Georgia property owners battle railroad company in ongoing eminent domain case [Video]

ATLANTA – A hearing on Tuesday raised questions about a railroad company’s use of eminent domain in one of Georgia’s poorest areas.

After three days of hearings in November, an officer for the Georgia Public Service Commission granted Sandersville Railroad Co.’s request to legally condemn nine properties in Sparta, Georgia. The commission’s decision to adopt or reject the officer’s recommendation could affect property law nationwide.

Sandersville, which is owned by a prominent Georgia family, wants to build a line 4.5 miles (7.25 kilometers) long called the Hanson Spur that would connect to the CSX railroad rail line at Sparta, 85 miles (135 kilometers) southeast of Atlanta.

The hearing led Sparta property owners to make the drive north. Some of them might have their land condemned, and others were neighbors who don’t want a railroad near their backyards.

Lawyers representing the property owners and the No Railroad in Our Community Coalition, which formed …