Georgia landowners fighting railroad land seizures in Fulton court [Video]

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – A Fulton County Superior Court judge was sympathetic Tuesday morning to several middle Georgia homeowners whose property has been seized through eminent domain, but was unsure if any legal remedies are available to them.

The hearing centered around a proposal from the Sandersville Railroad Company, which wants to claim nine condemned sites in Sparta, Georgia, as part of its Hanson Spur Project. The railroad described the project as “a 4.5-mile spur connecting raw material producers to the CSX Transportation (CSXT) rail line that runs along Ga. Highway 16 in Hancock County.

A unanimous vote by the five-member Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) found the railroad was legally allowed to condemn the properties, one of which has been part of Blaine and Diane Smith’s 600-acre family farm for generations.

Eminent domain, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, is defined as the right of …