"Relocations for Hartsfield runway bring some pain"

Monday, May 27, 2002

Relocations for runway bring some pain
By Kevin Duffy
The Atlanta (GA) Journal-Constitution


Moving is a headache. Moving 124 businesses is a $154 million, two-year
challenge.

That's the task facing Atlanta's Department of Aviation as it clears the way
for construction of the fifth runway at Hartsfield International Airport.
It's a huge job, but one the city is quite familiar with.

>From 1997 to last summer, 130 businesses were relocated, at a cost of more
than $259 million, paid for with federal grants and airline ticket fees.

This second phase, funded just with ticket fees, began in October. Business
owners, tenants and a smattering of residents are now being told how much
the city will pay them to leave.

For merchants who have deep roots in the area, displacement is especially
wrenching. They bought their properties when Southside land was much
cheaper. Now, some said they are having difficulty finding affordable space
elsewhere.

Bob Holden owns Holden Carpet Sales on Clark Howell Highway in College Park,
where he's been for about 25 years. He said he's been offered $450,000 for
his 1-acre lot and 12,000-square-foot building, as well as moving expenses.

"I just don't feel like I can replace it for what they're offering me,"
Holden, 62, said. He stretched his arms in opposite directions: "We're that
far apart." He said he plans to hire a lawyer.

Charles Myers, in the building next door, owns Flexocraft, which does prep
work for printing on bags. He's been in the area as long as Holden and owns
two buildings. Like Holden, Myers is in his early 60s and was counting on
rent from the buildings to help fund his golden years.

"There's no way I can replace these buildings for $800,000," Myers said.
"These buildings were going to be my retirement." He said he will get his
own appraisal and make a counteroffer.

Donald Willis, the aviation department's land acquisition manager, said the
city has to offer fair market value for the properties under the guidelines
of the federal Uniform Relocation Assistance Act.

Willis said the city will pay moving and re-establishment expenses, which
might include new signage, business cards and impact fees. It also will pay
up to $1,000 of the cost a business incurs searching for a new location.

Relocation opportunity

The 9,000-foot runway will be built on 920 acres immediately south of the
airport and span I-285. It's scheduled to be completed in 2005. Properties
are being acquired on both sides of 285.

Willis said most relocations are negotiated without condemnation. In the
first phase, only 15 percent of the properties had to be condemned.

Lanii Thomas, the Aviation Department's public relations manager, said the
city is trying to minimize any tax loss to Clayton County as a result of the
relocations.

"The key thing is we're trying to keep these businesses in the same area so
that the county does not lose that revenue," Thomas said.

Nine of the 11 businesses relocated so far in phase two have stayed in
Clayton. In the first phase, 62 percent of the affected businesses remained
in Clayton, and 21 percent moved to Fulton.

Moreland Altobelli is managing the relocation effort and will be paid up to
$3.35 million for its work on the second phase.

David Lambert, service manager with Diversified Electronics, praised
Moreland Altobelli and the aviation department's handling of his company's
move. Diversified, which provides public safety radio communications,
relocated to Forest Park from College Park, where it had been for seven
years.

"We're not sure how it's going to effect our long-term business," Lambert
said. "But as far as the actual move and working with the airport authority,
they were very courteous and professional."

Chip Martin, branch manager with Commercial Roofing Specialties, said his
business is going to gain space when it moves. He will lease a larger
building less than two miles away.

Martin said he wouldn't move voluntarily, "but it's going to work out fine."

Big space is exactly what Johnny Stinchcomb, owner of Big Wrench Truck
Repair in College Park, needs, and he's not positive he's going to find it.
His shop doors have to be 14 feet tall to accommodate the trucks he repairs.

Stinchcomb said he's fruitlessly looked from McDonough to Palmetto for the
right location, and now fears he may have to close his business.

"It's hard to go to work for somebody else when you've been doing it
yourself for so many years," he said. "I guess I'll just keep looking."

Willis said merchants who are struggling to find new locations are the
exception. "The majority of the businesses are finding spaces near the
airport," he said.

Makanjuola Ojo is one of just three residents in the second phase forced to
move from the predominantly commercial area. He likes living in the
commercial area because as a gospel music producer, he "can make any kind of
noise without disturbing my neighbors," he said. He also repairs cars at his
home.

Ojo, who rents his one-story house, said the relocation program presents an
opportunity to finally buy a home because it will contribute $5,250 toward
his down payment.

House hunting time

The first phase of relocations included many more residents, 35 percent of
whom used the down payment assistance to buy homes --- most for the first
time, Willis said.

With the help of a real estate agent, Ojo's been house hunting. "I wanted to
buy way before now," he said, but added that moving will be emotionally
difficult because he's made a lot of improvements to his once dilapidated
home.

If any business could be called unlucky in this entire effort, it would have
to be Nankai Transport, a freight forwarding company. It had to move twice.

In 1998, Nankai relocated to Sullivan Road to make way for what was going to
be a 6,000-foot commuter runway, said Takako Goodner, the company's
operations manager.

But a year later, the runway project grew to a 9,000-foot, full-service
strip, and Nankai was in the way. So 18 months ago the company moved again
to Southfield Parkway in Forest Park.

"We do not want to have that situation anymore," Goodner said. "It's just
hard."

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