, is not a public use.”
However, Sandersville Railroad attorney Robert Highsmith argued “during a hearing before the PSC [in August 2024] that eminent domain reform legislation the General Assembly passed in 2006 law states that business conducted by railroads qualifies as a public purpose,” reported the Rome News-Tribune.
According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “[t]he potentially impacted property owners also had asked the PSC to at least stay, or pause, the forced land sales to allow the courts to weigh in. Their attorneys argued the Sandersville Railroad case presented novel legal issues that neither the PSC nor the courts have considered since Georgia revised its eminent domain laws in 2006. They also argued some property owners may move from their homes to avoid construction noise and could suffer ‘irreparable injury’ without a pause.” While the PCC staff “recommended in a public meeting last week [week of Aug. 25, 2024] that the commission stay the forced land sales for 90 days,” it declined, the newspaper reported.
On Sept. 4, 2024, Sandersville Railroad said “that it has agreements with the owners of nine of the 18 parcels they seek to condemn, meaning the PSC’s ruling impacts the remaining nine parcels controlled by seven owners,” according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“Although we do not take the use of eminent domain lightly, without it we would not have roads, airports, electrical lines, gas lines, or a host of other infrastructure that allows our communities to thrive,” Sandersville Railroad President Ben Tarbutton III said in a Sept. 4, 2024, statement released by the railroad. “We are grateful for the PSC’s decision, which not only supports the Hanson Spur project but also upholds the vital role of railroads in Georgia’s economic future. It is important for railroads and a variety of other utilities to have certainty when it comes to their ability to provide for our state’s and nation’s infrastructure. The Hanson Spur will provide new market access for local businesses, farmers, and loggers, and we look forward to working with the community to bring these benefits to Hancock County.”
The railroad said the spur not only enables “Heidelberg Materials to expand its plant to a location further away from neighboring residents,” but also is “[p]oised to generate over $1.5 million in annual economic benefits to Sparta and Hancock County,” as it would “open new channels of trade for middle Georgia businesses. It will also provide regional businesses and industries the ability to ship to and from local origin on CSX Transportation’s rail network.” According to the railroad, “four other companies in the agriculture, timber, and asphalt industries will ship their products and reach new markets using the spur.”
UPDATE:
On Feb. 4, 2025, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Craig Schwall upheld the PSC ruling granting eminent domain, and “extended a partial stay [that he instituted last month] preventing the Sandersville Railroad Company from beginning construction on those properties while the appeals process is still ongoing,” reported Atlanta News First/WANF on Feb. 6.
“While today’s ruling is disappointing, we remain committed to proving to the courts that a private railroad’s desire to build a speculative new line entirely for the benefit of a handful of private companies is not a public use under the U.S. and Georgia constitutions and Georgia’s eminent domain laws,” said Bill Maurer, an attorney for the Institute for Justice, which represents property owners, according to Atlanta News First/WANF. “We look forward to the Georgia Supreme Court’s review and we are thankful that our clients will not have to deal with Sandersville building tracks on our clients’ property until the higher court weighs in.”
Sandersville Railroad said in a statement: “We are pleased with the Fulton County Superior Court’s decision to uphold the Georgia Public Service Commission’s original ruling”; “Sandersville Railroad has remained committed to working transparently and collaboratively with the community throughout this process,” according to the media outlet.
The Institute for Justice “believes the case could go all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court,” Atlanta News First/WANF reported. “In 2005, the court ruled in favor of New London, Connecticut, affirming the city’s right to seize private land for economic development.”
