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Brookhaven 3371 Buford Hwy NE Atlanta, GA 30329 East Point 2084 Headland Drive East Point, GA 30344 Morrow 1331 Mount Zion Road Morrow, GA 30260 South DeKalb 2124 Candler Road Decatur, GA 30032 West End 1325 Ralph David Abernathy Blvd SW Atlanta, GA 30310
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CITY M AY B U Y B IL L B O A R D FO R G R EENWAY
The city of Brookhaven has entered into a letter of intent to purchase a miniature billboard sign at 2036 North Druid Hills Road, near the intersection with Buford Highway, from Railroad Outdoor for $375,000. The billboard sits in the first phase of the Peachtree Creek Greenway trail now under construction. The city is not sure whether it will remove or keep the billboard, City Manager Christian Sigman said. Now that the letter of intent has been signed, the city and Railroad Outdoor will negotiate a purchase agreement, according to Moe Trebuchon, project manager for the Greenway. The lease for the billboard expires in 2040. The city recently purDYANA BAGBY chased the property containThe drag queen bar Lips located on Buford Highway ing the billboard and a vacant is the current advertisers on the mini billboard the Georgia Sign building. The city of Brookhaven plans to buy on North Druid Hills billboard the city is purchasRoad to make way for the Peachtree Creek Greenway. ing stands only a few feet tall at a small driveway entrance for the site of the former Georgia Sign building. The property is slated to become a parking area to provide access to the Greenway. The first phase of the Greenway runs between Briarwood Road and North Druid Hills Road and is expected to be finished in September. Money to pay for the billboard is coming from the $10 million Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta paid to the city last October for the abandonment of all right of way adjacent to Tullie Road and Tullie Circle. The right-of-way abandonment will allow CHOA to close off the roads to public access once its medical campus, including a new $1.3 billion hospital, opens, which is expected in 2025. CHOA officials say it’s necessary to have a private campus to keep seriously ill children safe.
SEX TO Y SHO P IS IN C O NT EM P T O F C O UR T, R UL I NG S AY S
The Georgia Court of Appeals issued an opinion Feb. 20 stating that the sex toy store Stardust is in contempt for going against a lower court’s ruling to stop operations because it violates a Brookhaven ordinance regulating sexually oriented businesses. What this exactly means for Stardust, located at 3007 Buford Highway, remains unclear. Cary Wiggins, attorney for Stardust’s owner, Michael Morrison, did not have an immediate comment. City Attorney Chris Balch said in a written statement, “We are happy that the Court of Appeals reaffirmed that the City’s position was lawful, appropriate and just.” The Court of Appeals opinion this week follows the August 2018 ruling by a threejudge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals stating Stardust must comply with Brookhaven’s ordinance and stop selling sex toys. The ruling is part of a legal battle that has ensued since the days of the city’s incorporation in 2012, beginning in DeKalb Superior Court and working its way to date to the Court of Appeals. Weeks after the city was incorporated, Stardust began selling “sexual devices,” which the city labeled illegal under city ordinance. The city then began code enforcement against Stardust for selling sex toys. In 2013, for example, Stardust was cited by code enforcement more than 500 times. The city also states Stardust cannot operate legally because of its close proximity to another sexually oriented business, the Pink Pony, and also because it did not clearly define what kind of business it was when it applied for a business license. The business also violates city ordinance because it is near a residential area, according to the city. Representing the city in the Stardust lawsuit is Scott Bergthold, a Tennessee attorney who specializes in municipal laws cracking down on sexually oriented businesses. BK